The 14th annual York University Art History Graduate Student Symposium: Imagined Worlds investigates the effigy of the real, notions of authenticity and the spaces in art created through simulation of history, rituals and life. The symposium takes place Feb. 27 from 8am to 5pm in 130 Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts; admission is free.
Before the emergence of the digital realm, art historically functioned as a means to reconstruct the imaginary. The Imagined Worlds symposium questions how has artistic activity and theory reacted to the virtualization of the real?
In an all-day event featuring five panels and a keynote speaker, the symposium will provide a forum to explore the 
manipulations and reflections of reality in both contemporary and historical contexts. Keynote lecturer, Louis Kaplan, professor of photography and new media and Fellow at the University of Toronto, will deliver “Mapping Ararat: Augmented Reality and the Design of an Imaginary Jewish Homeland” at 12:45pm.
This year, the symposium is host to a number of thinkers and makers will address augmented reality, claiming space, critical interventions and speculative realism. Panels will be presented by guest speakers as well as York graduate students. MA candidate Cliodna Cussen will discuss “Castles in the Air: Dreamed/Realized Architecture,” thereafter, PhD candidate Vanessa Fleet will present the panel, “Heterocosms and Landscapes: Imagining the Laws of Nature.” Before the closing remarks, PhD candidate Cat Ashton will give a talk on “Conjured Creatures: Culture as Performance.”
There will also be the featured work of York visual art and creative writing graduate, Miles Forrester and Anna Jane McIntyre in showcase at the Art Gallery of York; open from 10am to 4pm.
For more information on the Imagined Worlds symposium, visit the Visual Art and Art History website.
By Shanice Grocia, communications assistant