'Low Lands, High Tides'
The International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM) is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the next biennial ICMM Congress (conference), to be held from 15-20 September 2024 in the ‘low land’ countries of The Netherlands and Belgium.
The 2024 Congress has been organised in collaboration with four host museums:
Maritiem Museum Rotterdam – Rotterdam, Netherlands
Het Scheepvaart, National Maritime Museum – Amsterdam, Netherlands
Zuiderzee Museum – Enkhuisen, Netherlands
Museen aan de Stroom (MAS) – Antwerp, Belgium
We invite you to gather in these two nations, rich in maritime heritage, to explore with us the role of maritime museums in the contemporary world, to discuss how museums might respond to marine climate change, how to reinterpret maritime heritage, how to diversify our audiences and reconsider interpretive practice, as well as how to rethink our relationship with the ocean from regional, national and/or global perspectives. We welcome a diversity of submissions from all backgrounds to share challenges and opportunities related to your museums and institutions.
Conference Themes:
Day 1 - Blue Ocean and the Marine Environment
How can maritime museums respond to ocean conservation challenges, the changing climate, and our changing relationship with the sea?
Day 2 - Museum Ships and Maritime Heritage
How can maritime museums navigate current and future impacts on museum vessels and the maritime heritage sector to enhance their sustainability?
Day 3 - Maritime Crafts and Skills in Museums
How can maritime museums best conserve, collect and present historic maritime crafts and skills?
Day 4 - People and the Sea
How should the impact of maritime history on today’s society be represented through our values and behaviours as museums and through our exhibitions and public programming?
Day 5 - The Maritime Museum as Activist?
The world is currently confronted by global ecological and socio-demographic challenges, many of which link directly to our oceans. How should the role of maritime museums and leaders adapt to address these challenges?
Proposals:
Proposals can be made for a conference paper, panel, workshop or short report.
The format of each presentation is 20 minutes long (including 5 minutes Q&A), and 7 minutes for a short report. The proposal should not exceed 300 words.
Abstracts should be submitted via this link: https://forms.office.com/e/H7Fge65KnA
The following information should be included in the abstract proposal:
- Title of the submitted proposal
- Indicate if it is a paper, panel session, workshop or short report (Pecha Kucha)
- Name(s) of Author(s) or presenters
- Institutional Affiliation(s) (if you have one), country and email address
- Technical requirements for the proposed presentation, and whether you propose to use audio or video media.
- 100-word biography for each presenter
The abstract must be submitted in English. Presentations should be delivered in English but a live sub-title service in other languages may be available online.
We encourage in-person attendance, to benefit from the experience of being in the ‘low lands’ countries and to network with other attendees, but some online sessions may be considered.
The ICMM 2024 Programme Committee will review all proposals, and selected presenters will be notified by January 2024.
It is anticipated that bookings for the Congress will open early in 2024. ICMM offers Congress bursaries through its Richard Foster Bursary scheme to encourage and support attendance from those who lack financial support. More details on this will be issued in the next few months.
Proposal Submission Deadline: 30th November 2023
Accepted Proposals: January 2024
For queries regarding the Call for Papers, please contact:
Zefeng You
Chair of ICMM 2024 Programme Committee
Sailing for More Maritime Museum, Ningbo, China
E-mail: zyou@ioacs.org / icmm2024pc@gmail.com