Regional Trainings - International Council of Museums

Each year ICOM organises different Regional Trainings to give museum professionals from all over the world the chance to participate in high level workshops led by international experts. These workshops also aim at creating regional networks for museum professionals that they can use to exchange information or to initiate and develop collaborative projects.

ICOM’s goal is to reach all regions with its trainings workshops every two years, so that all museum professionals can have the possibility to attend.

Depending on the geographical region, ICOM Trainings are developed in our three official languages: English, French and Spanish.

CURRENT PROJECT

ICOM Training Workshop on Marketing, Audience Development and Fundraising

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) and ICOM Mexico are organizing a training programme for Latin American museum professionals in partnership with the ICOM International Committee for Marketing and Public Relations (MPR).

The workshop is scheduled to take place in Mexico from 16th to 20th October 2023 and will be held at two venues: MIDE (Museo Interactivo de Economia), and Museo Kaluz.

The training programme is designed to develop the skills and capacities of 30 museum professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean. Mid-career professionals from different fields and disciplines will benefit from lectures, workshops, and discussions and will also be responsible for disseminating the knowledge and expertise gained within their teams and to their collaborators.

Objective: Build capacities of museum professionals in the sector of marketing, audience development, and fundraising.

PAST PROJECTS

2023

ICOM-NMAAHC Workshop on developing international partnerships and projects

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) have joined forces to develop a training workshop aimed at empowering museums to develop international partnerships and projects.

The workshop took place in Washington, D.C., USA, between 1-5 May 2023.

The goal of the programme is to promote the exchange of experiences and methodologies that facilitate intercultural dialogue, the identification of allies and resources, and the development of partnerships in international and local contexts. Trainers from various regions of the world will be part of this exchange of knowledge and professional practice, which will in turn strengthen the communication and collaborative work among the members of the networks of African, African American and African diaspora museums.

2022

ICOM Training Programme in Nigeria

Museum Strategies for protecting and communicating heritage in a participatory manner in Contemporary Nigerian Museums

In November 2022, 25 museum professionals from Nigeria had the opportunity to participate in a training programme to develop a holistic understanding of the functions of a museum and identify and recognise the need to promote participatory and interdisciplinary projects.

The training, which took place from November 21 to 25 in Lagos, provided museum professionals with an understanding of the different strategies and tools that contemporary Nigerian museums can use to protect and communicate their country’s heritage in a participatory manner.

Programme Outline:

The workshop was conducted at the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art in Lagos, Nigeria. The aim of the five-day programme was to develop an understanding among participants of the different strategies and tools that contemporary Nigerian museums can use to protect and communicates their country’s heritage in a participatory manner.

The workshop was organised by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art, Pan-Atlantic University, and ICOM Nigeria, and was made possible through support of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian Institution.

About the Trainers

Oluwatoyin Sogbesan is a curator, researcher and lecturer based in Nigera. Her work has been oriented towards promoting a conducive environment that supports the understanding of African artefacts in both physical and virtual spaces to facilitate inclusion.

Juliana Ribeiro da Silva Bevilacqua has worked on various curatorial and research work over the past years, including her doctoral research at the University of São Paulo in Brasil. Having curated several African and Afro-Brasilian art exhibitions, her research interests cover classical African art, contemporary African art, Colonial Museums in Africac Afro-Brazilian art, especially collections from Afro-Brazilian religions, like Candomblé, Modernism in Bahia and arts of Diaspora.

ICOM Training: Supporting Disaster Risk Management in Armenia

Armenia is a country that has been affected by both natural disasters and armed conflicts. Initiated by ICOM Armenia, ICOM supported the organisation of a training course for museum professionals from the region.

The damages that have affected museums and their collections during the earthquakes, the war for Artsakh (in 1990s, 2016, 2020) showed that the museum community is not prepared enough to react on time and organise the safety measures for their collections and staff on time. Ani Avagyan, ex-Chair of ICOM Armenia, expressed a need regarding the organisation of a training activity on disaster risk management for the Armenian museum professionals to address a lack of knowledge and tools in the area.

The training, which took place from October 24 to 28 at the History Museum of Armenia and the Khachatur Abovyan House-Museum, provided 30 participants from the region with specific tools to prevent, prepare and implement disaster risk management strategies for their collections, staff and visitors in case of earthquake, flood, blast, war, structure collapse, etc. The training included study visits to various institutional members of ICOM Armenia, including the Basilica of Ereruyk, the Museum of National Architecture and Urban Life of Gyumri (Merkurov’s house-museum), the Aslamazyan Sisters Gallery and the TUMO Centre for Creative Technologies.

Programme Outline

The training program took place in Yerevan, Armenia from the 24-28 October 2022 and provided 27 participants from the region with particular tools to prevent, prepare, and implement disaster risk management strategies for their collections, staffs, and visitors in case of an earthquake, flood, blast, war, structure collapse and more.

