Ivory in the Museum: The Elephant in Our Room
Curator: the Museum Journal is soliciting manuscripts for a themed issue
Heightened visitor sensitivity and awareness are challenging many museums to answer the
question "Why is there ivory in this museum? Why is it on exhibit? What does it say about our
institution? And What can it accomplish to advance society?" As art reflects–and responds to–
life, the crisis that challenges whether elephants survive beyond our generation provides an
opportunity to examine objects, their origins, their contribution to the future, and their
connections to larger issues. Professional dialogue can give context to ivory not just as an
object grounded in the disciplines of art, history, and scientific research, but on a continuum
that directly links these objects through cultural, historical, archival and conservation
perspectives to the moral challenges we face as a planet witnessing the sixth great extinction.
Museums have an obligation to reconsider the role ivory plays in their collections and exhibits
in the face of this global issue. The material has historical, artistic and educational significance
that museums might wish to protect. But museums are also in positions to activate a dialogue
about the artifacts that have historical value, and our moral responsibility to safeguard the
future global biodiversity. The ivory crisis provides an unprecedented opportunity for
museums; few materials have been so universal in their scope and relevance. This special
issue seeks new perspectives on this critical global issue.
Theme Issue Editors:
Cheryl Braunstein, Manager, Exhibit Planning & Development, Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park
Scott Miller, Deputy Under Secretary for Collections and Interdisciplinary Support, Smithsonian Institution
Marjorie Trusted, Senior Curator of sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Submission Guidelines:
Submission of research papers, forum articles, exhibit reviews and book reviews are welcomed.
Deadline for abstracts is September 15th, 2016. Authors will be notified of their accepted papers by
January 30th, 2017 for anticipated draft completion by May 2017. Abstracts should be emailed directly
to the guest editors at Ivory@curatorjournal.org for consideration.
All accepted papers must comply with Curator guidelines, available at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2151-6952/homepage/ForAuthors.html
Editor, John Fraser, Ph.D. AIA