CfP: International Conference Museums as Spaces of Cultural Translation and Transfer University of Tartu, Estonia

Call for Abstracts

Questions to be addressed include, but are not limited to, the following:

• How are the concepts of ‘cultural translation’ and ‘cultural transfer’ reflected in museum practices? What are conceptual differences and common grounds? Which perspectives and research methods are useful to study the various transfer processes in the contemporary museum?
• What types of translation and transfer (interlingual, intralingual, intersemiotic, etc.) are present in museums? How do spatial, visual and textual resources interact multimodally?
• How do translation practices and policies differ according to the type of museum (memorial museums, migration museums, ethnographic museums, etc.)? 
• What is the role of different agents and stakeholders (curators, translators, local communities, visitors)? How do the various types of translation and transfer function as instruments of power?
• How are (national or foreign, dominant or minor) cultures, identities and memories (re)imagined in museums? In what ways do forms of translation and transfer facilitate the interchange and cross-fertilization of cultures in the contact zone?
• To what extent are museum concepts culturally defined? What are the indications of globalized museum practices nowadays?
• How can we assess the importance of the digital space and the hybrid exhibition model for meaning-making in museums?

If you wish to present a paper, please send a brief abstract (300 words) and a short bio (50 words) to museumtranslation@ut.ee by midnight on 15 December 2021. If your abstract is selected, you will receive a notification of acceptance by 20 January 2022.

Language Policy: the conference language is English.

Venue: University of Tartu College of Foreign Languages and Cultures (J. Liivi street 4)

At the moment, the conference is planned as an on-site event. However, depending on the development of the pandemic, we will consider the possibility of making some parts available online.

This conference is organized in collaboration with the Cultural Transfer Research Group of the Enlight University Network.

For more information please follow the link here.