About the trainers

Amira Sadik Aly’s work focuses on the documentation of ancient Egyptian heritage, scenes, archaeological sites, customs, crafts, archives, and collections and is part of the cultural heritage program, preparing workshops for both laymen and specialists. In 2014, she joined the EHRF group participating in the TOT program for Emergency Assistance to Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis, provided by ICCROM, UNESCO. As a trainer and co-trainer, she participated in national and regional training courses in First Aid and Risk Preparedness for Cultural Heritage.

Vernon Rapley F.S.A. is the Director of Cultural Heritage Protection and Security, at the V&A Museum in London. He is the creator and director of the internationally recognised ‘Culture in Crisis Programme’ and the ‘Culture in Crisis Portal’. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (London). The Chair of the ICOM International Committee for Museum Security, Chair of the National Museum Security Group and of the Security of Major Museums in Europe (Bizot sub-group). Before joining the cultural sector, Vernon was a detective at New Scotland Yard for 24 years. He retired as the head of the Art & Antiques Unit in 2010.

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2021-2022

ICOM/MAC workshop in disaster risk management for museums in Martinique

Professionals from the Caribbean participated in the workshop on Disaster Risk Management to be held in Fort-de-France, Martinique.

The objective of the programme was to strengthen the capacities of museum professionals to identify and mitigate risks and to respond effectively to emergencies and crises. Through participatory activities, seminars and lectures, the workshop also offered a space for dialogue and reflection between museum professionals of the region and experts from other countries.

Programme Outline

The workshop was conducted in a hybrid format because of the pandemic restrictions in 2021. The first four online sessions took place between September and December 2021, and three in situ sessions took place on 27-29 April 2022.

The workshop is the result of collaboration between ICOM, the Museum Association of the Caribbean (MAC), and the “Collectivité Territoriale de Martinique”, with the support of the National Museum of African American History & Culture – Smithsonian Institution and the French Ministry of Culture.

About the Trainers

After several years as a manager in French territorial museums, Françoise Collanges progressively specialised in preventive conservation and restoration. Scientific collaborator at the Institute of Artistic Heritage (IRPA) in Brussels since 2021, she is in charge of the coordination of the crisis committee created last July by this institute following the dramatic floods that have hit the Belgian heritage hard.

Valerie Martens-Monier has been in charge of the restoration workshop at the National Archives of Curaçao since 2016. As one of the few paper conservators in the Caribbean region, she was asked by the Dutch government to conduct a damage assessment of the cultural heritage on the island of St. Maarten after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Valerie is now involved in the Caribbean Heritage Emergency Network (CHEN) and has conducted trainings on paper management and risk management.

About the Mentors

Claudia Cancellotti is a researcher, cultural mediator, trainer, and teacher. With an anthropological and ethnographic specialty background, she has carried out and coordinated various projects in multicultural and intercultural environments. Through various on-the-field experiences, she has developed several social and cultural mediation projects and assisted in the development of training programs. She is currently the organisation coordinator and director of the cultural heritage and performing arts at Archi.Media Trust Onlus.

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2019

Museum futures today: relevant, meaningful and responsible, South Africa

In November 2019 museum professionals from ten different countries in English-speaking Africa had the opportunity to meet at IZIKO Museums of South Africa (Cape Town) to develop their skills in community and stakeholder engagement.

The workshop was organised by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) thanks to the support of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian Institution.

The training workshop encouraged the participants to rethink their role as museum workers and as participants and partners in social and community change.

About the trainers

Paulina Roblero Tranchino is a journalist and a cultural manager. With a postgraduate diploma in Cultural Heritage, she specialised in communications and audiences. Her work as Head of Communications and Audience Engagement at the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art has been oriented toward implementing audience development, innovating in the museum’s relationship with the public, and opening up to citizens. These experiences led her to be invited to give lectures at seminars and write articles on the topic.

Nomusa Makhubu (BFA, MA, PGDHE, PhD, Rhodes University) is a senior lecturer of art history at the University of Cape Town and an artist. She received the ABSA L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award (2006) and the Prix du Studio National des Arts Contemporain, Le Fresnoy (2014). In 2017, Makhubu was a Mandela-Mellon fellow at Harvard University. She co-edited a Third Text Special Issue: ‘The Art of Change’ (2013). Makhubu is a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) and was the chairperson of the Africa South Art Initiative (ASAI), 2016-18. She is currently the Principal Investigator in the research project, Creative Knowledge Resources.

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Museums for reconciliation: communities, pedagogies and memories, Colombia

In October 2019 participants from nine different countries of Latin America participated in this workshop organised by ICOM Secretariat, the Colombian Museum of Memory, and ICOM Colombia in the Museum La Tertulia (Cali).

