Call for Papers - International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR)

memory + creativity = social change
Reshaping Regional Identities - making new memories, preserving the old

ICR is calling for contributions for its own conference within the ICOM 2013 General Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 10 - 17 August, 2013. 
The overall  theme of the 2013 General Conference is:   memory + creativity = social change.
ICR will address this broad area in relation to the concerns and activities of regional museums through questions such as:
* How can regional museums record and respond to changing times, to preserve current and past cultural memory?
* How can museums work with their communities to co-create memories for local residents and future generations, while providing memorable experiences for today's visitors?
* De-bunking myths and making new memories - how can regional museums respect local versions of history, using insights from new research to challenge unreliable memories in ways that honour past traditions?
* What strategies are museums using to recover regional memories and share them on-site, off-site and on-line?
* How can museums harness the transformative power of memory through innovative interpretive use of their collections and other resources - oral history, performance art, personal testimonies, creative writing etc.?
* What examples exist in regional museums of sensitive approaches to painful memories?
* Celebration or commemoration - what can we learn from case studies of regional museums working collaboratively to record and present significant anniversaries?
* Museums as memory clinics - how can museums extend their social value through the use of their collections to engage marginalised individuals in "identity work"?

The Board seeks contributions which respond to these questions in the form of:
* short papers (10 minutes) - theoretical or philosophical contributions which stretch our thinking about the potential of regional museums
* critical case studies (10 minutes) - reflecting both successes and failures of recent museum activities 

In addition to sessions for the short papers and critical case studies, ICR is also open to innovative suggestions, such as a Pecha Kucha session (tightly focused presentations of maximum 20 slides and 6 minutes and forty seconds.  It is anticipated that most presentations be scheduled for Wednesday, 14 August 2013.

Please send a brief abstract (no more than 200 words) by 5 May 2013
to Sue Hanna at [log in to unmask] and Rune Holbek at [log in to unmask] 

The Program Committee will respond by 10 May 2013.  Authors of successful proposals must submit a written version of their presentation in the form of a Microsoft word document with photos, tables and charts as separate attachments by 1 August 2013.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the
archives at:  http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html