The International Training Centre for Museum Studies of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-ITC), housed at the Palace Museum in Beijing, China, will hold its next training programme, entitled “My Museum, Your Museum: Developing Meaningful Experience for Visitors of All Ages , in Beijing from 2 to 11 April 2017.
Seven museum experts from China, Canada, Singapore, Turkey and the United States, are invited as lecturers; and 33 participants will attend, including 17 from China and 16 from other countries (Algeria, Australia, Benin, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Mongolia, Namibia, Pakistan, Poland, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam). This ICOM-ITC training workshop is targeted at ICOM members from emerging countries and the Asia-Pacific region. Some full and partial grants have been made available under certain conditions.
Lecturers and participants will discuss audience diversity, challenges and strategies of museum education, theories of educational programme planning and implementation, as well as practical cases. Audience needs have become a significant aspect in the development of museums. Through this workshop, participants will explore how museums, with audiences growing in number and diversity, can stick to their mission of social education, offer extensive experience to audience of all ages and provide its social value beyond their functions of acquiring, conserving, researching, communicating and exhibiting.
Furthermore, participants will visit three local museums or educational institutions to explore, observe and experience their educational theories and practices. In addition, the “Reading Artifacts” course will offer the participants a chance to observe the cultural relics of the Palace Museum closely, and help them make better use of museum collections and fully explore the educational function of a museum.