Conference: Re-Visiting the Contact Zone: Museums, Theory, Practice
Linköping, Sweden | Scandic Linköping Vast
Museums form an important part of the cultural heritage of all European countries. As institutions, however, they have remained focused on the nation state for historical, political and often for financial reasons, but many of the issues museums face today transcend national boundaries. This international European Science Foundation funded conference seeks to provide a platform for exchange, reflecting on the new EU-wide interest in museums as spaces of cultural encounter that occupy a unique position at the junction between ‘the local’, ‘the national’ and ‘the global’. Ten years ago James Clifford formulated his influential concept of museums as ‘contact zones’, highlighting museums as spaces of cultural encounter and drawing attention to the crucial interaction of researchers and practitioners.