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Rethinking Practice, Reimagining the Future:

Climate, Colonial Collections, and Contemporary Collecting

April 28th-April 29th 2022

National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh

Kia whakato-muri te haere whakamua (Māori proverb)

(English Translation: I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.)

What does the future hold for world culture museums and their collections, and what role can or should they play in building the futures our communities desire or aspire to?

 

At a time of various world crises and museum reckonings, from climate and covid to colonial histories and legacies, the 2022 Museum Ethnographers Group conference presents a range of papers that engage with world collections in ways that seek to address contemporary concerns and inspire new futures for museums and their constituencies.

 

Papers will engage with the following themes:

Colonisation, Climate, and Sustainable Futures

Contemporary Collecting

Co-curating and Co-design

Addressing Imperial and Colonial Histories and Legacies

Digital Initiatives and Remote Access

 

Book here:

MEG Conference 2022: Rethinking Practice, Reimagining the Future Tickets, Thu 28 Apr 2022 at 09:00 | Eventbrite

 

 Conference Pack - Full timetable and Abstracts

 

Conference bursaries:

MEG aspires to make the group and the Conference accessible to all involved in this field, and to diversify the membership.

Two UK bursaries are aimed at people working (paid or voluntary) or wanting to work in UK museums, without institutional support to attend the Conference, with up to £250 each for Conference fee, travel, accommodation and food. Applications are especially welcome from those underrepresented in the cultural sector and those on a low income.

If you are interested in applying for a bursary please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Latest Blog Posts

  •  The prospect of writing a summary report of this year’s MEG conference is, quite frankly, pretty daunting. The range of papers, the complexity of ideas, the combined wealth of knowledge and experience shared both in the lecture hall and so freely over lunch, pages of notes to try and make sense of … So, what follows is a personal, but I hope adequate, overview of some themes, comments and...

  •   MEG Web Officer Museum Ethnographers Group are a UK-based, but international collective, whose members include: Museum professionals, academics, researchers & students, artists, activists & enthusiasts Originally established in 1975, MEG has a long history of bringing individuals, institutions and museum collections together to build knowledge and understanding. MEG believes that our museums have an important role to play in building understanding, foregrounding respect, and caring for each other. However, this is predicated on institutional and practical changes that we...

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