LAST NEWS: The conference will start on Monday 29 November as planned (see program below). Due to the COVID-19 situation masks are mandatory inside and corona passes are required for instance on restaurants. We are doing our best to make conference as safe as possible. There are so far (27.11.2021) zero known cases in France of a newly identified Covid variant, which has been named Omicron by the WHO. France has already suspended travel from seven southern African countries over Omicron concerns. See you in Montreuil!

WORKLAB – International Association of Labour Museums – is organising a general conference in late November. Worklab Conference 2021 will be held by The Musée de l’histoire Vivante (Museum of Living History) in Montreuil, France November 29 – December 1 2021. The Museum of Living History, located in an old Italian villa, in a marvellous park near Paris, will provide a unique and authentic venue for the conference. The Call for papers is closed and the program is now published.

The conference theme is Museums and Movements. Many museums were created to preserve and exhibit the memory of the workers, the industrial work and the workers’ movement. What is the future of these relationships in globalized and postpandemic world? Can we build bridges between trade unions, activists, museums and states? Such big issues will be answered in top class presentations by international speakers. Museums and Movements conference is organized during the 150th anniversary of Paris commune. 

Now it is the time to register for the conference, reserve the flights and your accomodation for Montreuil and Paris! Conference will start in the Monday evening 29th of November and close on Wednesday 1st December. Please, start by registering. The conference fee is only 150 euros which includes scientific program, translation (English-French), lunches, dinner and transport from coctails at the city hall of Montreuil to the museum. If you have any questions about your participation, please contact the Museum of Living History at mushistviv(at)gmail.com

Link for the registration / Lien pour l’enregistrement

Program

Monday 29 November (arrival day)/ Lundi 29 novembre (jour d’arrivée)

19.00 : Welcome reception by the mayor of Montreuil, Patrice Bessac, at the city hall of Montreuil (1 Pl. Jean Jaurès), France/ Réception d’accueil par le maire de Montreuil (1 Pl. Jean Jaurès), Patrice Bessac

Tuesday 30 November/ Mardi 30 novembre

9.00 – 9.15 : Conference registration/ enregistrement

9.15 – 9.30 : Welcome speech by Frédérick Genevée, president of the Living History Museum and by Dominique Dellac, vice-président of département of Seine-Saint-Denis. Discours de bienvenue par Frédérick Genevée, président du Musée de l’Histoire vivante et Dominique Dellac, vice-présidente du conseil départemental de la Seine-Saint-Denis

9.30 – 11.00 : Session 1 – Engaged (partisan) museums and historical discipline/musées engagés et discipline historique:

• From one century to the other: how to show 1871, 1917, 1936 / by Eric Lafon, director, Museum of living history, director, Montreuil, France.
  D’un siècle à l’autre : Exposer 1871, 1917, 1936 par Eric Lafon, directeur scientifique du musée de l’histoire vivante, Montreuil.
• The thesaurus of the heritage of labor. A way to re-think the museum collection? by Katarzyna Maniak, PHD, Jagiellonian University and Monika Widzicka, Museum of Urban Engineering – Krakow, Poland
  Le thésaurus du patrimoine du travail, une façon de repenser les collections des musées ? par Katarzyna Maniak, Université Jagellon et Monika Widzicka, Musée des sciences et des technologies – Cracovie, Pologne.
• The house of the French history, political stake and identitary weapon, by Nicolas Offenstadt, PHD, University of Pantheon-Sorbonne, France
  La Maison d’Histoire de France, enjeu politique et arme identitaire, par Nicolas Offenstadt, maître de conférences à l’université Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

11.00 – 12.00 : Visit of the exhibition “Mémoires Commune(s) 1871- 2021”, by Véronique Fau-Vincenti, PHD, curator, Museum of Living History, Montreuil, France

Visite de l’exposition : « Mémoires Commune(s) 1871- 2021 » par Véronique Fau-Vincenti, responsable des activités scientifiques, Musée de l’Histoire vivante, Montreuil.

12.00 – 13.30 : Lunch / déjeuner

13.30 – 15.00 : Session 2 – Museums and activism/ Musées et activisme

• How Activist can an Activist Museum Really Be? by Katy Ashton, director of the People’s History Museum, Manchester, United Kingdom
  A quel point un musée militant peut-il vraiment l’être? par Katy Ashton, directeur du Musée de l’histoire du peuple, Manchester, Le Royaume-Uni.
• Relevancy Now: The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike in the 21^st Century by Roland Sawatzky, PHD, Curator of History, The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  La grève générale de Winnipeg de 1919 au XXIème siècle, quelle légitimité ? par Roland Sawatzky, conservateur, Musée d’histoire de Winnipeg, province Manitoba, Canada
• Labour Heritage in cultural politics by Kalle Kallio, director of the Finnish Labour Museum, Tampere, Finland
  Le patrimoine du travail ouvrier dans les politiques culturelles par Kalle Kallio, directeur du Musée finlandais du travail, Tampere, Finlande.
  

