Call for Proposals for the conference

ARTEFACTS XXVIII “Wide-Angle and Long-Range Views”

ARTEFACTS is an international network of academic and museum-based scholars of science, technology and medicine interested in promoting the use of objects in research. The network was established in 1996 and since then has held annual conferences examining the role of artefacts in the history of science and technology and related areas.

For the first time in its history, ARTEFACTS goes to Asia this year. The twenty-eighth conference will be held at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, Japan, October 8–10, 2023. The meeting will be in-person.

A gathering in Japan, where “Western” science and technology have been transferred to the unique culture of a long tradition, must provide an opportunity to reflect on the processes and consequences of globalization once again after the severest years of COVID-19. In addition, the Japanese National Museum of Nature and Science comprises both natural history and the history of science and technology, and, if combined, it will be an ideal place to reflect on human activities in much longer “history” of nature. When the authors of The History Manifesto insisted on long-term thinking (Guldi and Armitage 2014), one of the commentators contributing to Isis pointed to the absence of museums in their discussion, concluding that “we urgently need the wide-angle, long-range views only historical museums can provide” (Söderqvist 2016). In a broad interpretation, we will pursue this possibility based on museum objects and other artefacts.

We invite papers that explore topics such as, but not limited to

• Global circulation or transnational motion of objects/collections of science and technology, especially related to East Asia
• Role of artefacts not only in connecting, but also in disconnecting transnational circulation of knowledge
• Role of local crafts and historical materials in communicating contemporary science and technology in a globalized world
• Scientific, digital and other approaches to long-term history complementing text-based historical studies
• Intersections between history of science and technology and natural history at large, including the history of universe and the history of earth
• Museum practices (exhibitions, in particular) and theoretical considerations of presenting wide-angle and long-range views on history for public audiences

ARTEFACTS conferences are friendly and informal meetings with the character of workshops. There is plenty of time for open discussion and networking. Each contributor will be allocated a 20 minutes slot for her or his talk, plus ample time for questions and discussion. Please send a proposal for papers (ca. 500 words) along with a brief CV to artefacts2023@kahaku.go.jp no later than June 30, 2023. Please remember that the focus of presentations should be on artefacts.

We are also pleased to announce that we have decided to offer some funding to defray the costs of participating in the meeting, mainly for early-career scholars. To apply, please send the following information to artefacts2023@kahaku.go.jp by May 21:

• Name, institution, and short CV
• Tentative title and short abstract (max. 100 words) of your proposal
• Tentative itinerary, including the estimate of your anticipated airline, train, or other travel costs to Japan.

If you plan to receive other funding for your travel, please include the details.

Important dates:

• May 21, 2023                          Deadline for application to the supplementary travel fund
• June 30, 2023                          Deadline for abstract submission
• July 14, 2023                          Notification of acceptance of paper and announcement of awardee of the supplementary travel fund
• July 21, 2023                          Publication of the provisional program
• October 8–10, 2023                Conference in Tokyo

Contact Info: 

Nobumichi ARIGA
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Language and Society, Hitotsubashi University
Affiliated Researcher, Department of Science and Technology, National Museum of Nature and Science
2-1 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601, JAPAN

Hiroto KONO
Curator, Department of Science and Technology, National Museum of Nature and Science
4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0005, JAPAN

Contact Email: artefacts2023@kahaku.go.jp

URL: https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/our-work/research-public-history/artefacts-consortium/

Theme description

In the spring and summer of 2020, a wave of statue defacements and removals spread across the world. As part of the Black Lives Matter protests, monuments in many countries were labeled as inappropriate due to their relationship with colonial histories and racial injustices. This ‘burdened heritage’ was considered taboo: something that should not have a physical presence in public space. In that same year, as a direct reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests, the exhibition Are Jews white? (Jewish Museum, Amsterdam) tried to break a taboo by discussing color and the question of where Jews find themselves in the identity politics spectrum of Black and White.

Soon after, a controversy about the ‘uniqueness’ and ‘comparability’ of the Holocaust arose: ‘Historikerstreit 2.0’ as it was frequently called, with reference to the debate of the late 1980s. A number of historians pointed to the taboo against challenging the ‘uniqueness’ of the Holocaust by comparing it with colonial violence, which is also present in the memory of these histories in today’s society (e.g., in monuments, exhibitions, restitution issues, debates about apologies and reparations, etc.).

Taboo is a subject, word, or action that is avoided or forbidden for religious, social or political reasons. Although there are certain taboos that appear to be virtually universal, most taboos vary with cultures and times. Objects, sites, or practices appropriated as cultural heritage, can at a later moment in history be redesignated as problematic, no longer conforming to certain norms and values. Conversely, (former) taboos can be contested, eventually triggering the ‘heritagization’ and display of hitherto banned objects and sites.

Unsurprisingly, taboo and tabooed issues get less attention in humanities and heritage practices than the canon or the canonized. However, canon and taboo could be considered two sides of the same coin; they are interdependent. For that reason alone, it is important to address the subject of taboo as well, and not turn a blind eye to it. For example, the canonization of modernist art after World War II went hand in hand with tabooing art produced under National Socialism. Nowadays, there is a renewed interest at museums in exhibiting these works, sparking controversy and debate.

This international conference aims to reflect on the concept of taboo in relation to cultural heritage in the context of colonialism and national socialism and their reverberations in society. What can the dynamics of taboo convey about today’s globalizing world? How have taboos shaped (and continue to shape) and impacted the process of cultural heritage making? How do taboos generate heritage dissonance (Tunbridge and Ashworth, 1996)? How does the concept apply to ‘difficult heritage’ (Macdonald, 2009)? How do/could/should cultural heritage professionals deal with questioning the display, adjustment or removal of such ‘burdened heritage’, and is every heritage professional and scholar ‘allowed’ to address every topic?

