Call for papers

Note: The congress will be held exclusively in Spanish. No translation will be provided.

• Dates: 10, 17, and 24 November 2026

• Format: Online

For International Museum Day 2026, ICOM celebrated under the theme “Museums Bringing Together a Divided World,” aiming to raise global awareness of museums as builders of invisible bridges for interconnection and social and cultural transmission; thus becoming spaces for understanding, inclusion, harmony, and universal peace. Within this framework, the international congress Museums, Memories and Democracies promotes bringing together and giving visibility to museum institutions that have evolved from witnessing socio-political conflicts to becoming spaces for the vindication of contemporary memories and democracies.

Museums have a duty to give a voice to the defeated in civil and military conflicts, victims of repression, dictatorships, and any circumstances threatening freedom of expression and human rights. We ask: how do we musealise the evocation and denunciation of these past and present events? Museums cannot remain indifferent to social debates; they must be spaces ensuring everyone feels represented, opening free discussion, and safeguarding tangible and intangible heritage, such as memory. How can we preserve what is intangible yet directly impacts social history?

This congress aims to establish comparative perspectives on recent past events in Spain and Latin America, building a transnational bridge for dialogue. We welcome case studies from these regions that have faced social threats, exploring geographic differences and convergences in presenting memory through museums.

This event offers an opportunity to discover memorialist museology projects, helping construct an international map of memory, while addressing key concerns regarding memories and democracies today and in the future.

Thematic lines:

• Museums as settings of memory.

• Restoring the past through the museum.

• Giving voice back to communities through the museum.

• How to musealise past conflicts?

• Sociocultural democracy in the museum.

Targeted at:

• Museum professionals.

• Academic and university researchers.

Submission of proposals:

First phase:

• • Proposals must include: Title, abstract (max. 350 words), and a brief CV sent to: congresomuseosmemorias@gmail.com

  • Submission deadline: 10 September 2026.

  • Notification of acceptance: 30 September 2026 (Presentation duration: 15 minutes).

  • Registration opens for attendees: 1 October 2026 (Free registration for speakers and attendees).

Second phase:

• • Publication: Selected papers will be published in an Open Access digital book by Tirant lo Blanch.

  • Submission deadline: 20 December 2026.

  • Maximum length: 10 pages (Times New Roman, size 11, single spacing, Chicago citation style).

Organisers: ICOM Spain, ICOM LAC, ICMEMOHRI, and UCM.

Scientific Coordination: Inmaculada Real López, Complutense University of Madrid. Contact email: inmareal@ucm.es

Scientific Committee:

• Jesús Pedro Lorente, University of Zaragoza, Spain.

• Inmaculada Real López, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.

• Nayra Llonch Molina, University of Lleida, Spain.

• Ruy Farias, CONICET, Argentina.

• Marcela Fugardo, University of San Isidro, Argentina.

• Carla Miranda Vasconcello, Silva Henríquez Catholic University, Santiago, Chile.

• Ana Carvalho, University of Évora, Portugal.

ICOM Members:

ICOM Spain:

• Carme Bergés Saura

• Luis Grau Lobo

• Nerea Izagirre Elizondo

• Agar Ledo Arias

• María Auxiliadora Llamas Márquez.

ICOM Italy:

• Giulia Avanza.

ICOM LAC:

• Edgar Ernesto González

• Lauran Bonilla-Merchav

• Hugo Calle

• Melissa Campos Solórzano.

ICOM ICMEMOHRI:

• Patricia Solano

• Cristina Meneguello

• Deborah Neves

• Linda Atach Zaga

• Iratxe Momoitio Astorkia

• Almudena Cruz Yábar

• Ophelia León

• Jordi Guixé.

You can access and download the program here (Spanish)