The National Association for Museum Exhibition (NAME), a professional network of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), has issued a call for papers for the spring 2023 issue of Exhibition, journal of exhibition theory and practice for museum professionals.
The due date for all submission is Tuesday, June 6, 2022.
This year’s central theme is “Big Ideas on Small (or Smaller) Budgets.”
For this issue, NAME seek proposals for articles that share ideas for doing more with less.
Proposals for this issue might come from small museums (which in the United States are in the majority) that have forged creative, tested solutions. Or, they might come from museums of any type or size that have developed creative solutions on limited budgets or have had to regroup when generous budgets have been reduced. And they might focus on any of a number of aspects: developing partnerships to build capabilities; strategies for developing content; designing and fabricating on a budget; developing accessible elements; attainable media solutions; reusing and recycling; evaluation on a shoestring; how to shift gears when a budget is trimmed; or something else.
Proposals can focus on a specific exhibition or provide an overview of exhibitions and practices. The exhibitions and/or elements discussed can be created by or for museums of all disciplines, historical sites, galleries, institutions that collect and display living collections or others. Proposals might come from designers, exhibit developers, interpretive planners, curators, writers, educators or others who create and contribute to exhibitions. In all cases, accepted authors will be expected to write articles that illuminate larger issues; are descriptive and critical and analytical; and evaluation, even if informal, must evidence arguments for the strengths and weaknesses of a project.
Proposal Guidelines
There are two parts to a proposal (which must be submitted as a Word doc):
1) A description of the proposed article.
The description (250 words maximum) should do the following:
- include a proposed title for the article;
- clearly and succinctly convey what the article’s thesis will be;
- indicate the approaches, strategies or knowledge that readers will take away from the article; and
- convey how the article would raise questions or illuminate larger issues that are widely applicable (especially if the proposal focuses on a single project).
Please note that accepted articles will be expected to provide critical, candid discussions about issues and challenges, successes and failures, and to provide some level of evaluation, even if informal.
2) A brief bio for each author.
Please provide a brief bio (no more than a paragraph) for each author that describes their background and their qualifications for writing the article (please do not include resumes or CVs).
Deadlines and Information
Our editorial advisory board will vet proposals in a blind review process, and authors will be notified of acceptance or non-acceptance in late June/early July 2022. Articles of 2,000 words maximum, along with high-resolution images, will be due in late August 2022.
Information regarding proposal submission can be found here.