[Museum] ICMAH annual conference 2009 "Museums and faith", Luxembourg 14-16 May 2009

["Marta Lourenco" <mclourenco@museus.ul.pt>]

Reencaminho informação enviada pelo Comité Internacional do ICOM para Museus 
e Colecções de História e Arqueologia (ICMAH) sobre a sua próxima reunião 
anual, em Maio no Luxemburgo.

Para mais informações, Programa e inscrições, ver www.icmah.icom.museum
ou contactar directamente Marie Paule Jungblut M.Jungblut@MUSEE-HIST.LU

Obrigada.

Marta C. Lourenço
ICOM-PT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marie Paule Jungblut" <M.Jungblut@MUSEE-HIST.LU>
To: <ICOM-L@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:15 PM
Subject: ICMAH annual conference 2009 "Museums and faith", Luxembourg 14-16 
May 2009

ICOM / ICMAH Annual Conference 2009
"Museums and Faith"

organised by
ICOM's International Committee for Museums and Collections of Archaeology 
and History (ICMAH)
and the
Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg
14-16 May 2009

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg City History 
Museum) will be hosting the above conference. It will be organised as part 
of a support programme for the exhibition "A Matter of Faith. An Exhibition 
for Believers and Non-Believers". For more information, please visit 
www.icmah.icom.museum

Starting point and background of the conference

The times we live in are characterised by our highly ambivalent relationship 
with religion and faith. On the one hand, western societies are experiencing 
increased secularisation. This is countered, on the other hand, by a growing 
trend towards fundamentalism, also among Christians. Nevertheless, the 
subject of faith and religion appears so far to have occupied only a 
marginal place in cultural history museums and exhibitions. There are only a 
handful of establishments that explicitly tackle this subject. Worth 
mentioning are the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow, the 
Museum of World Religions in Taipei/Taiwan or the Bijbelsmuseum in 
Amsterdam. At the same time, numerous cultural history museums exhibit 
objects of faith outside of their religious context. Is the museum world 
scared of taking a stand with regard to the subject of faith?

The conference "Museums and faith" calls upon critically reflective museum 
curators. It is not intended to focus on religious history or anthropology.

More specifically, the conference "Museums and faith" will be contemplating 
and discussing innovative and stimulating practical examples under the 
following four focus points:

1. Museums in the area of tension between faith and society
It has become a common catchphrase to talk of a "clash of cultures" or a 
"clash of religions". Major cities in Europe as well as in America are 
characterised by the juxtaposition and often the opposition of religions. To 
what extent do museums / exhibitions take a stand in these negotiation 
processes? Do they assume the role of neutral observers, of chroniclers? Or 
do they intervene, moderately or even taking sides?
Can and should museums explore the depth of faith?

2. Can historical experiences of faith be exhibited?
To what extent can individual experiences of faith in fact be represented by 
means of historical observation? (To what extent) can this even be 
communicated to an audience that is no longer religious?

3. Faith in contemporary art
How does contemporary art broach the issue of faith, between blasphemy and 
provocation on the one hand and individual professions of faith on the other 
hand? What can curators of cultural history museums learn from the approach 
adopted by contemporary art museums?

4. Secular museum objects, sacred museum objects
Whenever a Christian church is no longer used for worship, it must first be 
"deconsecrated", so that it can subsequently be used for secular purposes. 
What happens to objects originally used for religious rites? What about 
their religious content? Does this disappear once they are transferred to a 
museum or an exhibition? As museum objects they are secular objects per se, 
but is there not something that "remains" nevertheless? Altar pieces, for 
instance, can trigger reflective meditation in a museum. Likewise, religious 
objects deposited in a museum can be made available to people for religious 
ceremonies. How do museum curators deal with this? Do they act as 
intermediaries between the religious and the secular? How much faith do 
curators allow in their museums?

LANGUAGES AND ABSTRACTS
The plenary and case study sessions will be held in English. No simultaneous 
translation from English is foreseen. Participants will receive the 
abstracts of the papers printed in English.


PARTICIPANTS
Registration will be limited to 50 participants.


REGISTRATION
The cost of the two-day conference is 180 euro, or an equivalent amount in 
dollars, and includes light lunches and receptions. It will be possible to 
register for one day only.

The deadline for registration is 1 May 2009. Registrations are to be sent to 
the Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg. Payment by Visa, MasterCard 
or American Express will be accepted. Please check the CONFERENCE 
REGISTRATION and CONFERENCE PAYMENT forms below for further information.


HOTEL ACCOMMODATION
Each conference registrant is responsible for reserving and paying for his 
or her hotel accommodation in Luxembourg. Contact one of the hotels below to 
make your reservation.

Hotel Simoncini
6, rue de Notre Dame
L-2240 Luxembourg
Tel : 00352 22 28 44
Fax : 00352 26 26 29 00
E-Mail : info@hotelsimoncini.lu <mailto:info@hotelsimoncini.lu>
Web: www.hotelsimoncini.lu <http://www.hotelsimoncini.lu/>
Approximately 135?/night, breakfast included
Three minutes away from the Luxembourg City History Museum

Hotel Casanova
10, place Guillaume
L-1648 Luxembourg
Tel : 00352 22 04 93
Fax : 00352 22 04 96
E-Mail : info@hotelcasanova.lu <mailto:info@hotelcasanova.lu>
Web: www.hotelcasanova.lu <http://www.hotelcasanova.lu/>
Approximately 110?/night, breakfast included
Three minutes away from the Luxembourg City History Museum

Youth Hostel Luxembourg
2, rue du Fort Olisy
L-2261 Luxembourg
Tel: 00352 22 68 89 20
Fax: 00352 22 33 60
E-mail: luxembourg@youthhostels.lu
Web: www.youthhostels.lu <http://www.youthhostels.lu/>
Single bedroom 32,80?/night, breakfast included
Fifteen minutes away from the Luxembourg City History Museum


*************
Marie-Paule Jungblut
Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg
L-2090 Luxembourg
Tel.: +352 4796 4562
Fax: +352 471707
e-mail: m.jungblut@musee-hist.lu