December 8, 2026—December 11, 2026

Visible Evidence XXXII

São Paulo, Brazil

VE XXXII Theme: Democracy, audiovisual culture and obsolete media: building archive networks

In the second half of the twentieth century, emergent audiovisual culture actively participated in the expansion of democratic practices and horizons. Technologies such as Super 8mm, 16mm cameras with sound, Sony Portapaks, and successive video formats enlarged the realm of possibilities for independent filmmaking—amateur, experimental, documentary, militant, and subjective essay forms. These disruptive formats articulated diversities in virtual public spaces that are now threatened to shrink. Pre-digital, now-obsolete media risk being lost or excluded from contemporary AI-operated digital systems, even though works and tendencies within this heterogeneous repertoire may offer crucial resources for imagining futures under current political and technological constraints.

The XXXII Visible Evidence Conference invites reflection on the constitution, connection, and activation of audiovisual archives, and on how they might potentially be constituted otherwise. It seeks to examine how audiovisual archives emerge from different historical, institutional, and geopolitical conditions, especially in relation to the safeguarding of experimental and dissident works. Audiovisual archives are not merely repositories but spaces of meaning production, where memory, history, and cultural practices are articulated. They have shaped poetic strategies, documentary narratives, and essayistic forms depending on the discursive choices of filmmakers and essayistic filmmakers.

Debates concerning archives and documentary—understood in expanded terms—are rooted in the very constitution of the field. Some approach the archive through the notion of the trace and the record, recalling that the Greek arkhē simultaneously signifies origin and command. From this perspective, policies of collection, selection, organization, and access foreground how institutional, technological, and political decisions shape visibility while marginalizing other narratives.

In this sense, considering experimental film, video art, essay forms, performances, installations, and documentary collections from non-hegemonic and antipodal contexts broadens the understanding of documentary within the media universe. Documentary appears not only as an audiovisual product but as a continuous process traversed by power relations, symbolic disputes, and transformations in regimes of knowledge circulation.

Although the conference encourages submissions engaging with these overarching concerns, proposals for panels, individual papers, workshops, and screenings may address any aspect of documentary screen cultures, histories, theories, and practices.

Call for Papers

Submissions exploring the 2026 theme or any topic related to the study of any aspect of documentary screen cultures, histories, theories, and practices are welcome. The conference invites several types of proposals: the submission guidelines regarding these are below.

Submission Guidelines

PANELS

Panels will consist of three presentations of up to 20 minutes each. Panel coordinators must ensure that 20–30 minutes are reserved for discussion.

Panel proposals must include:
– 300-word abstract (maximum) for the panel
– 200-word abstracts (maximum) for each presentation
– 5 bibliographic references for each presentation
– 5 keywords
– 150-word biography (maximum) of each participant
– technical requirements

WORKSHOPS

Workshops will consist of five to six initial presentations (up to forty minutes total), followed by open, unstructured exchange among participants.

Workshop proposals must include:
– 300-word abstract (maximum)
– 50-word abstracts (maximum) for each contribution
– 5 keywords
– 150-word biography (maximum) of each participant
– technical requirements

INDIVIDUAL PROPOSALS

Individual papers should be designed for 20-minute presentations.

Proposals must include:
– 300-word abstract (maximum)
– 5 bibliographic references
– 5 keywords
– 150-word biography (maximum)
– technical requirements

FILM SCREENING PROPOSALS

A limited number of documentary films will be screened.

Proposals must include:
– 200-word abstract (maximum) describing the film and its relation to research (if relevant)
– screening link and total running time
– 150-word biography of the filmmaker
– technical requirements

Films will only be accepted if the filmmaker is present at the conference.

Mode of Participation

The conference will be held entirely in person.
Participants may present either in a workshop or a panel, but not both.
Submissions on any topic related to documentary media practices are welcome.

Submission Deadlines

Submissions must be made by March 31st, 2026, through the Oxford Abstracts platform only.
[https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/80910/submitter]

Notification of acceptance: May 4th, 2026, or earlier
Conference dates: December 8–11, 2026

For all conference-related inquiries, contact: visiblexxxii@usp.br
Information on accommodation and travel will follow.

Registration Fees and Dates

Early bird registration: May 4th–June 30th, 2026

Latin American residents: R$ 250 (faculty/staff) / R$ 125 (students and independent researchers / filmmakers)

Other participants: U$ 200 (faculty/staff) / U$ 100 (students and independent researchers / filmmakers)

Regular registration: July 1st–September 30th, 2026

Latin American residents: R$ 350 (faculty/staff) / R$ 175 (student and independent researchers / filmmakers)

Other participants: U$ 270 (faculty/staff) / U$ 125 (students and independent researchers / filmmakers)

Attendees not presenting can register until November 30th for the auditor rate of R$ 100. Certificates will be issued.

Locations, Host, and Partner Institutions

Locations:

Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo

Address: Avenida Pedro Álvares Cabral, 1301, Vila Mariana, Parque do Ibirapuera, São Paulo. Website: [http://www.mac.usp.br/mac/conteudo/institucional/orientacao-visitas.asp].

Universidade de São Paulo (Departamento de Cinema, Rádio e Televisão da Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo)

Address: Av. Prof. Lúcio Martins Rodrigues, 443 – Prédio 4, Cidade Universitária, Butantã, São Paulo. Website: [https://www.eca.usp.br/departamento/ctr].

Museu Afro Brasil (Auditório Ruth de Souza)

Address: Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, Parque Ibirapuera, Portão 10, São Paulo. Website: [https://museuafrobrasil.org.br/].

Host and Partner Institutions

Museu de Arte Contemporânea (MAC, USP)

Escola de Comunicações e Artes, (ECA, USP)

Museu Afro Brasil
Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)