IIC's twentieth international congress will take place in Bilbao, northern Spain, 13-18 September 2004, at the invitation of the Guggenheim Museum together with Bilbao's city and regional governments. This will be a wonderful opportunity for those who have never visited Bilbao to see the extraordinary Frank Gehry building at the heart of this fascinating and historic city; those already familiar with Gehry's masterpiece will need no reminding of its importance as an architectural phenomenon and as a world-class showcase for modern and contemporary art.

The subject of the conference will be 'Modern Art, New Museums' - a title that consciously reflects the double theme that any encounter with the Guggenheim evokes. It will be a conference to interest conservators, curators, art historians, conservation scientists, architects and museum managers. Its scope will be broad, encompassing the whole field of modern (i.e., post-1900) art and newly-created exhibition spaces of recent years - whether they are new buildings, extensions to old buildings or

adaptations of previous structures. We would like to include contributions on physical aspects of all forms of modern art - their materials, techniques, conservation and display - including two- and three-dimensional objects, installations and video. We would also welcome accounts of the interactions of conservators and curators with contemporary artists: this could form a significant discussion topic at

the conference. Experiences of new museums could include assessments of brand-new buildings or re-assessments of buildings that have been in operation for a decade or two - from the point of view of the conservator, curator or architect.

To a great extent, the scope of the conference will be determined by the proposals received in response to the call for papers. We are confident that the programme will reflect current interests and concerns in these very active areas. As always, we are especially interested in those proposals which demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach.

Papers presented at an IIC congress and published in the contributions undergo a rigorous peer review process. To this end, the IIC Council appoints a committee of international experts who will make a selection from the proposals received and invite draft papers. They will then review the drafts and determine the final content of the programme. 

The members of the Technical Committee on this occasion are:

Andreas Burmester

Director, Doerner-Institut, Munich

Jim Coddington

Agnes Gund Chief Conservator, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Tom Learner

Senior Conservation Scientist, Tate, London

Carol Mancusi-Ungaro

Director of Conservation, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Thea van Oosten

Coordinator, ICOM-CC Working Group on Modern Materials & Contemporary Art

/ Instituut Collectie Nederland, Amsterdam

Paul Schwartzbaum

Chief Conservator, Guggenheim Museums

David Bomford will chair the Technical Committee and the contributions will be edited for publication by Ashok Roy.

Call for Papers

If you would like to present a paper, please submit a provisional title and a 150-word summary of the content, together with the name of the author and any co-authors or collaborators. You should provide full

contact details: your name, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address.

We should prefer to receive your proposal by e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

However, we can also accept summaries by fax to +44 (0)20 7976 1564 or by mail to IIC, 6 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6BA, UK.

Please remember that your work should not be presented and/or published elsewhere before the date of the congress. Simultaneous translation in English and Spanish will be provided in Bilbao but the language of the conference publications will be English.

Deadline for receipt of summaries: 30 April 2003

You will receive a response from the Technical Committee by the end of June. Draft MSS will be required by 30 September 2003 and the Technical Committee will make their selection by the end of November. Final MSS will be due on 15 January 2004.

A separate call for posters will be made at a later date. Registration for the congress will open in February 2004.

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it