Irish Museums Association

MUSEUM NEWS

IMA EVENTS

IMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The central event in the IMA calendar is the Annual Conference, held in February/March each year, and eagerly looked forward to by our members as an opportunity to meet, network and get to know each other. Of course they are occasions for debate and papers presented at conference are published in our annual journal Museum Ireland.

2008 Annual Conference - Wexford
2007 Annual Conference - Dublin
2006 Annual Conference - Belfast
2005 Annual Conference - Cork
2004 Annual Conference - Ennis
2003 Annual Conference - Coleraine
2002 Annual Conference - Westport

2008 Annual Conference

New Approaches to the Museum's Engagement with the Local Community

Wexford, 29 February - 2 March 2008

In 2008 the Annual Conference was held in Wexford. It examined the range of opportunities available for all types of museums; national, regional, local and voluntary. Attendees saw how fostering and cultivating local partnerships can help raise your profile, develop your community base, gain new friends for the museum and improve your local history knowledge. The Museum’s engagement with the local community is often seen as a low priority or regarded as appropriate only for the smallest institutions. Speakers challenged these perceptions and showed how, with research, imagination, flair and persistence, every museum can develop a significant local community presence.

See our brochure for details of the programme. Abstracts of the first session 'Members Papers' are here

Any enquiries may be sent to office@irishmuseums.org

2007 Annual Conference

Science, Technology and Society – the role for museums

Dublin, 2-4 March 2007

In 2007 the Annual Conference was held in Dublin, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the opening of the Natural History Museum. See our programme or abstracts for full details of what you missed.

The Guest of Honour was Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD and the list of speakers included Dr Jonathan Bell, Dr Marie Bourke, Paul Bowers, Leo Enright, Dr John Falk, Eoin Gill, Dr Michael John Gorman, Dr Peter Wyse Jackson, Mark Leslie, Mary Mulvihill, Nigel Monaghan, Dr Sally Montgomery and Dr Patrick F. Wallace.

This conference addressed issues relevant to the Irish museums community concerning science, technology and society and the role of museums. The status of science is challenging Irish museums just at a time when society is reliant on science and technology for its survival. The public interest demonstrates their need to be made aware of key scientific issues in order to make informed decisions on life and the environment. Museums have a role to aid this process by using their collections to illustrate how science and technology affect people's lives.

Any enquiries may be sent to office@irishmuseums.org

If you want to give the IMA feedback on the conference, please complete our evaluation form and post it to us or email it to office@irishmuseums.org

2006 Annual Conference

Museums in the their Place: roles, regeneration and community.

Queen's University, Belfast, 24-26 February 2006

In 2006 the Annual Conference was held in Belfast, celebrating the centenary of City Hall. Based in the Harty Room, of Queen's University, delegates visited the Ulster Museum, Sentry Hill and Belfast's maritime heritage.

Speakers included - Prof. Peter van Mensch, Reinhadt Academy, Netherlands; Dr Mary-Cate Garden, Heritage Futures school, Caledonian University; Prof. Hisham Elkadi, University of Ulster; Prof. Jerry Steiner, University of Minnesota; Ms Liz Moran, Director, MacRobert Arts Centre; Sarah Greenhalgh, National Museums & Galleries of Wales; Ms Marie McMahon, South Tipperary County Museum; Ms Lisa Kerley, InspirEd; Ms Marian Ferguson, Ulster Museum; Ms Gemma Reid, Causeway Museum Service; Ms Sarah O’Gorman, Ballyfermot, Dublin; Ms Kate O’Neill, RoSA Armagh; Ms Claire Leeman, Naughten Gallery, Belfast.

Full details of events in our programme

2005 Annual Conference

Are Museums Becoming Obsolete?

Cork Public Museum, 25-27 February 2005

In 2005 the Annual Conference was held in Cork, European City of Culture. We were based in the Metropole Hotel, visiting Cork Public Museum, the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork Butter Market, Cork City Gaol and Glucksman Gallery. Full details in our programme (text document) or full colour brochure.

