New York City 2023
CAMOC 2023 Annual Conference
Changing Cities, Changing Museums
New York City
16–18 October 2023
Cities are famously generators and reflectors of social, economic, and political change, and never more so than in our own times. Population changes, global and regional migrations, racial and social justice uprisings, wars and human rights crises, economic globalization, the pressures of real estate development, gentrification, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis are just some of the forces that are causing cities to reckon with their futures, their identities, and what they represent.
As interpreters of history, city museums have always had the responsibility to contend with change, but existential shifts affecting cities in the 21st century present new levels of challenge. Simultaneously, new imperatives in museology and conversations around social justice are challenging city museums to examine their own practices around DEAI (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) and their relationship to their communities.
Learn more about our host, the Museum of the City of New York.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
Download the preliminary conference programme now!
Monday 16 October
10:00 AM-12:30 PM Guided excursions to Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, East Harlem, and Central Park (Register below!)
12:30-6:00 PM Explore NYC! (Self-guided options to discover and taste what different parts of the city have to offer)
4:00-6:00 PM Museum of the City of New York open house: visit the exhibits or go behind the scenes with collections and education staff
6:00-8:00 PM Opening reception at Museum of the City of New York
Tuesday 17 October
9:00 AM-5:30 PM at Museum of the City of New York
Keynote by Garnette Cadogan, essayist and lecturer in Urbanism, MIT
Opening panel on MCNY’s Centennial
Workshops
Panel sessions
Wednesday 18 October
9:00 AM-5:30 PM at Museum of the City of New York
CAMOC Annual General Meeting
Panel sessions
Gallery of Ideas
Roundtables
HOTELS AND LOCAL TRAVEL INFORMATION
There is no official hotel for the conference, but three recommendations are:
Aloft Harlem, 2296 Frederick Douglass Blvd
Courtyard by Marriott Upper East Side, 410 East 92nd Street
The Franklin/Voco, 164 East 87 Street
These and many other properties are easily accessible to the Museum of the City of New York via MTA bus and subway or taxi.
Museum of the City of New York is located on Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street in Manhattan.
REGISTRATION
Conference registration is open through 2 October! Click here
Registration fees include opening reception, lunches, and coffee breaks.
For national committee category designations, please consult this document. For registration questions, email camoc@mcny.org
ICOM Member (Category 1 & 2 countries) US$300
ICOM Member (Category 3 & 4 countries) US$150
Non-ICOM Member US$350
Student US$75
Registration for online participation to our annual conference in New York is now open!
Online access is only US$10/day
To register for online participation, see here.
Excursions US$15 (Register for your choice below)
Visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty
Hop on board the ferry to two of New York’s most celebrated sites, which celebrate our city’s role as a beacon and a gateway for immigrants. Visitors will receive an overview of the two islands; Liberty Island includes a museum, and the group will have the option to go to the top of the Statue’s Pedestal. Ellis Island includes the National Museum of Immigration, with exhibits on the three eras of US immigration: People of America, Ellis Island, and New Eras of Immigration (contemporary). Free audio tours in 12 languages are available on both islands.
Register for Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty excursion
The Tenement Museum
The Tenement Museum tells the stories of working-class tenement residents who moved to New York City from other countries and other parts of the country. Their work helped build the city and nation, and their stories helped us understand our history. While textbooks often overlook the stories of ordinary people, our tours immerse visitors in the tenement hallways, kitchens, and parlors where families carved out new lives. We share primary sources and research that help us explore the stories of tenement families. By sharing these stories, we aim to build an inclusive and expansive American identity and believe that the exploration of our complex history—one with moments of both inclusion and exclusion—helps prepare us to recognize and discuss today’s complex issues with empathy and nuance.
Register for the Tenement Museum excursion
Walking Tour of East Harlem with Artist Manny Vega
Let’s take a cultural stroll around East Harlem (aka El Barrio, the Spanish translation for “the hood”), MCNY’s own neighbourhood and a centre of Puerto Rican culture and history in New York. Join MCNY Curator of Community Histories, Monxo López, and mosaic artist and muralist Manny Vega, whose artworks adorn more than a few of El Barrios’ public spaces, including a subway station, and who will be the subject of an MCNY exhibition in late 2023.
We will stop at a few cultural spaces and delve into some of Manny Vega’s beautiful mosaics in the neighbourhood. Time permitting, we will also visit a local community garden.
Register for the East Harlem excursion
12:30-6:00 PM Explore NYC! (Self-guided options to discover and taste what different parts of the city have to offer)
Download the Explore NYC Guides
Guide 1 Downtown East: The East Village & The Lower East Side
Guide 2 Downtown West: Chelsea, Flatiron, West Village, and Greenwich Village
Guide 3 The Upper West Side
Guide 4 The Upper East Side
Guide 5 The Midtown District
Guide 6 Lower Manhattan: Battery Park City, Financial District, South Street Seaport
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
Melanie Adams, PhD, Smithsonian Anacostia Museum, Washington DC
Andréa Delaplace, PhD, CAMOC Board, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Elena Pérez Rubiales, PhD, CAMOC Board, MUHBA, Barcelona
Sarah Henry, PhD, CAMOC Vice Chair, Museum of the City of New York
Flora Mutere Okuku, Technical University of Kenya, Nairobi
Glenn Perkins, CAMOC Chair, Greensboro (NC) History Museum
Lilly Tuttle, PhD, Museum of the City of New York
Johanna Vähäpesola, CAMOC Secretary, KAMU Espoo City Museum
Annemarie de Wildt, CAMOC Vice Chair, Amsterdam Museum