International Conference: Decolonizing Museums and Resignifying Monuments (Madrid, November, 20-22, 2024)
THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: DECOLONIZING MUSEUMS AND RESIGNIFYING MONUMENTS will be held in Madrid, Spain in two venues: a) Humanities School, (UNED) b) Círculo de Bellas Artes of Madrid (Madrid, downtown)
Download conference program (pdf english) – Descargar programa (pdf castellano)
The “International Conference: Decolonizing Museums and Resignifying Monuments” brings together experts in memory, colonialism, and decolonization from different contexts, continents, and research centers. The conference’s primary objective is to investigate methods to promote a deeper understanding of decolonization processes, considering democratic alternatives for different contexts. Currently, the decolonization of museums and resignification of monuments are crucial concerns since they go beyond attempts to erase collective ´heritage´ and instead involve the reconversion of these spaces of representation into more inclusive settings with a wider range of perspectives. The main lines of work of the Congress concerning monuments will be removal, replacement, or destruction; as well as management, contextualization, and narrative modification. A thorough examination of the following aspects of museums is proposed: restitution, return and repatriation, other narratives, and inclusive management. The academic activity is based on specialized monographs and other scholarly activities conducted at the UNED in 2023 and 2024. It will conclude with the collective production of documents reflecting its main debates and conclusions, as well as the construction of a global network of experts committed to these issues.
ORGANIZERS
a) Research project “Territories of memory: other cultures, other spaces in Ibero-America, 20th and 21st centuries” (Ref. PID2020-113492RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033); b) MA Contemporary Spain in the International context / Department of Social History and Political Thought. Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology. National University of Distance Education (UNED); c) Research project “Making histories (Horizon TMA MSCA Staff Exchanges)” European Research Executive Agency (Rea), Autonoma University of Madrid (UAM) (Ref. 101086106); d) Research project “CONCILIARE: Confidently Changing Colonial Heritage” (Horizon-CL2-2023-Heritage-01), European Commission. Universidade de Coímbra (Ref. 101132582).
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Marisa González de Oleaga (National University of Distance Education – UNED)
María Silvia Di Liscia (National University of La Pampa)
Everardo Perez-Manjarrez (UNED / Harvard University)
Mariana Stoler (Autonoma University of Madrid / UNED)
Roraima Estaba Amaiz (Complutense University of Madrid / UNED)
Emiliano Abad García (University of Coimbra)
Ignacio Padial Córdoba (UNED)
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Mario Carretero (Autonoma University of Madrid (UAM), Spain / FLACSO, Argentina)
Giovanna Leone (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Denise Bentrovato (University of Pretoria, South Africa / Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium)
Mario Rufer (Autonomous Metropolitan University, Mexico)
Paloma Aguilar Fernandez (UNED, Spain)
Mario Chagas (Museu da República, Brazil)
Katherine Hite (Vassar University, United States of America)
Ignacio Brescó (UNED, Spain)
Soeun Lee (Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, South Korea)
Beatrice Falcucci (Pompeu Fabra University, Spain)
Brady Wagoner (Aalborg University, Denmark)
Javier Moreno Luzón (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain)
Yasmina Aidi (Tulane University, United States of America)
Carolina Rodríguez (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain)
Françoise Martínez (Sorbonne Université, France)
Guillermo Mira (University of Salamanca, Spain)
OBJECTIVES
-To promote an informed and interdisciplinary discussion on the decolonization of museums and the resignification of monuments.
-To promote an intersectional dialogue between academics, museologists, museum and memorial workers, cultural managers and mediators, artists and activists.
-To meet, exchange, learn and systematize initiatives of decolonization and resignification in different socio-cultural contexts.
-To facilitate the creation of a critical community on decolonization, made up of academics, cultural managers, museologists and artists, among others. To promote academic-social initiatives in this regard.
THEMATIC AREAS
We’re accepting submissions for paper presentations related to the following thematic areas and subareas:
1) Monuments: a) Destruction; b) Removal or replacement; c) Resignification.
2) Museums: a) Restitution; b) Repatriation and return; c) Changing narratives and inclusive management.
RELEVANT DATES
Deadline for submissions of abstracts: July 25th, 2024. (CLOSED)
Deadline for acceptance of abstracts: August 19th, 2024.
Deadline for submission of papers: October 15th, 2024.
CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS AND PAPERS
- Abstracts should be no longer than 200 words and must include the institutional affiliation of the author(s), the main author’s email address, and the assigned area and sub-area of the presentation (e.g., subarea 1C: Monuments-signification). Abstracts can be submitted in either English or Spanish.
- Papers should not exceed 2000 words, including references. Once authors receive confirmation of the acceptance of their contribution, they are required to submit their papers via e-mail within the specified timeframe to: info.decolonizing@gmail.com Presentations of these papers during the conference can be in English or Spanish.
- We will accept individually authored works or co-authored works with a maximum of three authors. Each author can submit only one work, either individually or as a co-author.
Contact email address: info.decolonizing@gmail.com
Image Credits: Antonio Turok. “Collapse of Don Diego de Mazariegos, Chiapas”, 1992