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Call for Papers
2nd International Symposium: Shape of Water – Art and Ecology Between Fluidity and Form
Organised by Shanshui projects with the collaboration of the College of Fine Arts of Huaqiao University and the
Academy for West-Eastern Dialogue of Cultures, 28th February 2026 (online).
In the context of an escalating ecological crisis and growing imbalances between technological development and
the natural world, water emerges as a vital element through which to reimagine our connection with the Earth.
As a symbol, a material, and a life-sustaining force, water has flowed through human cultures since the begin-
ning of time—shaping myths, rituals, philosophies, aesthetic canons, and ecological imaginaries.
This symposium invites scholars, artists, and thinkers to reflect on the manifold meanings of water—across time,
geography, and disciplines. Water crosses boundaries: it is fluid, elusive, and often formless, yet shaped by cul-
tural projections, political agendas, and economic interests. It is at once continuity and transformation, origin and
disappearance, purity and danger.
Historically, water has played a foundational role in philosophies of nature, in cosmologies and creation myths,
and in the shaping of cultural identities. From Daoist flows to Heraclitean rivers, from the Ganges to the Nile,
water is both universal and situated—charged with meaning and memory. Philosophical and historical approach-
es can help unpack the conceptual and material entanglements of water with power, colonialism, gender, and the
sacred.
Yet water is increasingly under threat. Multinational corporations extract, divert, and commodify it; industrial
agriculture depletes and pollutes it; political regimes weaponize or privatize access to it. Rivers and aquifers are
transformed into frontiers of control, often to the detriment of rural and marginalized populations. These asym-
metries of access and control reflect broader global inequalities, especially between the Global North and Global
South.
How can contemporary art, literature, and philosophy engage with the watery foundations of culture while re-
sponding to the urgencies of ecological collapse? Can the shapelessness of water offer new metaphors, method-
ologies, and forms of resistance?
We welcome contributions from all fields of artistic and humanistic research—including history, literature, visu-
al and performing arts, philosophy, anthropology, and cultural studies—to explore how water, in its various
shapes and meanings, can inspire a renewed ecological, ethical, and aesthetic imagination.
Suggested (but not exclusive) topics include:
Submission of proposals:
Paper proposals (20 minutes presentation), in the form of an abstract (ca. 300 words), in English, accompanied
by a short biographical note (150 words max.) are invited to be submitted by e-mail to
info@shanshuiprojects.net and privat@thorsten-schirmer.de by the 20th of October. The organizing committee
will announce the acceptance of proposals by the 8th of November.征稿启事
第二届国际线上研讨会：水之形 – 在流动与形态之间的艺术与生态
由 Shanshui projects 主办，华侨大学美术学院与东西方文化(Academy for West-Eastern Dialogue of
Cultures)对话学会协办，2026 年 02 月 21 日（线上）。
在生态危机日益加剧、科技发展与自然世界之间失衡不断扩大的当下，水作为一种象征、一种物质、也
是维系生命的核心元素，成为我们重新想象人与地球关系的重要途径。从古至今，水一直贯穿于人类文
化之中——塑造了神话、仪式、哲学、审美体系与生态想象。
本次研讨会诚邀来自不同学术与艺术背景的研究者、艺术家与思想者，共同思考水的多重意义——跨越
时间、地理与学科的边界。水具有流动性、难以捉摸、常常无形，但却持续被文化投射、政治操控与经
济利益所塑形。水既象征着连续性与变化，也代表起源与消逝、纯净与危险的两极。
在历史上，水在人类对自然的哲学思考、宇宙论与创世神话、以及文化身份的建构中占据核心地位。从
道家的“水之道”到赫拉克利特的“逝者如斯”，从恒河到尼罗河，水既具有普遍性，也深深植根于特定文
化之中——承载着意义与记忆。哲学与历史视角能够帮助我们揭示水与权力、殖民、性别与神圣之间错
综复杂的关系。
然而，水资源如今正面临前所未有的威胁。跨国公司对水源的开采、转移与商品化，工业农业造成的过
度消耗与污染，政治势力对水的武器化与私有化，使得河流与地下水变成了控制的边界，这些都严重影
响到农村与边缘群体的生存。这种资源获取与控制的不平等，反映出“全球北方”与“全球南方”之间更深
层次的不平衡。
在当代艺术、文学与哲学中，我们如何回应文化的“水性”基础，并思考生态崩溃的现实？水的“无形”是
否可以启发新的隐喻、新的研究方法与抵抗的形式？
我们欢迎历史、文学、视觉与表演艺术、哲学、人类学、文化研究等各人文学科与艺术实践领域的投稿，
共同探索水在不同形态中的意义与启示，激发生态伦理与美学想象的更新。
建议主题（不限于以下方向）：
投稿方式：论文提案（发言时间为 20 分钟），请以英文摘要（约 300 字）的形式提交，并附上简短的
个人简介（最多 150 字）。请于 10 月 20 日前通过电子邮件发送至以下地址：info@shanshuiprojects.net
以及 privat@thorsten-schirmer.de。组委会将于 11 月 8 日前公布被接受的提案。
Shanshui Projects is a network of scholars and artists devoted to the study, practice and propagation of
Shanshui hua 山水画 – Mountain and Water painting, in both praxis and theory, while considering the basis of
tradition and the conditions of contemporary society. Our team also aims to promote the culture of traditional
and contemporary Chinese painting outside of China, by organizing exhibitions, workshops and through an
online magazine (www.shanshuiprojects.net).
Shanshui projects 是一个由学者与艺术家组成的网络，致力于研究、实践与传播山水画（山水画 – 山与
水的绘画）及其理论，注重传统的基础与当代社会的条件。我们团队还旨在通过组织展览、工作坊以及
在线杂志（www.shanshuiprojects.net），在中国以外推广中国传统与当代绘画文化。
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