Last week, during the XIV Jornadas museologicas Chilenas at the Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile, there was a meeting of the Group UMAC in Chile.
In the photo, Karin Weil (Universidad Austral de Chile) and Margarita Guzman (Universidad del Rosario, ICOM-Chile), among colleagues from university museums and collections in Chile.
UMAC wishes all the best to this important national network in Latin America!
5th Forum of Brazilian University Museums
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
8 – 11 October 2018
It is with great appreciation that we observe this timely and meaningful Forum of the University Museums bringing together experts from various international organisations to exchange ideas and experiences on the current state and the future of the university museums in Latin America and beyond.
Brazil has been one of the most dynamic and productive centres for museology and museum practice globally. It is no wonder that so many Brazilian professionals took part in different posts of ICOM’s governance, an association of over 40 000 members organised in 141 countries and territories worldwide. Besides our UMAC, representatives of ICOM’s expert International Committees are here today.
We believe our Brazilian colleagues will present to the world another example to be learned from and followed with their tackling of the devastating fire in the National Museum of Brazil and its aftermath.
We, as ICOM, are willing and ready to assist the Brazilian professionals in their quest to turn this mishap into an opportunity to rehabilitate this museum and museums in general, to update pertinent legislations and to advocate for funding.
I extend my best wishes to all of you for a very successful and productive meeting.
Suay Aksoy
President of International Council of Museums (ICOM)
Foi com enorme satisfação que tomámos conhecimento deste significativo e oportuno Fórum de Museus Universitários, que reúne especialistas de várias organizações internacionais com o objetivo de promover a troca de ideias e experiências sobre o estado atual e o futuro dos museus universitários no Brasil e para além das fronteiras da América Latina.
O Brasil é reconhecido como um dos centros mais dinâmicos e produtivos na museologia e nas práticas museológicas a nível global. Não é, por isso, de admirar que tantos profissionais de museus brasileiros tenham vindo, ao longo do tempo, a ocupar diferentes lugares na governança do ICOM, uma organização que conta com mais de 40.000 membros em 141 países e territórios por todo o mundo. Para além do nosso UMAC, estão hoje aqui reunidos, em Belo Horizonte, vários membros de outros Comitês Internacionais especializados do ICOM.
Na sequência do incêndio devastador do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, seu rescaldo e consequências, acreditamos que, mais uma vez, os nossos colegas brasileiros darão ao mundo um exemplo com o qual todos possamos todos aprender e seguir. Nós, enquanto ICOM, estamos disponíveis e preparados para apoiar os profissionais de museus brasileiros na transformação desta calamidade numa oportunidade para reabilitar o Museu Nacional e os museus brasileiros em geral, bem como para rever e atualizar legislação relevante e defender o seu adequado financiamento. Estendo a todos os meus melhores votos de um bem sucedido e frutuoso Forum.
Suay Aksoy
Presidente do Conselho Internacional dos Museus (ICOM)
Both higher education and civic responsibility are under siege today by economic, cultural, and political forces. Yet both are essential for a robust democracy. What can those of us working in academic museums and galleries do to help reverse this trend, and how do we advocate effectively for this work among our key stakeholders?
This year’s AAMG Annual Conference at the University of Minnesota invites you to reflect upon our relevance to parent institutions and local communities. Can we effectively bridge increasingly polarized values and priorities among our broad constituencies and still fulfill our mission and core values? How do we mentor students in the digital age? And what can we do to transform our institutions to reflect shifting demographics, financial challenges, and new learning methodologies?
We invite you to submit conference proposals that address these questions and topics. Please submit your proposal using this link by December 1, 2018.
Please indicate all areas that your proposal addresses:
Student success, including museum studies/museum practice, other curricular-based models, and extracurricular connections
New academic partnerships
The museum as community center, stimulating dialog and civic responsibility
Advocacy in campus and among other stakeholders
Building diversity among staff and advisory boards
Financial sustainability
Presentation Formats
Presenters may select from the following formats for their proposals:
Roundtable Facilitator:
Would you like to lead a conversation on a specific topic? These lively discussions will be held on Thursday afternoon at the University of Minnesota museums (details to come). We invite you to propose a topic and explain why your skills, experiences, and interests will contribute to your success as a discussion leader, particularly as this relates to conference’s theme. As the Roundtable Facilitator, you will welcome attendees, offer a 5-10 minute overview about the topic and your personal connection to it, and then facilitate a conversation with those present. Roundtables run 1 ¼ hours.
