It is with a heavy heart that the International Council of Museums (ICOM) mourns the death of one its members: Luis Repetto Málaga, museologist and director of the Museo de Artes y Tradiciones populares at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
Luis was an active and passionate member of our global network. He was President of ICOM Peru from 2010 to 2016, he was currently serving as Vice President of the National Committee ICOM Peru and the Regional Alliance Latin America and Caribbean (ICOM LAC), and he worked in the International Committee for University Museums and Collections (ICOM UMAC).
ICOM expresses its sincere condolences to his family and friends for the unexpected loss and recalls his commitment as a museologist and cultural manager, passionate and tireless, who has given so much to the research and promotion of cultural heritage in his native Country and the World: presenting the two TV programmes “Museos Puertas Abiertas” and “Museos Sin Límites” on TV Peru, he brought museums to the homes of his fellow citizens with dedication and unshakable enthusiasm.
Luis was also an ardent supporter of the role museums can have for sustainable community development, and he was one of the pillars of the EU-LAC project, which aims to help empower smaller and rural communities to write their own history and build a fairer and more equitable future by means of heritage.
We join the many friends, colleagues and cultural institutions who have wished to express solidarity and honour the memory of Luis Repetto Málaga. His death is a big loss for ICOM and the museum community in Latin America and around the world.
On behalf of the Executive Board and ICOM,
Suay Aksoy, ICOM President
Peter Keller, ICOM Director General