Paper submission

We welcome abstracts for papers from all humanities and social sciences. It is our contention that by focusing on taboos in cultural heritage from an interdisciplinary and international perspective, they will become, again, negotiable.

Apart from emerging and senior scholars in academia, we also invite heritage professionals to present a paper. They are often at the center of public debates, and need to take a position on tabooed issues in their daily practice. Professionals might benefit from current academic discourse and vice versa. We are looking for theoretical and philosophical approaches, terminological and conceptual reflections as well as representative case studies from all disciplines.

Artistic contributions:
We also warmly invite proposals for contributions from artists working with the themes of the conference. Formats to share artistic research are open but might include workshops, films, and performance-lectures. However applicants should be aware that we do not have capacity to provide extensive technical and production support.

Proposals may include, but are by no means limited to:

• Issues of taboo and transgression;
• Interrelationships between tabooization and canonization;
• Tabooed cultural heritage related to national socialism and (post)colonialism;
• Rejected heritage;
• Tabooing art and cultural heritage for political and ideological reasons;
• Stigma and taboo;
• Taboo and positionality (Global North/South; gender and sexuality);
• Taboo in museology;
• Looted art and restitution.

Confirmed keynote speakers

• Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (Stellenbosch, South Africa)
• Sharon Macdonald (Berlin, Germany) 

Practical information

Abstracts max 400 words and biography max 150 words can be sent to taboocongress@gmail.com.

Deadline: 1 August 2023. The conference will take place on 1 and 2 February 2024 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

We will publish contributions of this conference in a peer-reviewed edited volume.

Organized by the Open University of the Netherlands; Reinwardt Academie, University of the Arts; and the University of Amsterdam.

Contact Info: Gregor M. Langfeld and Judy Jaffe-Schagen

Contact Email: g.m.langfeld@uva.nl

URL: https://www.ou.nl/en/international-conference-taboo-in-cultural-heritage

The University of Porto will host the 49th International Conference of ICAMT-ICOM next October 25th to 27th. The event will be co-organized by the Center for Transdisciplinary Research “Culture, Space, and Memory” (CITCEM) and the Center for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism (CEAU). The conference’s central theme is “Undoing Conflict in Museums: Materiality and Meaning of Museum Architecture and Exhibition Design.” Participants will focus their discussions on the power of conflict exhibitions and the role of architecture and exhibition design in managing conflict in museums.

The conference offers the option to select from multiple round table discussions that will focus on four key themes:

(HOT) TOPICS                     
Key Theme 1 – Dealing with Conflict                                                                                                                          Key Theme 2 – Symbols of Conflict                                                                                                                          Key Theme 3 – Processes and Conflict                                                                                                                    Key Theme 4 – Healing, Resistance and the Future

Applicants to this event will be able to do so through the following presentation formats:                 

• Paper Presentations – They will be face-to-face and last 15 to 20 minutes (max.).
• Digital Posters – Static image (jpeg, jpg) for online display.
• Short-Videos – Presentation of 8 to 10 minutes for online viewing.

All submissions and presentations (oral presentations, posters, short videos) must be made in English.

Proposals must be sent to the following email address: icamtporto2023@gmail.com by May 31, 2023 (midnight GTM)

Other important dates are:

July 5, 2023 – Communication of acceptance or rejection of the proposal.

September 5, 2023 (midnight GMT) – Deadline for final papers, posters and short videos submission.

Contact Email: icamt2023@gmail.com

URL: https://id.letras.up.pt/icamt2023porto/

This call does not specifically mention archives, but considering the increased effort to preserve disability history in archives, some might find it of interest.
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We are inviting submissions for a hybrid (online and in-person) workshop Hidden Worlds: Histories of Disability Things and Material Culture, taking place in September 2023. Abstracts are due May 1 2023.

Hidden Worlds: Histories of Disability Things and Material Culture

For over two decades, historians of disability have called for greater engagement with material culture (Katherine Ott, David Serlin, and Stephen Mihm). Responding to this call, they have extensively examined prosthetics and wheelchairs, focusing on the processes of rehabilitation and design. Recently, the Crip Technoscience Manifesto (Aimi Hamraie and Kelly Fritsch) has encouraged historians to consider how disabled people have played more active roles in hacking, tinkering and re-purposing the material artifacts that have animated their everyday lives. The focus on disability things (Katherine Ott) is a strategic attempt to centre how users lived with these ‘things’ and to broaden what historians usually consider as technologies. We want to encourage papers to think critically about the artefacts that have constituted the everyday lives of disabled people, and to explore conventional disability technologies in new and creative ways. 

Topics may address, but need not be limited to, the following broad themes: 

• Tinkering architecture to build accessible worlds   

• Assistive and Health Technologies (including resistance and non-use)    
• Re-purposed/modified mundane artefacts (anything from beds to Tupperware)   
• Improvised, bespoke solutions  
• Tacit and embodied knowledge   
• Negotiations, power and social hierarchies   
• Diverse roles of disabled people throughout a technology’s life cycle.   

Practical Details  

Titles and abstracts (300 words maximum) as well as general queries should be addressed to Neil Pemberton (neil.pemberton@manchester.ac.uk) and Beck Heslop (beck.heslop@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk) by May 1 2023. Accommodation and travel costs for invited participants will be covered by the organisers.  

We are committed to making this event as accessible as possible and welcome any suggestions for how we might achieve this.  

The hybrid workshop will be based at the University of Manchester (UK) on Wed 13th-15th September 2023.