Artikkelipyyntö

Object Biographies Conference, deadline extended to 15 September 2017!

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

Object Biographies

II International Artefacta Conference

2-3 March 2018

House of Science and Letters, Helsinki, Finland

Artefacta, the Finnish Network for Artefact Studies in collaboration with the Finnish Antiquarian Society and Nordic Association of Conservators in Finland

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting proposals for presentations for our second international conference. Object biographies have been understood in both highly concrete terms as the history of relocating artefacts and retracing their physical changes and as abstract models or metaphors for outlining relationships between people and their environment.

When considering objects and material culture, object biography or life-span has become a concept encompassing a broad, multidisciplinary and diffuse field of research. The history, evolution and uses of this term have varied and have been of wide scope. The term has come to bridge various disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, art history, conservation studies, craft studies, ethnology, history, museology, the natural sciences and sociology.

We welcome all experts who work with objects and cultural heritage collections – researchers, curators, conservators and conservation scientists – to present and discuss the various meanings of object biographies. The aim is to provide a cross-section of current research and its results and an overview of the present and future directions of research in this field.

Keynote speakers
Claire Farago, Professor of Art History, University of Colorado Boulder, United States
Karin Margarita Frei, Research Professor in Archaeometry, National Museum of Denmark
Eero Hyvönen, Director of Helsinki Centre for Digital Humanities (Heldig), Finland

The conference seeks recent advances and innovations in the field of object biographies, for example:

– Case studies, overviews of the state of research and theoretical surveys

– The numerous methods with which the biographies of objects can be reconstructed and theories for analysing life-spans and materiality

– Research on conservation treatments and material/conservation science

– Collaboration projects between researchers, curators, conservators or conservation scientists

– How objects during the latter part of their life-span can cause health and safety issues particularly in museums and how organisations have found solutions to overcome these problems

The form of presentation may be a PowerPoint presentation by one or several experts, or an interview, poster or panel discussion. Please articulate clearly on your abstract the form of your presentation.

Length of the proposal for a presentation: max. 1 page

Please notice that the deadline for submissions has been extended to 15 September 2017!

Acceptance of proposals: 1 November 2017

The presentations will be organised into sessions by the conference committee. The sessions will be arranged thematically instead of according to traditional divisions between disciplines. The goal is to enhance interdisciplinary dialogue.

Please use the online proposal submission system available on the Artefacta Internet site:
http://www.artefacta.fi/tapahtumat

Only proposals submitted online will be considered.

The conference fee is EUR 50.

Please send any inquiries via email to

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone who may be interested!