Ireland, Museums, Empire, Colonialism conference

Description of impact

Highly successful conference; the first to focus on the decolonisation of Irish museums.

Who is affected

Museum professionals; academics working on decolonisation in Anthropology and History; public policy makers

Narrative

This inter-disciplinary conference (IMEC) interrogated the complexities of Ireland’s relationship with the British Empire, and of Irish involvement in colonialism. It connected researchers and practitioners interested in objects, archives, buildings, and landscapes in both public and private spaces and throughout the island of Ireland; and informed current debates surrounding the decolonisation of collections from formerly colonised regions.

This was the first conference to focus on the decolonisation of Ireland's museums and collections.

IMEC was part of my UKRI (ESRC)-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship, 'Museums, Empire and Northern Irish Identity' at Queen’s University Belfast, which is based within the Institute of Irish Studies and Centre for Public History. The partners in the project are National Museums NI, the Irish Museums Association, Northern Ireland Museums Council and the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates at Maynooth University.

Impact status	Ongoing
Impact date	08 Apr 2022 → 09 Apr 2022
Category of impact	Public Policy Impact, Cultural Impact, Public Policy Impact
Impact level	Benefit