15.00 – 15:30 : Coffee break/Pause café

15.30 – 16:30 : Working movement, Memory and History by keynote speaker Serge Wolikow, PHD, Professor Emeritus of contemporary history, University of Burgundy and President of the Foundation for the memory of deportation
Mouvement ouvrier, Mémoire et Histoire par Serge Wolikow, professeur émérite d’histoire contemporaine, Université de Bourgogne et Président de la Fondation pour la mémoire de la déportation (FMD)

16.45 – 18.00 : Worklab General Conference (English only)

19.00 : Dinner in Montreuil. Alcoholic drinks may be purchased individually. / Dîner à Montreuil. (Les boissons alcoolisées non comprises)

Wednesday 1rst December/Mercredi 1er décembre

9.30 – 11.30 : Session 3 – Museums, unions, employer organisations and political parties/ Musées, syndicats, organisations patronales et partis politiques

• The French Communist Party, founder of museumsby Frédérick Genevée, PHD, museum of living history, Montreuil, France
  Le Parti communiste français, fondateur de musées par Frédérick Genevée, historien, président du musée de l’Histoire vivante, Montreuil.
• Heritage with an Agenda. Documenting political activists in Denmark 1960-2020 by Søren Bak-Jensen, director of The Workers Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark
  Le patrimoine à l’ordre du jour : Faire l’histoire des militants politiques au Danemark 1960 – 2020 par Søren Bak-Jensen, directeur du Musée des travailleurs de Copenhague, Danemark.
• The mining history center, product of a company that is aware of its history by Amy Benadiba, director of the mining history center
  Le centre historique minier, fruit d’une entreprise consciente de son histoire par Amy Benadiba, directrice du centre historique minier
• Museums scientific credibility as capital or currency by Niklas Cserhalmi, PHD, director of the Museum of Work, Norrköping, Sweden
  La crédibilité scientifique des musées comme capital ou comme monnaie par Niklas Cserhalmi, directeur du musée du travail, Norrköping, Suède.

11.30 – 12.30 : New looks at history of labour worlds 2000 – 2020 by keynote speaker Nicolas Hatzfeld, PHD, Professor Emeritus of contemporary history, University of Evry Val d’Essonne, founder member of the French Association for history of labour worlds
Nouveaux regards sur l’histoire des mondes du travail 2000-2020 par Nicolas Hatzfeld, Professeur émérite d’histoire contemporaine, Université d’Evry val d’Essonne, membre fondateur de l’Association française pour l’histoire des monde du travail (AFHMT)

12.30 – 13.30 : Lunch/ déjeuner

13.30 – 15.30 : Session 4 – Museums and the State/ Les musées et l’Etat

• There will be no exhibition! A political decision regarding the opening of the Slovenian EU Presidency exhibition by Andreja Rihter, PHD, director of Forum of Slavic Cultures, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  Il n’y aura pas d’exposition ! Une décision politique concernant l’inauguration d’une exposition de la présidence slovène de l’Union européenne par Andreja Rihter, directrice du Forum des cultures slaves, Ljubljana, Slovénie.
• Boards that changed the World by Robert Domżał PHD, director of National Maritime Museum, Gdańsk, Poland
  Les planches qui ont changé le monde (planches en bois sur lesquelles les ouvriers de Gdansk et Solidarité ont inscrit leurs 21 revendications), par Robert Domżał, directeur du musée national maritime, Gdańsk, Pologne
• An agency for propaganda, disseminiation or raising awareness? The German Exhibition for Occupational Safety and Health (DASA) as a part of the executive authority by Bernd Holtwick, PHD, assistant director and head of DASA’s exhibitions, Dortmund, Germany
  Le centre d’exposition de la Santé et de la sécurité au travail (DASA) comme établissement fédéral est-il une agence de propagande, de diffusion ou de sensibilisation ? par Bernd Holtwick, directeur adjoint et responsable des expositions, DASA, Dortmund, Allemagne.

15.30 – 15.45 : Coffee Break / pause café

15.45 – 16.30 : Panel Discussion / discussion générale

Practical information

Registration

Link for the registration / Lien pour l’enregistrement

Location

The musée de l’histoire vivante/Museum of living history is located on 31, boulevard Theophile Sueur, 93100 Montreuil, France. See location in Google Maps. Learn more about museum of living history at the website.

Transportation

The Museum of living history is 20 minutes by transportation away from the center of Montreuil.

Montreuil is around an hour away from the Orly Airport (South of Paris) by public transportation or by car and around 45 minutes (by car) or an hour (public transportation) from the Charles de Gaulle Airport (north of Paris). The website for public transportation is https://www.ratp.fr/en/

 Hotel suggestions

There are several hotels in Montreuil and Paris. Here as just some examples:

Hotel Ibis Styles Paris Mairie de Montreuil, Hotel Kleber are in the center of Montreuil, 20 minutes away from the Museum of living history by car and close to the metro station to get to the center of Paris in 20 minutes. La Maison Montreau is located inside the park where the Museum of living history is. All are nice hotels in difference price ranges.

General Assembly

Conference includes also the general assembly of WORKLAB on the Tuesday evening 30th November. General assembly is open for all WORKLAB members and we also welcome those who consider joining our network. This official meeting shall discuss about coming projects and programmes and elect the members of the board. If you are interested to take an active role in WORKLAB or want to make a suggestion for the assembly, please contact the current chairman Kalle Kallio (kalle.kallio(at)tyovaenmuseo.fi).

Beside all this, WORKLAB conference will gather international labour museum community and plenty of museum professionals interested in social history. Museums and Movements conference was postponed twice thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic but now it is the time to meet again. Montreuil will be a great place to network, share new ideas and build long-lasting friendships.