International Conference: Decolonizing Museums and Resignifying Monuments (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) Circulo de Bellas Artes of Madrid (Madrid, downtown)

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS (EXTENSION): JULY 25th, 2024 (see info below)

CALL FOR PAPERS / THEMATIC AREAS / SUBMISSION

Justification

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 academic 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.

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. 

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