Collecting the Holocaust: Ethics, Memory, and Materiality offers cultural heritage sector professionals and scholars from various disciplines an opportunity to explore the assembly of material and immaterial, human and non-human agents involved in collecting and managing materials related to the Holocaust and to engage in discussions about ethics, methodological challenges, and political dimensions of Holocaust heritage.
Important dates and information
- Call for papers is now closed.
- Registration opens for the public: June 30. A registration link for attendees without conference papers will be published here.
There will be a modest conference fee.
Theme of the Conference
The Holocaust's shifting and competing meanings in contemporary society highlight the importance of discussing ethical and sustainable methods for collecting, curating, and presenting Holocaust memories and underline the challenges associated with ensuring responsible accessibility and use of these materials to the public and researchers. The conference addresses the ethical implications of collecting and curating materials related to the Holocaust for museums and other heritage institutions. It will focus on three thematic topics:
- The Ethics of Curating Holocaust Materiality
- Methodological Challenges in Collecting the Holocaust
- Political Dimensions of Holocaust Heritage
Keynote speakers
- Dr Rebecca Jinks, Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the Department of History at the Royal Holloway University of London & Dr Christine Schmidt, Deputy Director, and Head of Research at The Wiener Holocaust Library.
- Dr Robert M. Ehrenreich, Director of Academic Research and Dissemination at Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
- Dr Erica Lehrer, Professor in the History Department at Concordia University, Montreal. A socio-cultural anthropologist and curator, she currently directs the international team project, Thinking Through the Museum: A Partnership Approach to Curating Difficult Knowledge in Public (2021-2028).
Panel:
Panel discussion: Ethical challenges in Curating the Holocaust
Discussants:
- Dr. James Bulgin. Head of Public History at the Imperial War Museum, London, and former Head of Content for the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust Galleries.
- Dr. Insa Eschebach. Cultural scientist and visiting scholar at the Institute for Religious Studies, Free University of Berlin. Former Director of the Ravensbrück Memorial Museum.
- Annemiek Gringold. Chief Curator of the National Holocaust Museum/ the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam.
- Dr. Katty Hauptman. Director of the Swedish Holocaust Museum. Former Director of the Swedish History Museum and former Chair of ICOM Sweden.
Conference venues and programme
The opening night and inaugural keynote, on November 25, will be held at the newly established Swedish Holocaust Museum, allowing attendees to view its exhibitions. The main part of the Conference on November 26–27 will take place at the Swedish History Museum: Presentations, additional keynotes, panel, and a poster session with invited museum partners of the network project “On Collecting the Holocaust, ethics, museums and materiality”. On the final day, a panel featuring museum professionals and scholars will address the “Challenges of Collecting the Holocaust”. The conference dinner for presenters of papers and posters will be held at the Royal Armory Museum near the royal castle.
The conference is financed by three research projects funded by the Swedish Research Council: “Collecting the Holocaust in Sweden: Collections and Ethics”(Dnr: 2022-06183); “The Ethical Dilemmas of Digitalization: Vulnerability and Holocaust Collections” (Dnr: 2021-01428), and “Swedish Remembrance of the Holocaust. Museums, materiality, and Politics” (Dnr: 2022-02011). Organizers: Britta Z. Geschwind (Swedish Holocaust Museum & Lund University); Markus Idvall (Stockholm University); Liv Nilsson Stutz (Linnaeus University); Fredrik Nilsson (Åbo Academi University) and Malin Thor Tureby (Malmö University).
The complete program will be published here shortly.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact conference@shm.se