Summer School "Who Cares: Collecting, preserving, and curating in museums, archives, and organizations"

30.01.2026

We invite participants to explore discourses, practices, ethics, and politics of care in contexts of collecting, preserving, restoring, curating, interpreting, and managing or organizing, by asking:

Who cares for objects, materials, data, and their histories – also in view of the social mission and responsibility of heritage institutions? How are decisions made about what is preserved, restored, or allowed to decay?
How do we deal with fragile, ageing, damaged, repressed, or illegible materials—documents, artworks, artifacts with digital methods?
How do we ensure the preservation of digitized records and how do develop sustainable practice for managing born-digital texts and artifacts?
What does “curating” or “restoring” mean from a perspective of care and advocacy for long overlooked agents, materials, or practices?
How can we make mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion visible—also in restoration practices, conservation priorities, strategies, and heritage politics?
How do organizations collect, maintain, repair, and sometimes erase knowledge, memories, and data and how can such collective memories and repositories be restored and investigated?
How do climate change, environmental degradation, and resource scarcity transform conservation and restoration practices, and which strategies already exist? (e.g., climate proofing collections, dealing with mold, humidity, pests, extreme weather events)
How do care concepts and practices differ across cultural heritage institutions, companies, communities, or activist groups?
How can the societal actors be actively involved in care practices, especially through participatory approaches and/or Citizen Science?

We welcome contributions that approach/address these questions through cultural, organizational, conservation-oriented, or interdisciplinary lenses—ranging from theoretical reflections and empirical studies to case examples, artistic interventions, or practice-led research.

Full-length call and additional suggestions of topics (PDF)

Call for Contributions

At the Summer School, we would like to shed new light on the topic from different perspectives with a mix of presentations, workshops, game prototyping sessions and informal discussions and exchange.

Participants are invited to submit their contributions in one of the following formats:

Workshop (30 – 90 minutes): Engage participants with interactive activities (for suggestions see above).
Academic Presentation (~20 minutes): Share and discuss your research findings.
Project Presentation (~20 minutes): Present a curatorial project or your experience as a curator, archivist or collector or from a visitor's perspective, not necessarily backed by scientific evaluation.
Poster Presentation (5-minute presentation, open discussion within a poster session): Showcase your ideas or projects through a concise and visually engaging poster.

Publication Options

For each presentation format, you can opt for one of the following publication choices:

Presentation Only: Your abstract will be featured on the Summer School website, with no additional publication.
Research Paper (6-12 pages): A comprehensive exposition of your research.
Project/Experience/Position Paper (3-12 pages): Share insights from projects, experiences, or viewpoints in a brief format.

The contributions to the Summer School 2026 will be part of the annual journal "DAC - Digital Journal for Arts and Cultural Studies | Digitales Journal für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften", https://dac-journal.at/.

Review Process

Research Papers: will be given the option of being peer-reviewed.
Project/Experience/Position Papers: Will be reviewed by the editors (chairs).

Important Dates

Abstract Submission Deadline: April 15, 2026
Acceptance Notification: May 15, 2026
Participation Registration: Juni 1, 2026 (for all participants)
Event Dates: July 1-3, 2026
First Draft of Paper Submission: August 1, 2026
Iterative Review Process Completion: February 1, 2027
Publication Date: Fall 2027

Submission Guidelines

Please submit your abstract via the linked form by April 15, 2026 and follow the guidelines below:

Prepare an abstract summarizing your contribution.
Choose your preferred presentation format and publication option.
Ensure that your contribution aligns with one of the three thematic areas, or explicitly state, why another area is of great interest to the audience.
Follow the specified format and length for your chosen publication option.

We look forward to your valuable contributions!

Abstract Submission Form

Participation

Please register using the linked form if you want to participate in our summer school. Registration deadline: 1 June 2026

Participation is free of charge and limited to 40 people.

Participation is also possible without submitting a contribution to the programme. However, we strongly encourage you to actively participate in the programme and look forward to a lively exchange and discussion.

Participant Registration Form