ICMM Congress 2022 – Halifax

Gateway to Canada and the (new) World

The 2022 ICMM Congress was hosted by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, from Monday 12 – Friday 16 September 2022. More than 110 in-person and 20 virtual delegates enjoyed a packed Congress program with fantastic speakers and memorable excursions.

Big thanks to Kim and the team in Halifax for the incredible amount of work they put in organising and running the Congress – everyone agreed it was a huge success!

Presentations were made available digitally throughout the Congress and are available to watch again as video links below:

• ICMM Congress 2022 – Opening Welcome from ICMM President Matthew Tanner

Gateway to Canada, and from Canada to the World : Many perspectives on how Canada, a maritime nation, continues to be shaped by Indigenous, maritime and immigrant cultures

• Keynote Speaker: Ocean Literacy, Maritime History, and the Heritage Gaze – Jerry Bannister, Director of the Marine Affairs Program at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Keynote Speaker: Mi’kmaq Connections with our Rivers, Lakes and Seas– Raymond Sewell, L’nu poet and songwriter, Professor of Indigenous Culture and Literature at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Inclusion as a Lens for Maritime Museum Interpretation & Engagement -Kim Reinhardt, General Manager, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• SS St. Louis – Ship of Fate – Dan Conlin, Curator, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
• Slate, Salt Cod & Schooners: A Welsh-Canadian Maritime Link – David Jenkins, Honorary Research Fellow, National Museum of Wales
• The Canadian War Museum and Canada’s Current & Historical Engagement with the Sea – Jeff Noakes, Second World War Historian, Canadian War Museum
• Visions of Nineteenth Century Maritime Canada – Eric Ruff, Curator Emeritus, Yarmouth County Museum, Canada
• Canada – The Polar Gateway & the Exchange of Franklin Expedition Knowledge – Jeremy Michell, Senior Curator of Maritime Technologies, Royal Museums Greenwich, London
• Panel Discussion on Working Boatyards – Kristen L. Greenaway, Chris Gasiorek, Alan Edenborough, Shane Theunissen and Matthew Tanner

Saving the Oceans? Can/should maritime museums become effective advocates for marine conservation and ocean science education?

• Keynote Speaker: Understanding the Critical Necessity to Protect our Oceans – Anya Waite, CEO and Scientific Director of the Ocean Frontier Institute & Associate Vice-President Research (Ocean), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• W2.0 – The Ocean Today – Peter Neill – Founder & Director of World Ocean Observatory, Sedgwick, Maine, USA
• New Ways to Engage with the Sea – A French Perspective – Vincent Campredon, Director, Musée national de la Marine, Paris, France
• Still At Sea – Katie Higginbottom – Head of ITF Seafarers Trust, and Karl Risser, ITF Seafarers Trust Inspector – Halifax
• One Ocean – Our Future Exhibition – Richard Wesley, Chief Experience Officer, Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney
• PEM’s Climate and Environment Initiative. Inspiring Action through a Constellation of Projects – Dan Finamore, Curator of Maritime Art and History, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., USA
• Becoming an Eco-Positive National Maritime Museum in 2030 – Michael Huijser, Director, Het Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum), Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Oceans and Collections: The Maritime Museum & Aquarium in Gothenburg – Helena Joelsson Ekström, Head of Exhibitions, Sjöfartsmuseet Akvariet, Göteborg, Sweden
• Invasive Species and the Mystic River: The Marine Biology of Maritime History – Christina Connett Brophy, Senior Vice President of Curatorial Affairs & Senior Director of Museum Galleries Mystic Seaport Museum, Connecticut, USA
• Cultural Heritage Framework Programme – Athena Trakadas, Chair, UN Ocean Decade Heritage Network, and Editor of the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology
• Learning from the Past – Louise Sanger, Head of Research, Interpretation & Engagement, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, London, UK
• Expanding Our Mandate: History, Art, and (Marine) Science in the Hong Kong Maritime Museum – Joost Schokkenbroek, Director, Hong Kong Maritime Museum
• Collections Dynamics: The Atlantic World & Towards a Multi-Perspective Presentation of Maritime History – Jeroen van der Vliet, Head of Collections, Het Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum), Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Seeking Balance in the Southern Ocean: the Remarkable Legacy of Yachtsman and Ornithologist Gerry Clark, MBE – Vincent Lipanovich, Director, New Zealand Maritime Museum
• Sesimbra Maritime Museum: A Bridge Between a Five-Thousand-Year-Old Maritime Heritage & the 21st Century Community – Andreia Filipa Conceição – Coordinator, Museu Marítimo de Sesimbra, Portugal
• ICMM Members’ Round-up Short Reports – Hanna Hagmark, Waander Deville, Paul van Schoors, Fred Hocker, Howard Hoege, Jonathan Boulware

