About

The Conference

Museums have the capacity to reformulate social, cultural or environmental values and can provide options for conjunctural dilemmas. In Reimagining the Museum, the construction of a collective and individual commitment to be agents of civic and social impact is accompanied by the encouragement of the formation of networks of professionals. We believe that museums have the possibility to echo the problems of the contexts in which they are immersed and focus on fostering positive values for a better social coexistence. Reimagining the Museum is an opportunity for committed professionals to find, share and discuss ways to do it.

During three intensive days, and through different formats and sessions, the meeting will offer some of the best methodologies, innovative ideas and creative approaches to museum practice in the Americas. After a first edition in Buenos Aires in 2015 and a second one in Medellin in 2017, Reimagining the Museum will have Oaxaca, one of the most biodiverse states in Mexico, as a stage. It demonstrates through example how biological and cultural diversity can thrive and flourish.

Oaxaca

Oaxaca is one of the most culturally and environmentally diverse states in Mexico. Sixteen indigenous groups reside there and 418 of its 570 municipalities operate under some form of self-government. More than 100 living languages are recognized in the state of Oaxaca, concentrating half of the country’s linguistic diversity in the region. Oaxaca is also known for its biological diversity and is home to the largest number of endemic species of reptiles, amphibians, mammals and plants in Mexico.

Program Themes

The third edition will address coexistence as a responsibility and aspiration. How can the museum champion a more just and equitable society? To what extent does the scale of the organization determine the scale of its ambitions? Do collaborations enhance the power and effectiveness of advocacy? How do museums help multicultural societies become intercultural?

In this third edition of Reimagining the Museum the conversation will focus on coexistence as a responsibility and aspiration. Regardless of their discipline, museums can provide an understanding of societal dilemmas within their unique cultural contexts and espouse principles for coexistence. How do museums demonstrate values and institutional behavior to create a more harmonious, inclusive and respectful society? How do museums interpret the history of social strife and model, through their institutional practices, conflict mediation and resolution? What are the implications for diversity in Mexico and throughout the Americas? What are the civic values that museums can promote for a better coexistence?

Oaxaca is the most biodiverse state in Mexico, with a great diversity of indigenous languages, practices and traditions, music, arts, and customs, all of which contributes to its vibrant cultural heritage. This cultural richness brings with it explicit and implicit conflicts. Museums can contribute to better social coexistence through the dissemination of knowledge about art and sciences, social imaginaries, stereotypes, common beliefs and hegemonic power that produce negative social bonds. This edition of Reimagining the Museum will focus on the challenges and responsibilities of coexistence between people of diverse social, political and cultural origin, as well as their relationship with the natural environment.

Reimagining the Museum is designed around practical case studies that highlight institutional transformation and exemplary practices to initiate and manage change. There will be time to listen, be inspired, discuss and explore tools with others, but also to reflect or engage in spontaneous conversations. Through plenary sessions, panel discussions and workshops, distinguished scholars and practitioners will provide insight on pressing societal challenges and how museums can inspire positive social change, influence political discourse, assume greater civic responsibility and take risks.

Previous Editions

The inaugural edition of Reimagining the Museum held in Buenos Aires in 2015 focused on social equity and museums. The second edition in 2017 in Medellin, Colombia, focused on culture as the catalyst for social and political progress and reform.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE EDITIONS

Organizers

The event is organized by Fundación TyPA (Teoría y Práctica de las Artes) in Argentina and AAM (American Alliance of Museums) in the United States. Oaxaca, Mexico, will serve as the host city, in partnership with museums and cultural organizations in Mexico, including the Fundación Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca and the Museo de la Filatelia, MUFI in Oaxaca; and the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo MUAC, UNAM; the Museo Interactivo de Economía, MIDE; and the Papalote Museo del Niño.