Museological Review, Issue 26 (Summer 2022): "Museums and Healing"

Submission deadline for abstracts/proposals: Monday 22nd November 2021, 23.00 GMT

Museological Review (MR) is a peer-reviewed journal, published annually by the PhD cohort of the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, UK. It is a forum for the exchange of museological ideas and the development of academic skills.
Museological Review’s theme for its 26th issue is “Museums and Healing”. In the context of the diverse crises and changes being faced globally, this issue will discuss and reflect on healing as both a problematic and fruitful concept that could help mobilise museums going forward.

Healing is a notion that is meaningful across many disciplines, from health and social sciences to arts and philosophy. It applies to individuals, families, communities and societies, and operates physically, mentally, emotionally and environmentally. While museums have made efforts towards healing (wellbeing programming, peaceful and sociable spaces, and work to address the traumas of conflict and inequality), museum practices have also been considered harmful (perpetuating oppressive narratives and structures, housing looted objects, and straining internal organisational wellbeing). So how can we think about healing in the museological framework? How do these inquiries impact museum practices? What values underlie our assumptions around what healing is, and means, in relation to museum practices and ideas? Museological Review Issue 26 will consider how the museum sector is responding to worldwide events and discourses, navigating new ways to engage with audiences and negotiate relevance.

Museological Review is accepting submissions of academic articles, interviews, exhibition or book reviews, and audio/video listings. We are also accepting submissions with two additional prompts: visual submissions comprising a single image which depicts the theme of “empathy” and a caption, and short contributions (maximum 300 words text) with authors’ own views on the question, “Is the museum an agent of healing or harm in society?”

Submissions and enquiries should be emailed to: museologicalreviewleicester.ac.uk.

Full information and a few suggestions of areas of interest is at: shorturl.at/ajHS6