As part of the Shared Island Stories research project, ICOM’s International Committee for Museology (ICOFOM), the School of Art History at the University of St. Andrews, and the European Research Council (ERC) are pleased to announce a hybrid (in-person and online) conference on the overarching topic of Transnational Island Museologies, to be held from June 5-7, 2024, in St. Andrews, Scotland. The conference will also host the 47th ICOFOM Annual Assembly on Friday, June 7, 2024. The deadline for submission of abstracts is January 1, 2024.

Description: While islands are conventionally associated with romantic ideas of local distinctiveness and isolation, many small islands share the growing problems of coastal erosion through rising sea levels and storm intensification, as well as economic recession, depopulation and inappropriate tourism development. This conference takes its cue from the theme of the research project “Shared Island Stories between Scotland and the Caribbean: Past, present, future” to unearth hidden stories and entangled spaces in emerging transnational island museologies.

Shared Island Stories is a five-year research project selected by the European Research Council (ERC) and funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It is coordinated by the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews and aims to investigate relationships between the archipelagos of Scotland and the Caribbean. Drawing on history, heritage studies, sustainable development, art history and memory studies, the project asks: Which collections from the islands tell unfinished stories of Empire? What is the role of heritage communities in sustainable development? How can island community museums partner with NGOs, policy and local organisations and businesses for climate action? How can health and well-being be understood in relation to community heritage, traditional ecological knowledge and island life? What does this new knowledge bring to debates on climate justice, especially as they relate to the role of youth?

Call for Papers: The Transnational Island Museologies conference seeks to reflect on the role of museum practice and theory with regard to some of the most pressing ecological issues of our times by sharing knowledge from around the globe on the realities that affect remote, island and coastal communities. We invite proposals for papers on the two sub-topics of:

(1) Indigenous and traditional knowledge, environment, and intergenerational transmission

(2) Hidden stories, entangled spaces: thinking through trans-national coastal and island museologies

Terms of Submission: Following an ICOFOM tradition, we welcome short articles to be published in advance of the conference, that will be collected, formatted and distributed before the event as a Materials for Discussion. The process is as follows:

• A brief abstract of about 2000 characters for a 15-minute presentation will be submitted by 1 January 2024 via the online form [https://bit.ly/TransnationalIslandMuseologies]. The proposals will have to integrate one of the two axes of analysis proposed. They will be written in one of the three languages of ICOM (English, French and Spanish). Validation of proposals will be given within two weeks.

• Selected proposers will send by 1 March 2024 a longer, 12,000-character paper, including notes and bibliography, for potential publication in the Materials for Discussion circulated before the conference via email [icofomstandrewsconference@gmail.com]. If papers are not received by March 1, you will not be included in the publication. Papers will strictly comply with the layout rules of ICOFOM and use APA citation style, available in English, French and Spanish (see links are embedded here). They should be formatted simply, double-spaced in 12pt font, as Word documents.

• Collected and formatted texts will be sent to the authors and conference participants, in an electronic version, during the month of May 2024.

• Selected conference participants will be invited after the event to submit a longer (6000-word) academic paper for publication in the ICOFOM Study Series peer-reviewed journal to be published in spring 2025. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact the organising committee via icofomstandrewsconference@gmail.com.

For more information, see ENG_CFP_Transnational%20Island%20Museologies_June2024[41].pdf