we invite you to submit an abstract to the Museums & Material Culture (M&MC) SIEF Working Group conference in collaboration with the ICOM International Committee for Collecting (COMCOL) and the Reinwardt Academy (Amsterdam University of the Arts)
Call for Papers: An ethnology lab on the workings of Covid-19 on museums
The Netherlands, Amsterdam, 8-9 October 2020 or held as a digital conference
Theme: The impact of Covid-19 on (y)our daily lives as researchers and professionals working in/on museums and material culture.
Covid-19 has been (or still is) prompting many museums to keep their doors closed for weeks or even months. They have to cope with the sudden loss of income, worries about the wellbeing of their staff, and unforeseen challenges related to their buildings, sites, collections, and exhibitions. At the same time, the Covid-19 virus has initiated new ways of public engagement. The crisis is sparking a boom of online activities ranging from art-making to virtual museum tours. Many museums have started to post (participatory) calls to locally document this historic event and its effects on society.
For this working group meeting, we are wondering how you have been dealing with this difficult situation:
What are the emotional effects of Covid-19 on ourselves and our colleagues? How do we socially and culturally respond to what is happening? How to (re-)position ourselves? How do the functions and workings of museums as social places change as a result of Covid-19? How do or should we position ourselves in relation to public and private funding in times of coronavirus and in the aftermath? How does Covid-19 change the public perception of museums? Should museums collect and publicly discuss these phenomena? What are the ethical questions to go with? What are the effects on concepts of diversity and inclusivity within our work?
The aim of this two-day expert meeting is to reflect on these challenges and explore what our professional interventions (should) look like. We encourage members of the M&MC working group and COMCOL to focus on the following topics:
– Emotion management
– Collection development
– Information management
– Exhibition making
– Educational programming
– Governance
– Social Media
– Social Events
Paper submission
Please submit the title of your paper, an abstract of no more than 100 words and three keywords, together with your name, academic affiliation, and e-mail to rwa-heritagelab@rwa.nl before 20 June 2020.
The papers must be written and presented in English. We are planning a publication of the conference papers.
Programme
8 October:
Starting at 10:00: Presentation of papers. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Optional dinner.
9 October:
Starting at 10:00 Presentation of papers. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Around 16:00 Farewell drinks.
Conference Venue
Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam University of the Arts
Hortusplantsoen 2, 1018 TZ Amsterdam
Depending on the circumstances the conference might be (partially) held online.
Organizers
Hester Dibbits (Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam University of the Arts), Uta Karrer (Vogtländisches Freilichtmuseum), Lizette Graden (Lund University), Birgit Johler (Volkskundemuseum Graz), Danielle Kuijten (COMCOL and Imagine IC), Jule Forth (Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam University of the Arts), Marit van Dijk (Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam University of the Arts), Masha Vukanovic (Center for the Study in Cultural Development, Serbia).