Call for Papers
Call for Papers
We invite you to join us for the Nineteenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum, the annual meeting of The Inclusive Museum Research Network, taking place 22–24 September 2026 in Sydney, Australia and online, in partnership with our host institution, the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. The Network brings together museum professionals, scholars, artists, community leaders, technologists, cultural workers, and policymakers who share a commitment to shaping more inclusive, pluralistic, and community-engaged museum futures. We welcome proposals that explore the evolving role of museums as spaces of dialogue, participation, representation, and shared stewardship.
In 2026, our special focus “The Future of Museum Narratives” engages the shifting definitions, responsibilities, and cultural positions of museums in a rapidly changing world. Over the past two decades, the work of the Inclusive Museum Research Network has helped foreground practices of inclusion now reflected in the updated ICOM (2022) museum definition and the UNESCO Recommendation on Museums (2015). Yet today’s global landscape—marked by geopolitical tensions, escalating climate crises, and deepening social inequalities—demands renewed attention to how museums curate, interpret, and communicate narratives about the past, present, and future.
The special focus invites participants to explore how museums can remain relevant and reflexive as they confront contemporary realities. Intercultural and intergenerational dialogue remain pressing priorities as institutions grapple with contested histories, shifting demographic landscapes, and the need for reconciliation and community building. We encourage proposals investigating how museums craft narratives that respond to diverse audiences; how collections, exhibitions, and digital platforms can expand representation; and how institutions can cultivate trust, care, and shared authority with the communities they serve.
Alongside this special focus, we welcome proposals aligned with the Network’s annual themes: Visitors, Collections, and Representations.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages on CGScholar Event (KX), where presenters upload abstracts, media, and reflections and where delegates engage in conversation before, during, and after the event.
In-person presentations, live online sessions, and asynchronous contributions are woven into a single integrated program. Regardless of participation mode, all delegates have access to the full schedule, session media, and an evolving digital archive. Across all formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale exchange—conversation, reflection, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-directional performance.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to develop their work for possible publication in The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, which explores how museums foster inclusivity across exhibitions, programming, collections, and community engagement, or in The Inclusive Museum Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited collections advancing scholarship on museums, heritage, and cultural policy. Both outlets offer traditional and Open Access publication options.
Membership and Community
We welcome new and returning members to The Inclusive Museum Research Network. By purchasing a Presenter Pass, you automatically become—or renew as—a Network Member for the year, with benefits that span both our online environment and our in-person programs. Membership places you inside our online Knowledge Experience, a shared digital space connecting the full cycle of our work—and your work: preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication. Scholar-led and inclusive by design, it functions as a living commons for reciprocity, rigor, and continuity. Members can access everything in one place—conference updates and media, calls for papers, programs, archives, and journal and book content—and contribute their own ideas and projects. All posts undergo peer-facilitated community review before being added.
Alongside this online experience, membership is activated through our in-person conferences and events, where participants meet, exchange insights, and build collaborations with our host partners and global community. Membership sustains the Research Network, ensuring continued access to programs, archives, journals, and books—and keeping ideas in motion over time, where belonging is defined by contribution and care.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Sydney or online—for this year’s annual meeting of The Inclusive Museum Research Network. Together, we will explore how museum narratives can be reimagined to foster inclusion, dialogue, and shared stewardship in an increasingly complex world.
The 2026 conference is convened by:
Amareswar Galla (Research Network Chair),
Dr. Craig Barker (Local Conference Chair, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney),
and the Local Conference Committee:
Michael Dagostino, Dr. Paul Donnelly, and Dr. Craig Barker (University of Sydney).