The workshop promoted a reflection on the museological and pedagogical challenges that contemporary Latin American museums are facing when developing projects linked to the construction of memories and to the processes of resistance, resilience, dialogue, and reconciliation in times of conflict. The programme was especially meaningful in a historical moment in which social and political tensions are rising worldwide, and war and conflicts are recent or still going on in many Latin American countries.

About the trainers

Armando Perla is part of the founding team of the new Swedish Museum of Migration and Democracy, under development in Malmo, Sweden. He was also part of the founding team of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, where he held the position of curator for almost 10 years. Throughout his curatorial career, Armando has worked on developing practices for the democratisation of the museum and numerous co-curatorial exhibitions with vulnerable and historically marginalised populations. He has worked with various human rights organisations and also as an adjunct professor at the University of Winnipeg. Armando is an activist who advocates for museums to create spaces for underrepresented voices.

Marília Bonas is a historian specialised in museology from the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Museology from the Universidade Lusófona in Lisbon. She has worked for more than 18 years in the areas of research, documentation, curatorial projects and cultural management. For 7 years, she was the Director of the Museu do Café (Santos – SP) and the Museu da Imigração (São Paulo – SP). Now, she is the Coordinator of the Memorial da Resistência de São Paulo.

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Be creative, build alliances, Morocco

In June 2019 museum professionals from seven different countries in French-speaking Africa participated in a five-day workshop at the Aman Museum for the Water Civilisation (Marrakesh) about marketing and fundraising for museums.

The project was the result of a collaboration between ICOM, ICOM Morocco and the French Ministry of Culture.

The workshop gave the participants the tools to work on the creation and development of innovative alliances and fundraising activities in museums. Through participatory activities, seminars and lectures, the workshop offered a space for dialogue and reflection between museum professionals of the region.

About the trainers

After his graduating as a historian and obtaining a Master’s degree in arts and culture, Adrien Joly began his career working for the visitors’ service at the Royal Pavilion in England in 2003. He began his career at the Château de Versailles in 2009 as sponsorship project coordinator under the presidency of Jean-Jacques Aillagon. In 2012, he joined the Mucem team as deputy communications officer in charge of patronage in 2009. Since 2014, he has been in charge of the Resource Development Department, which concentrates the Museum’s own resource activities, with the exception of ticketing, and which also manages the Mucem’s policy of setting up in its territory.

With over 20 years of marketing experience, Jean-Sébastien Bélanger has led a team of 60 employees at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. With his contribution, he . Thanks to his efforts, membership has grown from 45,000 in 2011 to 133,000 in 2017, making the Museum one of the most successful in North America in this area. In particular, he and his team carried out a complete overhaul of the programme and implemented multi-channel, data-driven loyalty, retention and acquisition strategies that doubled membership and revenue. Since June 2021, he has been Chief External Relations Officer for the National Theatre School of Canada.

2018

Museums management, Qatar

In October 2018 a total of 67 international professionals working for different Qatari museums benefited from this training programme organised by ICOM together with Qatar Museums.

The workshops each addressed relevant subjects such as: “The Ethical Museum”, “Managing a Museum Today – Good practices”, “Museums as Engines of Cultural Diplomacy”, “Promoting the Museum in the Digital Age”, and “Developing Engaging Exhibitions”. The training programme took place at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha from 7 to 24 October 2018.

About the trainers

Annemarie de Wildt is a historian and curator at the Amsterdam Museum. Her curating process revolves around various subjects related is on daily life, urban conflicts and culture, migration, and identity and is characterized by the exhibition of a hybrid variety of objects from the ‘high’ and ‘low’ cultures. She prefers to co-create exhibitions in dialogue with the people that are (re)presented, with a strong place attributed to human stories. Her international projects include the touring Football Hallelujah exhibition, The Hoerengracht (together with the National Gallery in London), and a twinning project with Fort Nieuw Amsterdam in Surinam. Annemarie de Wildt has given many lectures and workshops in the Netherlands and abroad and has published various books/catalogues and many articles and blogs on the practice and dilemmas of curating and (contemporary) collecting.

David Fleming, OBE, MA, PhD, AMA is a professor at Liverpool Hope University. He was Director of National Museums Liverpool (NML) during which the museum audiences diversified and expanded considerably. During his tenure as Director, the NML created the International Slavery Museum and the Museum of Liverpool, both of which have won global renown. Fleming is now a Professor of Public History at Liverpool Hope University, UK, where he specialises in the presentation and memorialisation of history. He is Special Adviser to the International Museum of Democracy, in Rosario, Argentina; he is President of the Federation of International Human Rights Museums (FIHRM); and he is a member both of ICOM’s Ethics Committee and of ICOM’s Committee for Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials; he has twice been elected President of the UK Museums Association.

