The Critical Fashion Museum Study Day: Call for Papers

On 25 November 2026, MoMu, Revers (UGent), and The New School Parsons Paris are organizing The Critical Fashion Museum study day at De Studio, Antwerp (Belgium).

Museum collections, policies, and histories have long been shaped by colonial and imperial mandates, class privilege, projects of social "education," and structural racism. These factors are now under new scrutiny. Fashion collections, which are today firmly established in art and decorative arts museums, are increasingly subject to the same reassessment.

The Critical Fashion Museum study day explores the idea of ‘critical’ through institutional biases, curatorial positionality, scholarly independence, and community relationships. We aim to create a space for investigating these issues inviting scholars interested in academic and curatorial practices and museum professionals to engage in conversation with each other.

The Critical Fashion Museum will be a one-day event on 25 November 2026 at De Studio, Antwerp (Belgium) combining scholarly exchange and critical discussion. The programme will include:

• A keynote lecture by Professor Carol Tulloch (University of Arts of London)

• Two panels of invited speakers discussing critical issues in fashion museology today.

• A workshop where MA students, PhD candidates, and postdoctoral scholars will present their work and receive feedback from senior scholars and museum professionals.

• A critical exhibition visit consisting of a group visit to the current exhibition, followed by a discussion of the exhibition's methodological, historiographical, and curatorial frameworks.

The Critical Fashion Museum will present a research award, which will provide mentorship and financial support for the publication of an article resulting from the study day.

We welcome contributions for the workshop and feedback session, in which MA students, PhD candidates, postdoctoral scholars present their work and receive responses from senior scholars and museum professionals. An outline of suggested themes can be found here.

We invite MA students, PhD candidates, postdoctoral scholars to submit the following:

• A 500-word abstract explaining the research you would like to present at the workshop. This could be connected to past or current research.

• A 300-word bio

• If applicable, a list of recent projects and publications related to the topic proposed

Advisory Committee: Maude Bass-Krueger (UGent - Revers), Kaat Debo (MoMu), Wim Mertens (MoMu), Marco Pecorari (The New School Parsons Paris), Caroline Stevenson (London College of Fashion), and José Teunissen (Amsterdam Fashion Institute - AMFI)

Proposal submission deadline: 1 July 2026.
Please send proposals to: revers@ugent.be