Call for Papers
Call for Papers
We invite you to join us for the Seventeenth International Conference on The Image, the annual meeting of The Image Research Network, taking place 1–2 October 2026 in Singapore and online, in partnership with our host institution, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). This year, the conference is held alongside the annual meeting of the Communication & Media Studies Research Network, reflecting shared interests in visual communication, media cultures, and the forces shaping contemporary image ecologies. The Network brings together scholars, artists, designers, technologists, curators, researchers, and cultural practitioners concerned with the nature and functions of images across diverse media, traditions, and interpretive communities. We welcome proposals that explore image-making as a cultural, political, aesthetic, and technological practice, and that investigate how images circulate, intervene, and acquire meaning across social and historical contexts.
In 2026, our special focus “The Image as Advocate: Shaping Cultural Conversations” invites participants to consider how visual media function not simply as representations but as agents of cultural dialogue, activism, and change. Images do not merely reflect the world—they act within it. Whether documenting injustice, amplifying marginalized voices, reframing dominant narratives, or fostering solidarity, images possess a capacity to advocate. As visual cultures expand across analogue, digital, and emerging platforms, the circulation and velocity of images intensify. This conference asks what it means to critically assess how images shape public consciousness, cultural meaning, and collective action.
We invite proposals examining visual forms and practices that are situated, responsive, and ethically engaged. How do images operate within linguistic, societal, and cultural thresholds? What are the possibilities and limits of visual advocacy? And what new pedagogies, technologies, and ethical frameworks are required to support such work? By gathering diverse voices, the Network aims to cultivate a conversation about how images not only represent but actively shape the cultures from which they emerge.
Alongside this Special Focus, we welcome proposals aligned with the Network’s annual themes: The Form of the Image; Image Work; The Image in Society; Creative and Cultural Technologies; and Ordinary Practice and Collective Behaviors.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages on CGScholar Event (KX), where presenters upload abstracts, media, and reflections and where delegates engage in discussion before, during, and after the event.
In-person sessions, live online sessions, and asynchronous presentations are woven together into a single integrated program. Regardless of participation mode, delegates have access to the full schedule, session media, and a growing digital archive. Across formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale exchange—conversation, reflection, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-directional performance.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to develop their work for possible publication in The International Journal of the Image, or in The Image Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited collections advancing scholarship on visual culture and image-based practices. Both outlets offer options for traditional and Open Access publication.
Membership and Community
We welcome new and returning members to The Image Research Network. By purchasing a Presenter Pass, you automatically become—or renew as—a Network Member for the year, with benefits that span both our online environment and our in-person programs. Membership places you inside our online Knowledge Experience, a shared scholarly space connecting the full cycle of our work—and your work: preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication. Scholar-led and inclusive by design, it functions as a living commons for reciprocity, rigor, and continuity. Online, members can access everything in one place—conference updates and media, calls for papers, programs, archives, and journal and book content—and use the space to share ideas and ongoing projects. All member posts undergo peer-facilitated community review before being added, strengthening both collective knowledge and community.
Alongside this online experience, membership is activated through our in-person conferences and events, where participants meet, exchange ideas, and build collaborations with our host partners and global community. Membership sustains the Network, ensuring continued access to programs, archives, journals, and books—and keeping ideas in motion over time, where belonging is defined by contribution and care.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Singapore or online—for this year’s annual meeting of The Image Research Network. Together, we will explore how images function as advocates, shaping cultural conversations and opening new possibilities for visual meaning and social engagement.
The 2026 conference is convened by:
Cátia Rijo and Ana María Sedeño Valdellós (Research Network Chairs, The Image Research Network),
Lisa Winstanley (Local Conference Chair, Nanyang Technological University),
the Local Conference Committee (Angeline Yam, Candice Ng Ee-Ching, Desmond Pang Hee Wee, Jesvin Yeo, and Wang I-Hsuan Cindy),
and, in recognition of this joint gathering, the Chairs of the Communication & Media Studies Research Network:
Dr. Eric Freedman (English-language Chair) and Dr. Jesús Miguel Flores Vivar (Spanish-language Chair).