ICOM’s Annual Meetings, so called “June Meetings”, were three days full of encounters and discussions for museum professionals, from 7 to 9 June, 2017.
During the Opening of the Annual Meeting, Suay Aksoy, ICOM president, wished all a very fulfilling discussions and conversations. She said : “Witnessing these international professional dialogues and also those realised at the annual meetings and conferences of our committees, I am thrilled with the role ICOM is intent and capable to play in the service of society and I am proud to be a part of it”. Chris Whitehead, as keynote speaker, delivered an inspiring speach about how museums can deal with difficult histories of the present. He is currently working on political uses of the past, time and place and contested histories and heritages, especially where these relate to contemporary social tensions and conflict. He highlighted the “importance of bringing the plurality of heritage into view”.
The 83rd ICOM Advisory Council Meeting gathered chairs of National and International Committees who addressed the global and local challenges they face. Recommendations from the Separate Meetings of the National and International Committees had been submitted as well as presentations of the work of ICOM Standing Committees, Regional Alliances, Affiliated Organisations, ICOM General Conference in Kyoto in 2019, procedure and timeline for applications for the ICOM General Conference in 2022 and the work of the ICOM General Secretariat. They presented the strategic issue of ethics, disaster risk management, museum definition, new membership database, publications, communication… Attendees also participated in workshops about Strategies for UNESCO Recommendation on Museums, new database highlights and museum definition.
The 32nd ICOM Ordinary General Assembly opened with President’s Annual Report 2016 and Emma Nardi, treasurer of ICOM, presented the financial report in effort to increase transparency. During the Extraordinary General Assembly, the statutes have been approved by 97% of the quorum. This wonderful edition of the June Meeting closed with a beautiful energy, great ideas, warm and friendly meetings.