Asia-Europe Museum Network General Conference 2014

The 6th Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) General Conference will be held at Weltmuseum Wien (World Museum Vienna), Austria, from 24th to 27th September 2014. The conference is organised with the support of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).

ASEMUS is a cross-cultural network of museums with Asian collections located in member countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ASEMUS promotes mutual understanding through collaboration and the sharing of museum collections. Since 2000, ASEMUS has served as a useful platform for knowledge sharing between museum professionals in Asia and Europe.

Call For Papers: Deadline May 1st 2014

The conference will include two half-day sessions of parallel panels for presentations by participants and two half-day sessions dedicated to lectures as well as a presentation of the new museum concept of the Weltmuseum Wien.

The conference theme, Exploring Borders refers to museum work itself, which very often involves being confronted by ‘borders’ such as national boundaries political or ethical barriers or obstacles to cross-disciplinary approaches. As museums, we co-operate on international projects, interact across cultures and discuss all manner of ethical and moral issues. The museum as an international meeting place needs to accept and respect certain limits, while at the same time demonstrating the courage to go beyond its own borders. In the museum context, this can also mean tackling the limitations to our own creativity and sense of identity.

Call for Papers

This is a call for submission of proposals for presentation at the upcoming ASEMUS General Conference. ASEMUS members are invited to participate in this conference, take the opportunity to meet colleagues, stimulate exchanges and develop collaborative projects. Curators, educators and conservators, in particular, are invited to submit presentation proposals that deal critically with the topics in focus and address issues based on their practical experience. We invite engaging 15-minute presentations, which can include PowerPoint and video formats.

Theme: Exploring Borders: Current Practice and Future Prospects for Co-operation between Asian and European Museums

Topics in focus:

Curatorial approach

• Strategies for Curating Heritage and Social Conflict
• Curating Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Museum
• The Struggle for decolonisation in Museum Practice
• Cross-border Challenges for Underwater Archaeology

Conservation approach

• Conservation Approaches for Ethnographic Objects and Works of Art: Limitations and Overlaps
• Let there be light? Monitoring and Managing Colour Change in Light Sensitive Collections in Asian and European Museums
• Minimising the Risk of Open Display: Optimising Preventive Conservation Strategies in Asian and European Museums
• Appropriate Traditional Conservation Strategies for Asian Collections

Educational approach

• Comparative Case Studies in “East” and “West” Education Policies
• Museums as a Meeting Point for Communities?
• The Museum as a Place of Learning in Areas of Inter-religious Conflict

Please send the title of your proposal, along with a short description (max. 200 words), brief biography (max. 100 words), your institutional affiliation and contact information to the following address: sri.kuhnt [at] weltmuseumwien.at Submission Deadline: 1 May 2014 Short-listed proposals will be announced in July 2014.   Contact:           Dr. Sri Kuhnt-Saptodewo sri.kuhnt[at]weltmuseumwien.at + 43/ 1 53430 5105 Weltmuseum Wien Neue Burg, 1010 Vienna, Austria