About ICOM/CAMOC 2008 SEOUL

The latest ICOM International Committee to be set up is CAMOC: the International Committee for the Collections and Activities of Museums of Cities. It owes its origins to the initiative of Moscow City Museum and museum professionals in other countries who felt the need for a Committee which would focus on museums of the city.
The Committee also reflects the growing focus world wide on cites: their economic importance, their spectacular growth and the problems and possibilities they present. The matters for debate on the city are almost endless: pollution, regeneration, the private car, public transport, the flight to the suburbs, the destruction of heritage, insensitive development. The Committee aims to be at the centre of this debate, not least through supporting and encouraging museums of cities in their work of collecting, preserving and presenting original material on the city’s past, present and future, work which can reinforce the city’s identity and contribute to its development.

ICOM/CAMOC 2008 Seoul will be about the contribution that museums of cities can make to the city’s future and it will explore a variety of topics within this general theme through formal presentations, panel discussions and workshops.

Overview

  • Period: October 6 - 8, 2008
  • Venue: Seoul Museum of History
  • Theme: City Museums and the Future of the City
  • Conference Language: English, Korean, Russian
  • Hosted and Organized by: ICOM/CAMOC • ICOM KOREA • The Korean Museum Association • Seoul Metropolitan Government • Seoul Museum of History
  • Official Website: www.camoc2008seoul.org



Call for Papers

The conference will be about the contribution that museums about the city can make to the city's future and it will explore a variety of topics through formal presentations, panel discussions and workshops.

The organisers are looking forward to different viewpoints and they are keen therefore that the conference will be open to a wide range of organisations and individuals who can provide new thinking on the city and on ways of understanding its complexity.

The specific themes will include these:

Working with city planners, architects and others in shaping the future of the city
Why should architects or urban planners work with city museums? What can they gain from doing so? Equally, what can museums learn from them? What examples do we have of collaboration?
We would welcome contributions, not only from museums, but also from architects, urban planners and others involved in the shaping of the city.

City museums as centres of debate about the city: involving citizens
What are the debates and discussions to be encouraged? Who should be involved? Why is the city museum an appropriate venue? What examples of good practice are there? One example is the Arsenal in Paris, but that is not a museum. What museum examples are there?

City museums and urban regeneration
What part can a city museum play in regenerating a city, or a part of it? The city museum is, if nothing else, a repository of the city's history. What can be learned, to advantage, from city history?

The contribution of city museums to the sustainable city
'Sustainable' can be a meaningless word. The former mayor of Bogota, Enrique Peñalosa, has described the sustainable city as one best suited to human happiness: a place which is not a drain on natural resources, where things work, where people can walk freely, where there are open, green spaces and fresh air to breath, where people feel they belong. What can city authorities learn from a museum to help make the city sustainable? Perhaps the answer is: nothing. But let's find out.

The future of the historic city centre
Most large cities, certainly in Europe, have a historic centre, the place where the city started and which is attractive, old and a magnet for tourists. How can it best be preserved? How can we ensure that it is more than a tourist venue, but a real working part of the city and not a museum artefact? What is the role of the city museum?

Call for papers
We wish to avoid a series of lengthy presentations, and instead encourage debate and active participation from everyone. We are aiming therefore to have a limited series of formal presentations and more short presentations and contributions to workshops and panel discussions.

Formal papers, which can take the form of case studies, should be of publishable standard and authors are asked to give CAMOC the right to publish their paper following the conference. Presentations should not exceed 30 minutes.

Shorter presentations of up to 10 minutes are encouraged. These will form part of panel and workshop discussion.

As delegates will be coming from a variety of countries and using different languages we are encouraging the use of visual images wherever possible.

Abstracts, which should not exceed 300 words, should be sent to Ian Jones at secretary@camoc.icom.museum by 30 June 2008 at the latest. You should indicate the title of your presentation, the language you will use, your name and full contact details. ***You should also indicate whether you wish to present a formal paper (up to 30 minutes) or make a shorter presentation (up to 10 minutes).
Abstracts will be submitted to our editorial committee and a decision on their suitability will be made very shortly after the closing date of 30 June.