How can museums define innovative practices, spaces and policies that reflect the challenges of building an inclusive Europe in an age of migrations? Such question is being addressed by European Museums in an age of migrations - MeLa (http://www.mela-project.eu/), a 4-year collaborative research project funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities Program (FP7).

This MeLa conference, organised by the University of Glasgow (http://wp3.mela-project.eu/wp/pages/research-field-03-international-conference-overview), explores innovative trans-national and trans-local partnerships, collaborations and policies between European museums, libraries & public cultural institutions around the themes of European cultural heritage for the arts and sciences, migration, cultural dialogue, and use of ICTs. What are the experiences and effects of collaboration, partnerships and networks around the core activities of archiving, preserving, displaying history and artefacts, and the associated categories of cultural value and identity? Is it possible to allow more flexible and heterogenic connections of public cultural institutions within the European/Mediterranean space? How are museums, libraries and public cultural institutions presenting themselves and interacting with multicultural audiences? What guidelines and policies could be suggested to support networking of public cultural institutions?

Preliminary Program

The preliminary program is available online (Day 1, Day 2) and for download as PDF. The following institutions are represented by speakers at the conference:

Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney
British Library
Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration
European Cultural Foundation
Europeana
Foundation for the History of Technology, The Netherlands
Génériques
Glasgow Museums
Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network
Harvard University
London South Bank University
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
Museum of the Resistance, Deportation, War, Rights and Freedom (Turin)
Natural History Museum, London
Politecnico di Milano
Science Museum, London
Surrey City Council
University of East Anglia
University of Glasgow
University of Manchester
University of Naples

Further institutions are also represented by the poster presenters.

Invited speakers
• Sharon MacDonald (Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Manchester)
• Annet Henneman (Hidden Theatre-Teatro Nascosto)
• Rebecca Kay and Alison Phipps (Professors at University of Glasgow and convenors of Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network)
• Agnès Arquez Roth (Directrice réseau et partenariats, Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration)
• Eleanor Kenny (European Campaign Coordinator, Europeana)
• Katherine Watson (Director of European Cultural Foundation)


Themes covered by conference papers and posters
• Case studies on museums, libraries and public cultural institutions collaborating for European integration and cultural dialogue
• Operative approaches to multiculturalism, interculturalism, transculturalism in public cultural institutions
• National and transnational collaboration models: partnerships, cooperation, coordination
• European cultural policies, migration and mobility
• Identity, memory and heritage in European museums, libraries and public cultural institutions
• European narratives and cultural points of divergence and commonality
• Archiving, preservation and exhibition technologies in relation to migration and mobility
• Politics of migrating objects, including repatriation