CfP: Material Culture of Health Activism
THURSDAY 20 JUNE 2019, SCIENCE MUSEUM, LONDON
A workshop at the Science Museum, London, organised by Imogen Clarke, Assistant Curator of Medicine.
Health
activism has arisen in response to a range of issues including NHS
funding cuts, abortion law reform, the provision of mental health care
and abolishing the so-called ‘tampon tax’. Campaigning
and protesting for and against these issues and others have
proliferated a wide variety of material and visual culture including
AIDS quilts, pro-choice badges, placards at junior doctor strikes and
contemporary artworks. This interdisciplinary conference
will explore the histories and strategies of health activism along with
the material and visual culture of this activity. We will additionally
consider the politics and practices of collecting, curating and
interpreting health activism in museums and other
institutions.
The day will include a keynote lecture by Manon Parry and a short ceremony involving the
lotus unfolding of Block 3 of the Dutch AIDS Memorial Quilt introduced by Jörn Wolters from the Stichting NAMENproject Nederland.
We
invite papers on health activism from any time period and discipline,
which may reflect on the following topics and related areas:
- Health activism and museums
- The history and material culture of health activism
- Rapid response collecting and medicine collections
- Art, activism and medicine
Please submit abstracts of 250 words for 20 minute papers and a short biography of 100 words to Imogen Clarke,
imogen.clarke@sciencemuseum.