ICR annual conference in Serbia 22-29 September 2012

Invitation and Call for papers
Home and Hearth:  Regional Museums and Gastronomic Heritage.

Join colleagues from around the world to discuss documenting, preserving and interpreting tangible and intangible aspects of gastronomic heritage, and contribute your own “food for thought”.

The International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR), ICOM South East Europe Alliance (ICOM SEE), ICOM Serbia and the Regional Museum of Prijepolje invite you to participate in the annual conference to be held 22-29 September 2012 in Belgrade and Prijepolje, Serbia.  The organizers seek presentations and case studies relevant to the theme HOME AND HEARTH:  REGIONAL MUSEUMS AND GASTRONOMIC HERITAGE.

Hearth and home, fireplace and family, warmth and comfort – these are the vital ingredients of social life. Food and the spaces in which it is prepared and served play important parts in family and community life.  The kitchen has changed over time – in some urban contexts today it now resembles a laboratory.  How has technology changed how and where food is prepared and served? What are the unwritten rules regarding food selection, preparation, presentation and consumption?  How have urbanization, immigration and other changes to community and family life affected diet, gastronomy and the material heritage?

How do the households of cultural, religious and ethnic groups differ regarding food selection, preparation, presentation and consumption?  What are the unspoken rules, practices, manners?  How are these rules reflected in the material culture and vice versa?  Until recently the types of available foods depended upon geography, but what make one type of animal or grain more desirable than another?  What foods are reserved for festivals and other special occasions?  What special utensils and containers are used to make these foods?  What are museums doing to document and