Dear Colleagues:

Please allow me to remind you that the deadline for  for both ICME travel 
grant applications and paper proposals addressing "The World under One 
Roof: Past, Present and Future Ethnographic Approaches to Universality" is 
MARCH 31, 2007.

The International Committee for Museums of Ethnography (ICME)
welcomes participation at its sessions during the ICOM general
conference in Vienna, Austria, August 19-24 2007. The ICME2007
working group looks forward to recieving your proposals, as well as
to discussions with you during both the conference and the ICME post-
conference tour!

Regards from
Daniel Winfree Papuga
[log in to unmask]
http://icme.icom.museum/

***
CALL FOR PAPERS - INTRODUCTION

In the Age of Enlightenment, the tension between particularism and
universalism gave birth to the modern discipline of Anthropology. The
scholarly challenge was to reconcile a burgeoning number of travel
narratives depicting `strange' customs in remote places with a
general science of Humanity. In this époque, the idea of a "Universal
Museum" was conceived and with it the curatorial problem of how to
classify, arrange and exhibit the "curious objects" under its roof.
Clearly a number of problems arise with the hierarchical `othering'
inherent in this historical approach, which lingers today. The ICME
sessions will chart past, present and what might constitute future
curatorial approaches to the following question: What universal
narratives, if any, do ethnographic objects speak to?

Contemporary touchdowns might include the Musée du Quai-Branly in
Paris, where the exhibition Qu'est-ce qu'un corps? (What is a
body?), features different perceptions of reality and aesthetics tied
to specific places and times. The curatorial approach seems one of
comparing and juxtaposing different cultural representations and
perceptions of a universal category: The body. In D'un regard l'autre
we enter yet another approach to universality: The production of
ethnographic materials as an instrument of Empire. In other words,
ethnography understood as the "White Man's labeling", a colonial
knowledge project embedded in the relations between France and her
peripheries.

Another contemporary approach is found in the Museum of World
Culture in Gothenburg. Here the focus is on connections, frictions
and migrations between the cultures of the world, resulting in de-
territorialized patchwork of Diasporas and trans-national ethnicities
as carriers and makers of hybrid ethnographic materials. This
curatorial approach seems to be underwritten by the notion of a world
in cultural flux, where notions of authenticity and origin are
subject to critical questioning.

It is now more than a Century ago since the Pitt Rivers Museum
opened its doors to yet another universal approach to ethnographic
materials. In Oxford, Pitt Rivers organized the ethnographic objects
typologically, according to each object's ability to solve a
technological problem associated with everyday life: fire making,
shelter, clothing, hunting and gathering, etc. The layout of the
displays was not organized by cultures or connections, but arranged
within a universal evolutionary framework. While much of the public
face of the displays reflects this discredited Victorian heritage -
representing a meta-statement on the idea of universality vis-à-vis
ethnographic objects - the museum today is simultaneously engaged in
serious consultation with both `source communities' around the world
as well as local Oxford groups.
Against this backdrop of changing approaches to universality, ICME
invites papers to interrogate past and present assumptions about
universality so we can better understand and perhaps rediscover
possible futures of Universal Heritage in Ethnographic Museums.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Paper proposals are invited addressing "The World under One Roof:
Past, Present and Future Ethnographic Approaches to Universality" or
any of the following sub-themes:

- 'Ethnographic Curatorship' and Universal Heritage in historical
and contemporary perspectives.
- 'Locality' and ethnographic representation.
- 'Holism' as an ethnographic focus.
- The future of 'The Collection', and collections of the future:
What's next?

Paper proposals of up to 250 words may be submitted to
[log in to unmask] until March 31, 2007.

Fifteen minutes will be allotted for presentation of each accepted
paper, and five additional minutes for discussion. In addition to
regular presentations, a limited number of "Virtual Presentations"
will be accepted, consisting of "stand alone" PowerPoint or other
types of media presentations which wouldn't need a live speaker to be
understood by the audience.

GRANTS

ICME is pleased to announce that we will be offering TWO grants of
750 euros each to help cover registration and accommodation costs
during the 2007 ICOM General conference. Priority in application
evaluation will be given to:
- ICME members.
- Participants presenting papers.
- Participants from developing countries.
Grant applications for these two grants must be sent to
[log in to unmask] before March 31, 2007. Applicants should
write why they are applying for financial assistance, the title and
abstract of their proposed paper (if they plan on presenting one) and
include a short CV.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The tenative conference program, registration details and general
information are available on the ICME web site
http://icme.icom.museum
If you have other questions, please contact the ICME2007 working
group at [log in to unmask] , fax/voicemail number
+13094245780, or Skype: icmepresident 

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