Throwdown:
We select up to 10 presenters for 5 minute (no more than 20 slides) talks on Thursday evening, during our opening reception. We call it a “Throwdown” because it’s high energy, quick-paced, and foregrounds powerful ideas. This is an excellent opportunity for students and emerging professionals to share a special program or practice.
Panels:
Panels are the heart of our conference. Over two days, we anticipate having 18 panels. That breaks down to 9 panels per day: 3 simultaneous sessions 3 times per day, one in the morning and two in the afternoon. Panels are 1-1/4 hours each and have 2-3 presenters, with one panelist or convener serving as moderator. A minimum of 15-20 minutes should be reserved for dialogue with your audience, following the presentations. All presentations should be in PowerPoint format, and the moderator is responsible for gathering the presentations and bringing them on a laptop. The moderator is also responsible for time-keeping. Tell us the topic, what each presenter will contribute, and how the proposal relates to the conference theme. If you would like to lead a panel but need to find panelists, you can query the AAMG listserv or social media platforms for participants.
Poster Sessions:
Tell us the topic, why it is relevant to the theme, and confirm that you will be present for the conference. Poster specifications are as follows: Each presenter will have an easel, a black foam core support (40” x 32”), and two heavy duty clamps. Dimensions are limited to 40” x 32” (101.6 cm x 81.28 cm).
Workshops:
Would you like to lead a workshop that strengthens museum practice? We are willing to share the income. Tell us what you would teach, what your experience is leading this, how long you would like your workshop to run (full or half day), and your minimum number of attendees. Workshop day to be determined, but it will likely be Sunday morning.
Submit your proposal online via Google Forms: https://goo.gl/forms/Kz5x102HuQywNxHv1
Deadline for submitting your proposal is: December 1, 2018
Questions? Please contact the Program Committee Co-Chairs:
Jill Hartz, hartz@uoregon.edu
Craig Hadley, communications@aamg-us.org
AAMG Website
The UMAC Annual General Meeting approved the proposal by the Technical University Dresden (TU Dresden), in Germany, to host UMAC 2021. Kirsten Vincenz, UMAC member from TU Dresden, was in Miami to make the proposal, which was unanimously approved.
Photo: Creative Commons.
More importantly, UMAC will meet with the European University Heritage Network, Universeum.
The fantastic collections of TU Dresden can be explored in the UMAC World Database of University Museums and Collections — search them here.
Largely due to the partnership with, and commitment of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, US, our latest annual conference at the University of Miami mobilised almost 400 participants from 23 countries.
UMAC is grateful to the AAMG and we hope to continue developing activities together in the near future!
Read more.
The Lowe Art Museum, our host of the UMAC annual Conference next month, has just released a note for the media.
Read it here and find out more about the Lowe in UMAC World Database.
The Council of Australian University Museums and Collections is currently calling for proposals for our symposium to be held at the Australian National University on April 6.
While the symposium is primarily a way for us to gauge the Australian experience of this issue, we also welcome international perspectives. Even if you are not able to attend the symposium, we’d love to hear responses to these questions from your part of the world. We’d be interested in putting together a document to be made available at the symposium that gives an international perspective.
So recasting the symposium questions for an international audience:-
We welcome the thoughts of university curators, researchers, professional staff, administrative staff, university leaders and students who would like to help shape our thinking on this issue.
Read more.
As a result of the VIII Encuentro de Museos Universitarios del Mercosur/V Encuentro de Museos de Latinoamérica y el Caribe/I Encuentro de Museos Universitarios de Perú, that took place in Lima, Peru, October 2017, a Charter was published (in Spanish), underlining the importance of university museums in Latin America.
The full text can be accessed here.
Website of ICOM Peru.
AAMG & UMAC CONFERENCE 2018, June 21-24, 2018
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA
Audacious Ideas: University Museums and Collections as Change-Agents for a Better World
We live in a dangerous, often unstable, and environmentally compromised world. What can academic museums, galleries, and collections do to remedy this situation? If we are dedicated to teaching and training new generations of students, to serving increasingly diverse communities, how do we make a positive difference? How do we know we are making that difference?
Audacious Ideas asks presenters to share with us exciting and unusual ways that their museums, galleries, and collections are serving as change-agents. We’re interested in proposals that address how you are adopting new roles and adapting old ones, welcoming new constituencies while keeping current visitors, and creating new paradigms that make our institutions more valued and critical partners in higher education and in building a more peaceful and healthy world.
More info and submissions here.
DEADLINE: 30 October 2017.
