The Drawing Department of the University of the Basque Country / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea convenes the third edition of the [d]grapho conference, giving continuity to the previous editions organized by the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of La Laguna.

Currently, drawing is a form of expression that ranges from digital experimentation to political activism, including philosophical reflection on its limits and possibilities. Likewise, research on drawing is deeply connected to discussions on technology, identity, the body, subjectivity, ecosophy and social criticism, projects and knowledge, making it a fertile field for exploring the most pressing issues of contemporary society.

On the one hand, starting from fundamental questions such as the nature of the act of drawing, the relationship between reality and representation, and the value of drawing as a form of knowledge, the research also addresses the distinctions between drawing as art and drawing as a tool, as well as its evolution in the contemporary era, ranging from its cognitive and educational function to its therapeutic and political applications.

On the other hand, new technologies are greatly expanding the frontiers of drawing, while its value as a tool for critical thinking and creation remains central in a number of different fields.

In this third edition [d]grapho proposes to explore the conceptual limits of drawing, asking what constitutes a drawing in the contemporary era. Current research is revisiting the definitions of drawing, questioning the relationship between the act of drawing and visual representation; questioning how drawing, in addition to being understood as a graphic activity, can be a way of thinking about space, time and matter. So, in this issue, we will focus on the role of drawing to communicate, iterate and solve problems.

1. How can drawing be a language for conceptualizing complex ideas and visualizing information? 
2. How does drawing relate to other fields such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics?
3. What are the new challenges in relation to the materiality of drawing in the post-digital era? 

These emerging questions, related to the concept of drawing as a cognitive tool and as a way of thinking and reasoning, will be developed through four main thematic lines: 

• Line 1. Drawing as a tool in graphic design. The development of graphic language in information design.

Infographics as a vehicle for the transmission of complex information is used in various fields for its ability to visually condense what with words would entail long explanations. Its possibilities as an analytical and pedagogical tool are as rich as its potential objects of analysis.

Papers dealing with infographic language and its hybridizations in different academic and professional fields will be valued. Not only are new forms emerging in the field of visual expression of ideas, such as graphic recording and data visualization, but there are also appropriations from the field of illustration to the area of information design.

• Line 2.  Drawing and project and artistic interdisciplinarity.

The practice of drawing is being recognized as an interdisciplinary medium that interacts with various art forms, such as sculpture, painting, performance and video art. Artists explore how drawing can merge with other disciplines or act as a transitional language between different media, opening new possibilities for creation and expression, raising or denouncing political or eco-social issues of various kinds. 

• Line 3.  The knowledge of drawing in the digital era and the technological field: Scientific Illustration.

Where do the limits of the knowledge of drawing operate for a literal description of the observed or described fact? Can a photograph replace the drawn description of a fact, motif or theme? Where does the capacity of a good draughtsman lie? What is his contribution to the eloquence of a good scientific illustration?

In this section we will collect communications that deal with drawing or illustration processes and results, in different areas of the scientific field: botany, zoology, medicine, anthropology, astrophysics and scientific dissemination in general.

• Line 4. Drawing and printed edition: graphics, illustrated album, comic and illustration. Materialities and biomaterialities versus digital space and AI.

The materiality of a support such as paper represents the territory where all the events generated with material processes are conjugated, where the synergies generated between colors, textures, strokes or traces, converge in a temporary sort of result that can be repeatedly enjoyed and lived. Is it possible to link and recreate this materiality in a digital space with AI?

In this line we will value the proposals that concur in the dialectic around the materialization and the process in graphic work and illustration (comic, graphic novel, graphic or expanded drawing, illustrated non-fiction book LINF) and the new digital environments mediated by the influence of artificial intelligences.

Scientific interest in relation to SDGs

The [d]grapho approach responds directly to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 4 (Quality Education), by promoting creative methodologies that integrate visual thinking into educational and research processes; SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), by exploring the synergies between art, science, and technology; SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), insofar as many of today's drawing practices operate from an ecological and material consciousness, proposing modes of representation that make visible the interdependence between body, matter, and environment.

SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS AND CONFERENCE FORMAT

To participate in the conference, it will be necessary to send a document including the abstract of the paper to be presented to the following e-mail: congreso.dgrapho@ehu.es

This document must contain the following information:

• Names of the authors.
• Institutional affiliation.
• ORCID code.
• Contact information (email and telephone).
• Brief biography (100 words).
• Conference line to which the contribution belongs.
• Abstract in Spanish and English (500 words - the text in English will not count in the number of words).
• Key words (maximum 5).

Only one paper per authorship will be accepted, including co-authorship. Abstracts should be sent in Word format (Arial 11, single spacing) BETWEEN JUNE 2 and SEPTEMBER 22.

The format of the conference will favor the exchange of the participating speakers through a dialogue in which, in the form of a roundtable, they will reflect together on the papers of each line. Each roundtable will be moderated by an artist/researcher of recognized prestige.

[d]grapho will be held in mixed online and face-to-face format. ONCE THE PROPOSAL HAS BEEN ACCEPTED (500-word abstract), for the online mode, each participant must submit a 7-minute video of their communication in one of the languages accepted at the congress: Spanish or English. The communications in face-to-face mode must also be adjusted to 7 minutes and will be broadcasted by streaming. In the case of in-person presentations, it is not necessary to send a videoThere will be 2 working sessions for each of the 2 days of the congress. Each working session will address a thematic line.

The organization of each session will be as follows:

• Presentation of the thematic line and participating speakers.
• Viewing of the videos with the online communications.
• Presentations with the face-to-face communications, which will also be broadcast via streaming.
• Roundtable moderated by an artist-researcher moderator.
• Time for questions / comments from the attendees.

FEES:

All authors must pay the corresponding registration fees by bank transfer.

• Account number: ES06 2095 4408 5232 3900 0681
• Concept: dgrapho_two surnames  

Send proof of payment to the following e-mail: congreso.dgrapho@ehu.es

• Modality 1: FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION (General registration): 
  • From September 30 to October 5: 150€ 
  • From October 6 to October 31: 200€
    Master and doctoral students. The term “student” refers solely to a person who is enrolled in a Doctoral -or Master- Programme and has no other salary or employment status and under 30 years old. 
    reduced price with proof of registration): 
  • From September 30 to October 5: 60€ 
  • From October 6 to October 31: 90€
• Modality 2: ONLINE COMMUNICATION (General registration): 
  • From September 30 to October 5: 150€ 
  • From October 6 to October 31: 200€
    Master and doctoral students. The term “student” refers solely to a person who is enrolled in a Doctoral -or Master- Programme and has no other salary or employment status and under 30 years old. 
    (reduced price with proof of registration): 
  • From September 30 to October 5: 60€ 
  • From October 6 to October 31: 90€
• Modality 3: ATTENDEES (without paper): 
  • From June 1 to July 31: 30€ 
  • From August 1 to October 31: 50€
• Modality 4: STUDENT ATTENDEES (without paper):
  • Free of charge with proof of registration (with AGIRI KULTURALA certification for UPV/EHU students)