When caring for, shaping and sharing cultural heritage in the aftermath of human rights violations, there is a significant role for truth, reconciliation and other transitional justice processes – all of which are necessary for building and maintaining sustainable peace. The International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) Conference 2026 will focus on the potential for museums, storytellers and others caring for, and creating, cultural heritage to promote truth, invite dialogue and reflection, and advance reconciliation. Through sharing insights, strategies and better practices that harness the power of museums to advance justice and peacebuilding efforts, we will explore how museums, storytellers and other institutions of cultural heritage can inspire people to become upstanders for peace and human rights.
This conference will provide an opportunity for knowledge keepers, community leaders, museum workers, artists, activists and scholars to gather in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Red River Métis, to explore the transformative role museums play in fostering empathy, decolonization, rematriation/repatriation, promoting human rights, and cultivating a culture of peace.
This is an opportunity to learn and share with one another. The bulk of the content will be coming from you, the participants, and so we are looking for you to propose your ideas.
Please use some of the questions below as prompts and submit a proposal for a presentation by November 15, 2025 to inmpconference2026@humanrights.ca.
Some Topics/Questions to Consider
Please feel free to choose one or to create your own that is in a similar spirit:
Indigenization/Decolonization of Museums
Centring Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Peacebuilding:
What can we learn from Indigenous knowledge systems about peace and justice?
Community Collaboration, Building Bridges and Confronting Tensions Between Museums and Communities:
Recognizing the connection between colonialism and museums, how can museums and museum workers become co‐creators of peace in communities where they are based, or in communities with whom they work?
Land‐Based Learning and Museums as Healing Spaces:
How can museums create space for reconciliation, healing and learning beyond their walls?
Productive Discomfort – Techniques For Dialogue and Reflection:
How can we invite visitors, colleagues, families and communities to rethink their own beliefs and biases, and encourage reflection on our understanding of truth and storytelling?
Peacebuilding/Human Rights
Innovative Approaches to Transformative Peace Education:
What are the cutting‐edge methods to educate for peace? What are the roles of stories and storytellers? What is the relationship between affect and action in this work?
Museums as Upstanders Promoting Human Rights and Social Justice:
How can museums move beyond a limited understanding of “objectivity” or neutrality to take a stand for justice? What are the consequences of doing so?
The Roles of Youth as Storytellers, Curators and Audiences:
What are innovative ways that youth can help create, curate and engage with content promoting truth, reconciliation and transitional justice?
Curating during Ongoing Conflict:
What role do museums play in helping communities navigate ongoing conflicts – both domestic and global?
Working in the Space of Cultural Heritage/Peacemaking
Cultivating Empathy:
How do stories – including, but not exclusive to, a museum or artistic setting – create experiences that encourage visitors to step into the lives of others?
Highlighting the Experiences of Those Working in Peace‐Based Institutions:
What do museums and other institutions focused on peacebuilding need to do internally to ensure human rights are lived – and to create and sustain a culture of truth, equity, bravery and fun within their institutions?
Trauma‐Informed Institutions:
How might institutions, including museums and other organizations involved in peacebuilding, transitional justice, truth and reconciliation, better address, prevent and engage with trauma in their work with staff, communities and visitors?
Formats
Choose the format that is best for you (please select only one format as it will help us in determining the format/schedule of the conference):
Academic Presentation/Paper
Submit an abstract of no more than 250 words and indicate if you will also be submitting a paper to accompany your presentation. The INMP Conference 2026 Content Planning Committee will group together submissions of a similar theme. Joint submissions of up to four presenters/authors are also welcomed. If you are planning to present virtually, this is the only option; please indicate virtual participation in your submission.
Roundtable Discussion
Submit your discussion question/theme and a brief overview. The INMP Conference 2026 Content Planning Committee will group together submissions of a similar theme. Joint submissions of up to four presenters are welcomed. This format is best for people who work on similar topics/questions/challenges and may have different perspectives and techniques to share. It is best if you have all the participants selected beforehand.
Workshop
Submit your topic/theme and a brief overview of the workshop. This can be facilitated by an individual, partner or group (it does not usually work well if there are more than three facilitators). This format works best when it is interactive and when you want people to move around and/or engage with activities collectively.
Submission Process
Your proposal should be no longer than 250 words. It should include a title, name of presenter(s), contact information, the focus and goals of the paper/roundtable/workshop, and what, if any, AV needs you may need.
We encourage you to contact us at inmpconference2026@humanrights.ca if you require any accommodations as part of the proposal process and/or your attendance at the conference, such as alternative formats of materials, accessibility supports and services, financial support or other adjustments.
We will have limited space for virtual submissions and only for those presenting papers in panel format (option 1, above). Please indicate if this is your preference.
Important Information About the Process
Please let us know if you need a letter of acceptance to assist in applying for a Canadian visa.
You will receive prompt confirmation of receipt and will know if you are accepted to present by January 9, 2026.
Conference Registration Deadline For Presenters
March 31, 2026.
Note: If you have not paid the conference registration fee by this time, your name and presentation will be removed from the Conference program.
Language and Interpretation
The Conference will be conducted primarily in English, with French and Spanish simultaneous translation. If you would be able to participate more fully in another language, please let us know when you register and confirm your presentation, and we will do what we can to provide interpretation in that language.
Other Important Information
Priority of acceptance will be given to INMP members.
Proposals will be peer‐reviewed by the INMP Conference 2026 Content Planning Committee.