Ground – Horizon – Sky is a two-day conference run by Colchester and Ipswich Museums with Blast Radius and University of Suffolk and in partnership with the Paul Mellon Centre’s Generation Landscape research programme. It is part of the Constable 250 programme and coincides with the major Constable exhibitions at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, and offers a timely platform to reconsider how landscapes have been seen, sensed, represented, contested, transformed and how they continue to shape artistic and ecological thinking today.

The conference will unfold over two days 16 - 17 July 2026

Day 1 will feature invited speakers alongside contributed papers and panel discussions.

Day 2 will take place in the landscape itself, through a walk in Constable Country and participatory Challenge Lab of walking (spaces will be limited on this).

Call for presentation proposals

For Day 1, we welcome proposals for presentations in a variety of formats, including illustrated talks and short videos.

Presentations should last no more than 20 minutes, regardless of format. We are particularly interested in contributions that are exploratory, practice-based, or that bring fresh perspectives to the themes below.

• Ground: Constable’s early studies from nature are rooted in the landscape now known as Constable Country. What do we stand on historically, and what lies beneath our feet when landscape is understood through art and cultural memory?

• Horizon: This marks a point of view and experience of landscape in the present moment. How do we understand our current context and the potential of shifting perspectives within art practice.

• Sky: Constable described the sky as 'the chief organ of sentiment' central to the development of his art. Looking beyond the earthbound, what roles has the sky played in historical landscape art, and how might its future shape artistic and ecological thinking?

  Submission Guidelines

  Please submit the following by 12 midnight (BST) on 16 March 2026, with “Constable 250 Conference” as the subject line, to Bethany.mitchell@colchester.gov.uk

• A 250-word abstract describing your proposed contribution including up to 3 images .

• A 250-word biography Please combine your abstract and biography into a single Word or PDF document and send it as an email attachment.

  Incomplete or late submissions will not be considered.

  We will provide a speaker’s fee of £150 and contribution towards travel and accommodation costs. If you have any access requirements or need adjustments, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate them.

  Key dates

  Deadline for submissions: 16 March 2026 at midnight (BST)

  Conference date: 16 – 17 July 2026

  Organised by Colchester & Ipswich Museums in collaboration with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and the University of Suffolk