Call for Proposals

Join a MAC Panel Session at the 2020 AAAM Conference!

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MAC is coordinating panel sessions for submission to the 2020 AAAM Conference in Miami, FL on August 5-8, 2020.  Each panel will consist of a moderator and three presenters. If you would like to participate:

Proposed Panels

Session Title: Learning in and through museums. Examples from the Caribbean

Session Description: What is the role of museums in education in the Caribbean and its diasporas? What are the best practices and challenges in museum education in the region? What, if any, is the impact of museums on education, and how is that impact measured? Join us as we explore these questions in the MAC-coordinated education session at the AAAM Conference.

Organizer:  Nyasha Warren, nyashaw@gmail.com

Session Title: Controlling Narratives: Decolonization and Exhibitions in the Caribbean

Session Description: In recent years, debates on decolonizing museums have focused on European museums changing their approach to telling histories of their imperial past. These discussions often occur with very little input from former colonies. In 2019, Tilting Axis, a Caribbean based regional curatorial initiative under the theme “Beyond Trends: Decolonisation and Art Criticism” explored how to disrupt histories of colonization by assuming control of the narrative. This panel seeks to explore the following questions as museum practitioners and curators: What does it mean to assume control of the narrative? What are the ways in which we can decolonize exhibition practices within Caribbean museums? How do we create and curate spaces that break the mold of traditional museum practice and by extension upend our understanding of our diverse pasts and the stories of conquest? How do we create engaging and interactive exhibition spaces? How do we create healing spaces within our exhibition practice?

Organizer: Shani Roper, shani.roper@uwimona.edu.jm 

Session title: Exhibitions by, for and with communities: Can Collaboration Bring Mutual Benefit?

Session description: Museums actively seek to present exhibitions and programs that are relevant for their communities. Co-production and co-curation can contribute to this by including diverse perspectives, engaging new visitors and creating ownership in museum projects. How do Caribbean museums collaborate with communities, and to what end? What are the difficulties and benefits of co-producing exhibitions and programs? This session dives into ways that Caribbean museums consult audiences, collaborate on projects and share decision-making power with communities outside their organisations.

Organizer: Tibisay Sankatsing Nava, sankatsingnava@kitlv.nl 

Session Title: Exhibiting Race in the Caribbean Museum

Session Description: Caribbean countries are today multiracial, but their history of slavery, indentureship and colonialism have left a legacy of racism and racial discrimination that permeates almost every aspect of our society. How have Caribbean museums dealt with or should they deal with race in both historical and modern contexts when creating public displays? Join us for a discussion of how we deal with this critical issue in our museums.

Organizer: Angus Martin, martinja64@gmail.com 

Session Title: Heritage at Risk: A Caribbean Perspective 

Session Description:  Heritage spaces, collections and monuments are at risk from both natural and anthropogenic effects. This panel seeks to discuss how heritage in the Caribbean is and has been impacted by lack of accessibility (due to criminality and location) to the citizenry, as well as by climate change and other environmental factors. How can we as Museum professionals and Museum organizations use our collections to influence the built environment through preservation, conservation and research, and to build awareness about climate change and resultant increases in hydrometeorological and geological hazards? Finally, the panel seeks discourse on how museum professionals can assist in disaster recovery for museums as well as how museums can serve as a place to heal from trauma associated with major natural disasters.

Organizer: Sherene James-Williamson, sherene.james02@uwimona.edu.jm  

Session Title: Caribbean Genealogy

Session Description: This session will explore the diversity of Caribbean genealogies as a result of European invasion and subjugation of the Indigenous peoples, slavery, indentureship and migration. Join us as we explore how to research, contextualize and present these convoluted genealogies of multiple origins in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia.

Organizer:  Germaine Joseph, germaine.joseph@gmail.com