Exchange Programmes

In order to enhance the collaboration between members of its network, ICOM organises Exchange Programmes in which two countries respectively host a museum professional of the partner country in order to work together and share ideas and different perspectives in the development of an exhibition.

The exchange programme is based on the idea of mutual learning and professional dialogue to the benefit of both parties involved. It is designed to respond to the professional needs and wishes of the participant and the hosting institution. It also allows for extensive and mutual knowledge exchange between the countries involved.

• 2019, July – Senegal/Switzerland

ICOM Secretariat and ICOM Switzerland launched an exchange programme between Swiss and Senegalese museum professionals, with a Senegalese museum professional hosted at the Château de Prangins and other Swiss institutions.

The participant followed a personalised programme organised around meetings with specialists from Swiss museums. The main part of the programme wasat the Château de Prangins, in addition to visits to the Landesmuseum in Zurich, home of the Swiss National Museum, and to several other cities in Switzerland to give the Senegalese museum professional an insight into the Swiss museum world.

The participant had the opportunity to participate in the preparation of a module of the future permanent exhibition of the museum, dedicated to the history of the Indian women, printed cotton fabrics used as currency. exchange for slaves in the context of the triangular trade of the 17th and 18th centuries. centuries, of which Senegal was one of the hubs.

As second part of the exchange programme a Swiss museum professional will be invited to a study visit to Dakar (Senegal). Here ImagiNation Afrika, the host institution, will offer the selected participant two weeks of immersion in the museum and education world of Dakar, through visits, meetings and collaborations. The exchange will focus on the co-creation of educational materials for the Henriette Bathily Women’s Museum in Dakar, the only museum dedicated to women in the country.

• 2021 – Germany/Africa (in development)

ICOM, ICOM-Germany, ICOM Zambia and the Museum of European Cultures – National Museums in Berlin (MEK) will host a museum professional from Botswana to a month-long study visit that will take place in Berlin, Germany.

The participant will have the opportunity to collaborate on an exhibition project and propose new ways to interpret the European collections on display at MEK from her/his particular perspective