CALL FOR PAPERS | RSA 200

The Scottish Society for Art History is delighted to launch the Call for Papers for their two-day Conference 2026 in partnership with the Royal Scottish Academy, marking the RSA’s 200th anniversary. The event will take place in the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Galleries Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, 5 – 6 February 2026.

The conference aims to celebrate, explore and interrogate the RSA’s history and showcase new research on artists connected to it. It also aims to cast an enquiring eye over the idea of the Academy and its ‘official’ status, looking at those who may have been excluded from it or reacted against it at different times. They hope to showcase current research and critical debate into the various relationships between Scottish art and the Academy and they hope to engage with artists, curators, archivists, art historians and interdisciplinary researchers. This has also now been added to their website at Conference – Scottish Art and the Academy – Scottish Society for Art History

They welcome proposals for 10, 15 or 20-minute papers to be presented in person at the event. Speakers will be expected to provide a powerpoint or some form of visual accompaniment to their presentation. Proposals should be in the form of 300-500 word abstracts, accompanied by brief biographical details and a supporting image. The deadline for proposals is 5pm on Friday 31 October 2025. If you would like to discuss the CFP in greater detail or submit an abstract, please contact Matthew Jarron on m.h.jarron@dundee.ac.uk. The organisers are unable to provide speakers’ fees but all speakers will receive free entry to the event, promotion via social media as part of the event and publication opportunities. A selection of papers from the conference will be published in the Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History.