2025 Irish Museums Association Annual Conference

In the continually evolving field of museum practice, the journey of objects within collections is marked by dynamic cycles. These objects enter collections through various channels, such as donations, acquisitions, or archaeological finds, and subsequently are marked by various phases of engagement from research, interpretation, display, and storage. Critical decisions regarding the object’s future, whether to remain within the collection, be deaccessioned or become obsolete, are integral to an object’s journey. Each of these phases presents its own set of challenges, opportunities, and ethical considerations.

This conference will explore strategic solutions and good practice associated with the life cycle of collections, addressing themes relating to ethical stewardship and policy development, innovative approaches to collection management and access, and community engagement and shared ownership, among others. It will invite delegates to, through discussions, consider what are the ethical implications and management strategies associated with these processes within the museum sector: how do museums navigate these complex phases while maintaining ethical integrity and public trust?

Have you a great idea for a conference session? Something you have been thinking about, or working on, that you'd like to share with the wider museum community?

The Irish Museums Association (IMA) invites individual or session presentations proposals for the IMA Annual Conference 2025, under the theme Collections in Transition: the life cycle of objects.

This conference is the main gathering of the Irish museum sector and aims to provide a platform for critical dialogue around the role and purpose of museums and inform sectoral agendas, while assisting museums with their thinking and planning as they realise their full potential.

We welcome different types of presentation formats (solo presentations, conversations, interviews, interjections, workshops + more!) of either 20-minute or 60-min duration, preferably related to the conference theme.

How to propose a session?

If you have an idea for a session let us know by emailing programme@irishmuseums.org by noon, 21 October 2024.

You should include:

• Title of presentation.
• Presentation abstract or outline of the content (250 words max.).
• Speaker(s) biography (150 words max.). 20 min sessions should consist of no more than two speakers; 50 min. sessions should consist of no more than four people.
• Session format (presentation, panel conversation, interview, interjection, provocation, etc).
• Contact details (email and telephone number).

We will aim to notify you of selection within 14 days of the closing date for submissions. In principle, presentations must be delivered in person.

Further Information

For further information or if you wish to discuss your proposal, contact the IMA’s programme manager, Margarita Vásquez Cárdenas, on programme@irishmuseums.org