CfP: Artefacts 2022 Munich

Call for Proposals for the conference: ARTEFACTS XXVII “Objects of Science and Technology in Motion”

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 making of science and technology and related areas.

While the last two annual meetings had to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the next conference will be held at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, October 16–18, 2022. It will be "in person" and no longer virtual.

The conference is connected to the Global Summit of Research Museums II, a gathering of directors of some 200 museums around the globe to be held at the Deutsches Museum on October 17-19 on the theme of “Objects in Motion”, but will have its both distinct and discrete program. For further information on the Global Summit you may visit the website: https://www.leibniz-forschungsmuseen.de/en/projects/global-summit-of-research-museums-ii

In an earlier meeting (ARTEFACTS XV in 2010 at Ottawa), we discussed the issue of conflict, displacement and re-engineering society resulting from globalization. This year’s meeting aims at again focusing on the global circulation of knowledge and cultural values embedded in artefacts of science and technology. Complementary to the Global Summit agenda, the ARTEFACTS meeting also will focus on global connections and disconnections. Objects of science and technology will be understood as material manifestations of historical relations, agents in changing configurations of globalization and power, and as problems for research museums in stewardship, interpretation, preservation/conservation, and opportunities for collaboration with other institutions.

We invite papers that explore topics such as

· The historical role of the circulation of objects/collections of science and technology in transnational contexts, especially re Global North/South.

· The (multiple) transformations that objects experience over the course of their life cycles (before, during and after living in museums): as they age, decay, are conserved or reborn virtually as data sets and digital bodies.

· Challenges of interpreting and presenting complex object biographies for museum audiences.

· Potential ethical issues in provenance/ownership of objects in motion.

· (Transnational) Collaborations with other institutions in facilitating preservation/interpretation of moving objects.

ARTEFACTS conferences are friendly and informal meetings with the character of workshops. There is plenty of time for open discussion and networking. Each contributor is allocated a 20 minutes slot for her or his talk plus ample of time for questions and discussion. Please send you proposal for sessions or individual papers (ca 500 words) along with a brief CV to Helmuth Trischler no later than Friday, July 15, 2022. Please remember that the focus of presentations should be on artefacts.