Friday programme of events detailed in the workshops programme.

2004 Annual Conference

The theme of the 2004 Annual Conference was Collecting Today for Tomorrow: balancing vision with resources which examined various issues in relation to collecting contemporary cultural heritage. The objective was to look at issues of contemporary collecting from as many angles as possible: the crisis of capacity caused by open-ended collection policies; the extent to which deaccessioning and disposal policies should be used as tools to regulate the expansion of collections; the role of contemporary collecting; the question of imbalances in collecting policies (e.g. archaeology versus other collection categories); the role of private collecting and the free market as competitors with public institutions.

The conference was held in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis, Co. Clare on the weekend of 5 - 7 March, 2004, hosted by Clare County Museum

The keynote speaker was Mr Stuart Davies, Director of Strategic Planning at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Other speakers were Mr John O’Hagan, Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin; Ms Eva Fagerborg, Curator with the SAMDOK Secretariat, Sweden; Ms Cathy Ross, Museum of London; Mr Patrick T. Murphy, Artistic advisor to the Office of Public Works and private collector; Professor Peter Woodman, Department of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Cork; Ms Catherine Marshall, Head of Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art

The Training Workshop entitled Have museums a role to play in addressing contemporary civic issues? The Burren - a case study. included presentations by Ms Congella Maguire, Clare Heritage Officer; Dr Brendan Dunford, environmental consultant; Mr Paddy Maher, Manager, The Burren Centre and was chaired by Dr Jonathan Bell, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum

Visits to the Clare Heritage and Genealogical Centre, Corofin and the The Burren Centre, Kilfenora completed a great weekend.

2003 Annual Conference

The theme of the 2003 Annual Conference was Museums and Nationality which examined Collections and Collective Identities in 21st Century Ireland and discussed how national museums should respond to the opposing forces of globalisation and increasingly strong local identity.

The conference was held in Coleraine over the weekend of the 21st - 23rd February 2003, hosted by the Causeway Museum Service.

The keynote speaker was Mr Julian Spalding, former Head of Glasgow Museums. The other speakers were Dr Elizabeth Crooke, of the Institute for Irish Studies in the University of Ulster, Coleraine; Mr John Gray, Director of the Linen Hall Library Belfast; Mr Barra Ó Seaghdha, Author and Teacher and Mr Ciarán MacGonigal, former Director of the Hunt Museum, Limerick.

A panel discussion of issues raised by the seminar theme was chaired by Mark Carruthers of BBC NI. The panel comprised Mr Mike Houlihan, Director of MAGNI; Mr Ciarán MacGonigal, former Director of the Hunt Museum, Limerick; Mr Raghnall Ó Floinn, Head of Collections, National Museum of Ireland; Dr. Michael Ryan, Director of the Chester Beatty Library and Mr Julian Spalding, former Head of Glasgow Museums.

The conference included a training workshop entitled Meet the Challenge! Reap the Benefits! Can you do youth work in a museum? presented by Ms Mary Ann Steiner, Director of Youth Programmes at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Visits to the Coleraine Collection, Ballymoney Museum and Bushmills Distillery were highlights of the weekend.

2002 Annual Conference

The theme of the Annual Conference in 2002 was After the Opening which explored the issues of sustainability for Museums and Heritage Projects and was held on Saturday 23rd February at Westport, Co Mayo. Following a decade or more of unprecedented development for Irish museums and the heritage sector generally, north and south, the sector has entered a period of consolidation. The challenge of sustainability, and for some even museums of survival, has become pressing.

Speakers at the conference included Ms Gail Dexter Lord, international museum consultant; Ms May Cassar, of the Centre of Sustainable Heritage, London; Dr Michael Ryan, Director of Chester Beatty Library, Dublin and Mr Paul Doyle, Keeper of the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Co Mayo. One of the reasons a western venue was chosen was to allow delegates an opportunity to view one of the latest and most exciting developments in the Irish museums world: the National Museum's new Museum of Country Life near Castlebar.