Call for Papers Romanian Journal of Museums Vol. 1/2020 and Vol. 1/2021

The editorial staff of the Romanian Journal of Museums is pleased to announce that the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training is preparing the next two volumes of the Publication.

The Romanian Journal of Museums is a platform for debates on the field of museology, adapted to new trends in the field, the following two issues being dedicated to the topics:

Romanian Journal of Museums Volume 1/2020

Museum institutions during the COVID-19 Crisis
Measures taken to protect the health and safety of citizens in the context of the COVID-19 crisis have affected public cultural institutions in various ways. What were the most difficult challenges of the crisis for museum institutions? How have museums adapted their activity and mode of operation for this period? What will museums look like after the pandemic or what future solutions can be preserved from this experience?

Museums for equality: diversity and inclusion
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has established that International Museum Day will be dedicated to this theme. The potential of museums to create meaningful experiences for all audiences lies at the heart of their social value. As agents of change, as fundamental cultural institutions for society, museums are at the most opportune moment to demonstrate their relevance by their involvement in the political, social and cultural reality.

45 years of operation of the System of conservation and restoration of cultural heritage in Romania
2020 marks 45 years since Romania established a coherent system of conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. It is time to analyse what has been achieved in these years and to decide what we have to do next.

Romanian Journal of Museums Volume 1/2021

The actuality and relevance of the development policies of the museum collections in Romania
Re-examining the cultural meaning of museum collections and consequently changing the development policies of museum collections is an extremely topical concern in the international museum world. Reconfiguring exhibition discourse to meet the cultural and educational needs of the community in which a museum operates is only one form, the most visible, of these concerns. But what happens at the level of the collection structure, at the level of collection policies? What ideas, trends and evolutions now influence the way museums collect and (re) organize their collections? How do these concerns materialize in reconfigurations of the mission statements of museums, of museum policies, of programmes, of the collections themselves? The international museum conversation is animated by topics such as the decolonization of museums, the ethical and equitable representation of diversity, social inclusion, the incorporation of the 2030 sustainable development objectives. What are, however, the most current topics for reflection for Romanian museums?

Museum restitutions
In the last 20 years, Romanian museums have faced a significant number of requests for restitution or restitution of movable and immovable cultural property that have generated significant and often irrecoverable losses for publicly managed cultural heritage: museums have lost headquarters, sometimes lost entire collections. The issue of restitutions mobilizes the museum community, but an overview of the consequences of these evolutions of the museum heritage is still awaiting documentation.

Museum statistics
The collection of statistical data from and about museums is at first sight an arid concern and without immediately palpable results in the economy of museum activities, but the analysis of these data, their interpretation and use is (or should be) the basis of decisions that influence the development directions of museum institutions: from funding to re-orientation of development programmes. How do we approach this issue in our museums? What data do we collect and use and for what purpose? What are the problems, but especially what are the prospects for using statistical data in museums?

As with previous issues, in order to ensure the highest level of quality of published materials, articles must comply with a well-defined set of editing rules and will be subject of the peer review process.

We invite all museums specialists to send original articles for the two volumes at revistamuzeelor@culturadata.ro, until July 15^th, 2020 (Volume 1/2020) and October 15^th, 2020 (Volume 1/2021). We mention that the authors of the best 10 articles selected for each volume will be remunerated with a gross amount of Lei 1.400 / article.