Photography entered the museum shortly after its invention in the 19th century, serving as a reproduction tool, a scientific process, a printmaking method, and an expressive medium. However, precisely because of these multiple functions, photography’s accommodation posed challenges then, as it does now with the mutable nature of contemporary “post-photographic,” born-digital images.
This conference seeks to examine the past, current, and future positioning of photography and its rich histories within museums. It aims to bring together curators, museum workers, archivists, artists, scholars, and researchers across disciplines, such as art history, visual culture, photography, museum, curating and archival studies, to explore international shifts in museum practices and their implications for global photographic cultures.
Key questions and issues include, but are not limited to:
- In an era of “massification” of images, how can museums collect analogue and born-digital photography strategically to create relevant and sustainable photographic collections for the future?
- In what ways institutional practices—in terms of collecting, accessioning, documentation, preservation, and accessibility—need to be adapted or what new methods are required to accommodate different types of photographic images, including “networked images” and “computational photography,” in museum collections?
- How can photography’s vernacular cultures be collected and displayed in the physical and virtual museum?
- How can normative exhibition practices be adapted to engage diverse transnational publics, online and on site?
- How can photography be used as an accessible vehicle within the museum to consider broader social and political issues and processes?
- How can museum practices facilitate a two-way interaction with audiences, enabling them to acquire agency in influencing what the museum does as a social site?
- In what ways can photography within the museum context contribute to the decolonisation process for its audiences?
- What does an inclusive transnational history of photography look like?
- How may commissioning expand an institution’s discursive space?
Speakers:
Shahidul Alam, Photojournalist, Human Rights Activist, Founder of Drik, Pathshala and Chobi Mela (and Visiting Professor, Northern Centre of Photography, FESCI (Bangladesh)
Martin Barnes, Senior Curator, Photography, V&A South Kensington (UK)
Michela Bresciani, Curator, Ecomuseo Urbano Metropolitano Milano Nord - EUMM (Italy)
Briony Carlin, Lecturer in Contemporary Art Curation, Newcastle University (UK)
Angela Cheung, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, SOAS (UK)
Giuseppe Chiavaroli, PhD Researcher, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy)
Agnese Ghezzi, Postdoctoral Researcher, LYNX - Center for the Interdisciplinary Analysis of Images, Contexts, Cultural Heritage, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca (Italy)
Fabrizio Gitto, PhD Researcher, University of Italian Switzerland and Research Fellow, LYNX - Center for the Interdisciplinary Analysis of Images, Contexts, Cultural Heritage, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca (Italy)
Sze Ying Goh, Curator, National Gallery Singapore (Singapore)
Alexandra Gow, PhD Researcher, University for the Creative Arts/National Galleries Scotland (UK)
Lucia Halder, Head of the Photography Collection, Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum (Germany)
John Kippin, Artist and Professor Emeritus in Photography, Northern Centre of Photography, FESCI (UK)
Jayne Knight, PhD Researcher, University of Brighton/National Science and Media Museum (UK)
Sandra Križić Roban, Senior Scientific Advisor in Tenure, Institute of Art History, Zagreb (Croatia)
Carol McKay, Independent curator and writer (Associate Head of School (Arts), University of Sunderland to October 2024) (UK), paper with Amanda Ritson, Curator and Project Manager, NEPN at University of Sunderland (UK)
Daniel Palmer, Professor of Contemporary Art and Cultural Theory and Associate Dean of Research and Innovation, RMIT University (Australia)
Christina Riggs, Professor (History of Visual Culture), Durham University (UK)
Colin Robins, Photographer and Lecturer in Photography, Plymouth University (UK)
Katrina Sluis, Associate Professor and Head of Photography and Media Arts, The Australian National University (Australia)
Baiba Tetere, Lecturer in Social Sciences, Riga Stradins University (Latvia)
Oliver Udy, Photographer and Head of Photography, Falmouth University (UK)
Liz Wells, Independent Writer and Curator, Professor Emeritus in Photographic Culture, University of Plymouth (UK)
The conference is part of the Museum Dialogues, a 12-month research networking programme which aspires to transcend the disciplinary boundaries of art history, visual culture, photography, new media, museum and curating studies and bridge theory and practice. It seeks to unite scholars, archivists, curators, museum workers, and artists from across the globe with a view to developing a comprehensive understanding and exchange of innovative solutions, inquiries, and practical challenges relating to the exhibition, collection and interpretation of photography.
Supported by UKRI/Arts and Humanities Research Network and University of Sunderland.
Conference and Project Team
Principal Investigator: Professor Alexandra Moschovi, Professor of Photography and Curating, Northern Centre of Photography, University of Sunderland
Co-Investigator: Dr Iro Katsaridou, Assistant Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
International partner: Matteo Balduzzi, Curator, Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan, Italy.
Steering group member: Emeritus Professor Arabella Plouviez, University of Sunderland
UoS Coordinator: Amanda Ritson, Programme Manager of NEPN (North East Photography Network), Northern Centre of Photography, University of Sunderland
Technical Support: Michael Daglish, Senior Technician (Photography), University of Sunderland
Photography and the Museum
Re-evaluating the Past, Capturing the Present, Anticipating the Future
Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 November 2024
University of Sunderland and Online
Registration is now open here.
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