The ICMEMOHRI 25th Anniversary Conference marks a milestone for ICOM’s International Committee for Memorial and Human Rights Museums. It will bring together museum professionals, scholars, human rights advocates, and memory workers to explore how sites of memory transform personal and collective remembrance into sustainable public memorialization. As first-hand witnesses fade, ethical and meaningful representation becomes ever more urgent, especially in times of shrinking civic space and rising authoritarianism.

In Vienna, reflections will include the city’s anti-fascist struggles, Jewish exile, Roma and Sinti persecution, forced displacement, concentration camps, and Austria’s complicity in Nazi crimes, alongside global examples such as the Spanish Civil War and the International Brigades. These histories remind us that memorial museums must preserve memory while actively defending human dignity and human rights today.

The conference is organized around a new format with visits to memorials in the morning followed by academic papers, panel discussions, and/or workshops in the afternoon. Each day will be centered around a different theme.

Day 1: Political Resistance and Sites of Memory in Vienna

Day 2: Spanish Civil War Volunteers, Roma and Sinti, and Marginalized Victim Groups

Day 3: Handling of Human Remains – Memory, Ethics, and Museum Practice

To submit a paper, send in an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short, 200-word biography. If you would like to submit a proposal for workshop or guided discussion include an outline of workshop goals and objectives or sample questions for a guided discussion. Note that the length of presentations may be restricted due to the quality and number of submissions. The proposals will be reviewed by the Program Committee. Send the materials to secretary.icmemohri@icom.museum

All submissions are due January 15^th /February 1^st. Authors will be notified February 1^st/February 15^th.

We would like to thank the Jewish Museum of Vienna, the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute, the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), and ICOM Austria for their support.

Jane E Klinger, Chair IC MEMOHRI

Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, Conference Chair

Barbara Thimm, Program Committee

Jill Vexler, Program Committee

Lea Fink, Program Committee