This conference invites professionals working in the museums, galleries and cultural institutions to present short papers - of 15 minute duration - at the Irish Museums Association's Annual Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Friday, February 27, 2015.


CONFERENCE THEME:

Taking as its title Museums in Society: Navigating Public Policy, the 2015 conference will examine how museums respond to, and negotiate, policy directions. It will focus in particular on museums' role in relation to social inclusion, education, economic regeneration, and tourism agendas.

Invited speakers and conference participants will share their experiences and expertise on the interdependent relationship between government bodies and museums: the ‘mirror and lamp’ effect whereby public policies both reflect and guide the functions and missions of the museum and vice versa. The conference will examine how museums can better position themselves to reflect changes within society and in government policies, while at the same time performing their historical roles of custodianship, presentation and scholarship. How should museums approach the difficult task of fulfilling these multiple, and sometimes competing, functions?




An annual event, this is the main conference of the year in the Irish museum sector, giving museum practitioners the chance to meet and exchange views. Details of previous IMA conferences are online at http://www.irishmuseums.org/annual-conference/, where you will be able to view the programmes and abstracts through the various links.

The conference language is English and papers must be presented in person. It is aimed that selected papers will be published in the Museum Ireland Journal 2015.

Please email your abstract(200 words max) to office@irishmuseums.com, including title, contact details and a short speaker's biography(150 words max).

For enquiries, please contact Gina O'Kelly: office@irishmuseums.org