Calm Seas do not a great Captain make: Maritime museums in a complex and challenging contemporary world, particularly towards stories of migration, slavery, and the universal history of maritime culture

• Keynote Speaker: My Ship of Private Choices, On Our Common Ocean Of Needs: How Can I Navigate Safe Passage For All – Paddy Rodgers, Director, Royal Museums Greenwich, London
• Mystic Seaport & the Use of Maritime History as the Basis for Studying the Relationship Between European Colonisation, Dispossession of Native American Land and Racial Slavery – Akeia de Barros Gomes, Senior Curator of Maritime Social Histories, Mystic Seaport Museum, USA
• Museums Without Borders: War in Europe – Robert Domzal, Director, Polish National Maritime Museum, Gdansk
• All Hands On Deck: Facilitating Equitable Community Collaboration – Sarah Lockwood, Head of Learning and Interpretation, Royal Museums Greenwich, London
• Changing Tides: Interpreting Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in a European maritime museum in 2022 – Sarah Giersing, Head of Programs and Exhibitions, M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark
• Sustainable Heritage: Engaging Communities & Generating New Audiences – Stephen Ryan, Director, Freeman Ryan Design Pty, Australia
• Gendered Silent Heritage and Museums: A Necessary Dialogue – Daniel J Albero Santacreu, Lecturer in Maritime Heritage, & Ariana Dominguez Garcia, University of the Balearic Islands, Spain
• The Materiality of the Great Escape Over the Baltic Sea – Anna Arnberg, Head of the Cultural Heritage Unit, Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums, and Mirja Arnshav, Research Coordinator, Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums
• The Kuprianov Collection: An Early Example of Colonial Collections from Alaska – Ursula Warnke, Director, Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, Germany

Maritime Museums, and/or Vessel Preservation : Can and should maritime museums continue to operate vessels? What are the best heritage strategies for conservation and sustainability in 21st century?

• Keynote Speaker: The Relevance of Maritime Museums in 21st Century: A Story to Tell with Ships? – Matthew Tanner, ICMM President and Chief Executive of SS Great Britain Trust, Bristol, UK
• Creating Vrak – Museum of Wrecks – Lars Amreus, Director General, Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums
• Steering Buenos Aires Zen City Wreck in Changing Waters… A Cultural Conservative Strategy in South America – Marcelo Weissel, Director, Museo Arqueologico, Portuario y Maritimo de la Boca (MusABoca), and Eva Tavella, responsible for Conservation and Restoration in the Pecio Zencity maritime archaeology project
• Managing the Long-Term Future of Historic Ships – Laura Pye, Director, National Museums Liverpool
• Ship Preservation & Climate Change – Hannah Cunliffe, Director, National Historic Ships UK
• Conservation Engineering: Optimising to Transform the Way we Care for Our Heritage – Nicola Grahamslaw, Ship’s Conservation Engineer, SS Great Britain Trust, Bristol, UK
• The Best Place for a Tall Ship is on the High Seas? Barque James Craig – a Case Study – Alan Edenborough, Director of Projects, Sydney Heritage Fleet, and President of the Australian Maritime Museums Council
• HMS Victory – The Rational Conservation of a National Icon? – Andrew Baines, Deputy Executive Director of Museum Operations at the National Museum of the Royal Navy (UK), and Project Director for the HMS Victory Conservation Project
• Vessel Preservation at the Deutsches Marinemuseum – Stephan Huck, Director, Deutsches Marinemuseum, Germany
• GLOBOAT – A Public Database & Platform for the Study of World Wooden Sailing Crafts – Zefeng You, Director, Sailing For More Maritime Museum, Ningbo, China
  

Carbon Offsetting

ICMM recognised that the carbon footprint of the Congress would be significant, with participants travelling to Canada from all over the world.  To mitigate the effects of this, the ICMM Executive Council decided to carbon offset attendees’ travel to Halifax by donating to the Ocean Foundation’s SeaGrass Grow carbon offset programme.  We will also be exploring options for offsetting the carbon footprint of our online Congress operations, including our virtual streaming.  The Congress organisers in Halifax also ensured that the event was as sustainable and green as possible, including minimizing the use of plastics, excess paper and other options.