Kelly McKinley is the Deputy Director of the Oakland Museum of California where she oversees collections, conservation, curatorial, interpretation, exhibition design and production, and evaluation and visitor research. Prior to OMCA, she served as Executive Director of Education and Public Programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada. She has also worked in senior roles at Bruce Mau Design in Toronto and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Kelly has taught in the graduate museum studies programs at the University Toronto and the graduate curatorial studies and criticism program at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto. She serves on the board of the American Alliance of Museums and the editorial board of Curator: The Museum Journal.

Peter van Mensch is a free-lance museologist with Dutch nationality, living partly in Berlin (Germany) and partly in Northern-Bohemia (Czech Republic). He earned his PhD degree at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) and was a professor of museology at the Amsterdam School of the Arts (Netherlands), Vilnius University (Lithuania), and the University of Bergamo (Italy). As a member of ICOM, he was active in the International Committee for Museology (serving as its president from 1989-1993), and in the International Committee for Collecting of which last committee he was one of the founders (2010). He is a regular guest lecturer at universities worldwide and is frequently invited as a speaker at international conferences. His research interests are the history, theory, and ethics of musealisation and collection development, and the development of museological theory in the 20th century.

Antonio Rodriguez has 20 years of specialized expertise and experience in exhibition development and design, curatorial affairs, and museums, arts, & non-profit management. After completing his bachelor’s degree in Art History from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and other postgraduate courses, Antonio graduated with a Master of Arts in Communication, Culture, and Technology at Georgetown University, Washington. He is currently an independent consultant and advisor in the areas of exhibition design, production and evaluation, traveling exhibitions design, development & and tour logistics, curatorial affairs, art, and cultural heritage collection management, and assessment.

Currently occupying the position of Head of HCC Data Lab in Berlin, Katrin Glinka completed a Magister Artium in Cultural Studies in Luneburg before pursuing her doctoral theses at Humboldt University in Berlin. Her work is guided by the conviction that technologies can provide the potential to re-think and re-configure research and practices in the humanities and in cultural institutions, and allow to strengthen visitor orientation and accessibility in museums. The strongest influences her academic and applied work have come from fields such as design, human-centered computing, and critical cartograph.

Lisa Sasaki is the interim director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. Sasaki earned her bachelor’s degree in history and archaeology from Cornell University and her master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Denver. She served as president of the Western Museums Association’s board of directors and as a member of the American Alliance of Museums’ Facing Change working group, the Center for the Future of Museums’ Horizon Initiative steering committee and the advisory council for the Council of Jewish American Museums. She frequently guest lectured for the museum studies graduate programs and has also lectured internationally for ICOM-China and the Museums and Galleries of Queensland.

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Managing Museums in Times of Crises, Iran

In September 2018 25 Iranian museum professionals had the possibility to participate in a workshop on risk management and disaster response, organized by ICOM and ICOM-Iran.

The training workshop dealt with three different topics: “Understanding risk management”, “Being prepared and how to identify potential risks”, and “Responding to crises and emergencies”. It was a great opportunity for the participants to learn about first-aid for cultural heritage, stabilisation, documentation, packing, and storing.

About the trainers

Abdelhamid Salah Al-Sharief currently occupies different positions as Chairman of the Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation (EHRF), Manager of the Risk Assessment Unit in Disaster Risk Management Dep. Ministry of Antiquities (the Minister Office), and Consultant with ICCROM on an Emergency Evacuation for Museum Collections project. He completed a Bachelor of Arts in the Conservation department from the University of Cairo and graduated from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology with Wood Conservation Technology diploma. Following this, he completed his International Training Course on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage by the Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University, UNESCO, ICOMOS and International Training Course on First Aid to Culture Heritage in Times of Conflict organised by ICCROM.

Manijeh Hadian Dehkordi completed a PhD Art technology and conservation and restoration of art and cultural property at the Academy of Fine Art Dresden (HfBK Dresden), Germany in 2015. Before that, she graduated from Central Tehran Branch- Islamic Azad University with a Master of Science degree in the field of conservation of cultural property as well as a Bachelor’s degree in the field of “pure chemistry” at the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. She is currently the Head of the material science and technologies research group at the RCCCR-RICHT. She also carried out various research studies on the Evaluation of the Museum Environment in various museums across Iran.

After studying archaeology at the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut, Suzy Hakimian became curator of the National Museum of Beirut and worked until 2010 on its reconstruction. That year, she became curator of the Beirut Mineral Museum, a position she still holds today. After completing two Bachelor’s degrees in Administration and Politics then Archeology, she graduated with a Master’s degree followed by a DEA in Archeology from Saint Joseph’s University in Beirut. Suzy developed a passion for the museum world whereby for her, the museum gives a more global vision of the archaeological object. According to Suzy, every museum object reflects new perspectives: of information, communication, presentation, aesthetics, symbolism which, at the beginning, do not exist.

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