The Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) and AAMC Foundation 2018 Conference & Meeting, May 5 - 8, 2018 in Montréal, will have a robust and varied program that speaks to our mission. All formal content sessions will occur concurrently with an audience of an estimated 400 curators and guests listening, discussing, and learning together. This democratic approach engages the audience as one entity across fields, ages, locations, and backgrounds. It allows them to hear and see each other’s views simultaneously, thus advancing dialogue without barriers. During the Conference, we will continue a collaborative exchange of ideas model fostering open dialogues through a community of colloquiums, which replaces a series of isolated lecture presentations. We also seek to broaden the curatorial view of how organizations can collaborate with communities, embrace new projects and buildings as vehicles for change and reimagine historical sites and collections as public resources. The sites we’ll visit for activities and tours, over 20 locations, will work to highlight the cultural landscape in Montréal–exploring different methods of community engagement, collection installation, and collaboration.
As it is our first Conference outside the United States, we have been dedicated to presenting a program that responds to and acknowledges the momentous occasion. Our sessions, tours, keynotes, and RoundTable topics will be inclusive of a Canadian viewpoint. Too, our Conference Benefit Committee includes seven members from throughout Canada, including Montréal, Victoria, Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa. The program has seamlessly developed with our overall efforts as an organization to focus on international views and welcome more to our conversations.
Our Conference in-depth conversations, held on the Monday and Tuesday of our program, will focus on collaboration, cooperation, engagement and interpretation, building upon and continuing our ongoing focus of inclusion and access. Sessions will focus on the scholarly commitment to the investigation of race in art and visual culture within museums; ethical responsibility in collaborations with artists from outside the considered financial center-points of the art world; shift in art institutions and curatorial practice away from colonial legacies; Latinx identity and representation in our art organizations looked at through official and unofficial mentorship opportunities; and status of experience and relationships with digital. Keynote Dialogues, between leading voices in the field, will focus on cultural preservation, research, and artistic creation in developing inclusive and equitable exhibitions, collections, audiences, and networks.