Dissemination
Call for papers for the new issue of Rotura open until 30 September
The call for papers for the new issue of ROTURA – Journal of Communication, Culture and Arts, published by CIAC (No. 1, Vol. 7), is open until 30 September 2026.
This issue aims to examine the impact of new media art practices on the musical performance of classically trained instrumentalists. It seeks to explore how these practices are reconfiguring the roles and identities of performers, shifting them from interpreters to hybrid creators engaged with interactivity, algorithms, and generative systems. Rather than merely reflecting on past developments, the issue emphasises how performance operates within co-agency paradigms in multimedia creation, understood as a distributed process that redefines authorship and agency.
In this context, co-agency refers to the dynamic and distributed interaction between human performers and technological systems, in which agency emerges relationally rather than residing exclusively in the performer.
The intricate relationship with technology has traditionally been a defining feature of musical performance. In the context of the digital and information revolution, contemporary performers face new technical, technological, and aesthetic challenges, placing increasing pressure on them to acquire new skills and redefine their role. Today’s instrumentalists operate within a complex environment where traditional musical skills intertwine with technological proficiency and experimental artistic practices, giving rise to what may be described as the “post-performer.”
This expanded role encompasses not only interpretation but also sound design, composition, and real-time interaction with digital systems. Contemporary instrumentalists are thus called upon to adopt a multifaceted approach, in which technology extends the physicality of the body and reshapes the boundaries of musical practice and artistic expression.
Topics of interest
Submissions are welcome on, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Post-performer paradigms and hybrid artistic identities
- Co-agency, distributed authorship, and human–machine interaction in performance
- New media art practices in instrumental performance
- Instrumental performance and generative/algorithmic systems
- Real-time interaction, live electronics, and augmented instruments
- Embodiment, gesture, and expanded instrumental techniques in technological contexts
- The role of the score in technologically mediated performance
- Sound design and composition in instrumental practice
- Performance as a site of research in artistic and practice-based methodologies
- Post-digital aesthetics and experimental performance practices
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning in musical performance
- Expanded listening and new modes of audience engagement
Important dates
- Submission deadline: 30 September 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 15 November 2026
- Final version submission: 31 December 2026
- Publication: 28 February 2027
The full call can be found (here).
Esta publicação também está disponível em: Portuguese (Portugal)