The 5th International Artefacta Conference: Sustainability and Heritage

I am sharing the CFP on behalf of Tenno Teidearu (Estonian National Museum) who is the head of the conference committee for the 5th International Artefacta Conference: Sustainability and Heritage.

Dear colleague,

I am delighted to invite you to the 5th International Artefacta Conference: Sustainability and Heritage.

The Fifth International Artefacta Conference will be held in Estonia on 14–16 April 2027, organised by the Estonian National Museum and the University of Tartu.

At the core of the Artefacta Conferences are things and artefacts, as well as the materiality and material culture associated with them.

The theme of the Fifth International Artefacta Conference is “Sustainability and Heritage”, which connects objects and material culture to discussions of sustainability and cultural heritage. Sustainability is increasingly significant and relevant to the study of artefacts, material culture, and heritage. Beyond cultural, social, and economic sustainability, concerns about ecological viability and the climate crisis are prompting scholars to view artefacts, material culture, and the materiality of cultural heritage in new light and contexts, and to ask new questions. The meaning of cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, is shifting from an object of preservation to a cultural resource for sustainability and resilience.

The 2027 conference focuses on the importance and advances in the study of objects and material culture through the combined lens of sustainability and cultural heritage. It also examines the inherent and potential innovative links between cultural heritage and sustainability. The conference invites participants to theorise “sustainable artefacts”, “material cultures of sustainability”, and “sustainable cultural heritage”, and to ask what they might be and how best to study them.

Abstract proposals and submission

The conference welcomes abstract proposals on the theme “Sustainability and Heritage” from around the world and from interdisciplinary perspectives, including material culture studies, history, archaeology, ethnology, anthropology, folkloristics, craft science, conservation, museology, art history, design, architecture, heritage science, cultural policy, and related fields. The conference is open to all kinds of academic research, including practice-led and artistic research.

The deadline for submissions is 15 November 2026.

Further details are available on the conference web page: www.artefacta2027.ee

Please find the call for papers attached.

The conference is organised in collaboration with the Estonian National Museum, the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy, and the UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the University of Tartu.

Conference e-mail: artefacta@artefacta2027.ee

Feel free to share this call for papers with your colleagues.

Sincerely,

Tenno Teidearu (Estonian National Museum), head of the conference committee
Liisi Jääts (Estonian National Museum)
Tiina Kull (Estonian National Museum)
Ave Matsin (University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy)
Elo-Hanna Seljamaa (UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the University of Tartu)

artefacta@artefacta2027.ee