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Kalender
ICR Annual Meeting 2016
4. Juli 2016 - 5. Juli 2016, Milano, Italy
MUSEUMS, LANDSCAPES, AND HORIZONS –– UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE, KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, SEE WHERE YOU’RE GOING
The great varieties of existing landscapes combining nature and nurture in the differing regions of the world are expressions of long and intimate relationships between people and
their natural environment. Barbara Bender has noted that landscapes are often thought of either in terms of “landform”, as something already in place, or of “land-use”, meaning whatever is done to the land. This can suggest that a landscape is neutral and passive. A landscape is, however, never passive. As Bender has pointed out, people engage with it, appropriate and contest it. It influences the way in which individual, group or nation-state identities are created and disputed.
The concept of “land-use” thus implies the influence of a human agency on a landscape. This is also shown in the definition of “cultural landscape” adopted by UNESCO’s World Heritage
Center covering a wide range of expressions about the interaction between humans and their natural environment. Cultural landscapes can reflect specific forms of land usage or represent unique spiritual relationships between humans and nature. Their infinite variety affirms not only humankind’s creative talents and social development, but also its imaginative and spiritual vitality. However, the infinite variety of cultural and physical landscapes does not also equal spatial infinity. Landscapes will always have boundaries, whether these are political, mental or geographical. The ultimate geographical boundary is the horizon. The horizon, that is, the apparent line separating the earth from the sky, limits the range of
vision, the field of view, the vista perceived by human eyes. Defined metaphorically, it can also indicate the limit of human experience or mental vision about countries, people and
history. Conversely, the horizon can serve as a boundary or a barrier to be expanded,broadened or even exploded. It can thus allow for the opening up of such boundaries and horizons beyond previous human experience, and even beyond previous museological experience. This may feel threatening but should rather be seen as an opportunity for growth.
In addressing the topic of “MUSEUMS, LANDSCAPES, AND HORIZONS – – UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE, KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, SEE WHERE YOU‘RE GOING”, we invite presentations that can reflect on the considerations discussed above or on the following questions:
· How can museums incorporate the concept of cultural landscapes and their horizons in their work and exhibitions?
· How can museums interpret their cultural and physical landscapes and their communities in a way that allows for expansion beyond self-imposed horizons?
How can museums contribute to the protection and conservation of their cultural and physical landscapes, while still allowing for development and cultural tourism beyond familiar horizons?
· How can museums document and interpret intangible heritage cultural boundaries or intangible horizons separating cultural landscapes?
· How can museums promote a wider appreciation of the interaction between human beings and their cultural and physical landscapes?
· How can shared responsibility for the cultural and physical landscape be organized between museums and their source communities?
PRESENTATIONS:
Three ICR Sessions have been scheduled, one on Monday, 4 July (14:00-18:00) and two on Tuesday, 5 July (11:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00). We invite abstracts of no more than 350 words to be submitted by 15 March, 2016 to ICR Secretary Jean Aase at jeanaase@getmail.no
(please CC to ICR Board Member Sue Hanna at sushanna1@aol.com). Approval of the submitted proposals will be announced by 1 April, 2016.
Abstracts should include:
· Title of the paper
· Name and institution of the author, also including ICOM membership number for ICOM members
· Email address
· Technical requirements for the presentation
Presentations will be strictly limited to 15 minutes each, corresponding to 5 pages of text (font 12, line space 1.15) and 20 slides for a PPT presentation. Approved texts must be submitted to the ICR Secretary (see above) by 15 June 2016 to facilitate inclusion in the published
Proceedings of the ICR Sessions, 2016 ICOM Milano Triennial Conference.
JOINT SESSION WITH CAMOC:
Please note that ICR will also participate in a Joint Session with CAMOC on Wednesday 6 July on the topic “Museums and Landscape Communities”. For this Joint Session, ICR has invited one keynote speaker and four additional speakers to address some aspect of the chosen topic (CAMOC’s five speakers will be selected after submission of abstracts). After these nine
presentations, the Joint Session will continue with a half-hour Panel Discussion between one participant from CAMOC and one from ICR. A fifteen-minute period of Q&A will round up the session.