Starting in 2020, the CoMuseum International Conference has re-established itself as both a physical as well as a digital platform for museums and cultural professionals.
Its goal is to share the best ideas and practices from around the world, highlight contemporary challenges and create a global network of professionals that will co-design a ‘culture-edge’ future for our societies.
This year’s CoMuseum conference builds on last year’s theme of Museums and Justice and is taking place from 4 to 6 December 2024 in a hybrid format: face-to-face in Athens and Thessaloniki, and through live streaming for those of you who prefer to participate online.
We will discuss whether and how museums and cultural organisations – from their privileged positions – can genuinely advance diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and reconciliation.
As always, the conference will feature top international experts from museums and cultural institutions in Greece, the UK, the US and beyond, who will share insights and ideas on the present and future of museums.
The CoMuseum International Conference is the core activity of the British Council’s Museums Revisited capacity building programme for the museum sector in Europe.
14th CoMuseum International Conference
Building on the theme of last year’s programme (Museums and Justice), the 2024 CoMuseum Conference will delve deeper into how museums and cultural organisations – as trusted institutions – can contribute to enhancing people’s lives by addressing the challenges of fair treatment. Critical responsibilities undertaken by museums, such as fostering diversity and sustainability, adopting restitution policies and investigating the provenance of objects, as well as dealing with disinformation, will be explored among other themes relating to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA).
As fact-based and research-oriented institutions that collect, conserve, interpret and exhibit in the service of society, museums are considered one of the most trusted sources of information. In the current climate of rising populism, culture wars and disinformation, museums are adopting new roles as places of trust, inclusion and belonging, while also striving to remain impartial.
The CoMuseum 2024 unveils its theme through a series of questions, inviting stakeholders to share their feedback:
- Can museums truly make a difference in advancing social justice issues?
- Should they be considered responsible for taking care of societies and be held accountable for not doing so? Should museums realign their mission statements to highlight their DEIA values? Or is it often just to check a box or secure funding?
- What is the relationship between museums’ social role and their curatorial, collection, educational and research priorities?
- Who decides on the social priorities of the museum and on what basis? How are these critical questions discussed and communicated internally and externally? How can this work become more visible and recognised by governments and society?
Speakers
- Stela Anastasaki, Co-Founder, Off Stream, Greece
- Elly Andriopoulou, Managing Director, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Greece
- Alexandra Bounia, Professor, Museum Studies, University of the Aegean, Greece
- Liam Browne, Co-Creator/Producer, ULYSSES European Odyssey, Ireland
- Stephanos Cherouvis, Senior Project Manager and Researcher, European Network for Science Centres and Museums (Escite), Belgium
- Epaminondas Christophilopoulos, President, MOMus, UNESCO Chair on Futures Research, Greece
- Seán Doran, Co-Creator/Producer, ULYSSES European Odyssey, Ireland
- Katarzyna Filgiel, Foresight Specialist, 4CF The Futures Literacy Company, Poland
- Tom Fleming, Director, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy and global culture expert, UK
- Bartosz Frąckowiak, Foresight Consultant and Art Curator, 4CF The Futures Literacy Company, Poland
- Gülen Güler, Artist, ULYSSES European Odyssey, Turkey
- Charis Ann Gullickson, Senior Curator, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Norway
- Sophie Henderson, CEO, Migration Museum, UK
- Tatiana Karapanagioti, Producer, Member of ‘Life is for All’, Greece
- Melanie Keen, Director, Wellcome Collection, UK
- Monxo López, Curator of Community Histories, Museum of the City of New York, U.S.
- Elena Mavromichali, Strategist – Cultural Advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister, Advisor to the Special Secretariat of Foresight Hellenic Republic
- Clara Montero, Cultural Director, Tabakalera, Spain
- Lizzy Moriarty, Independent Museum Consultant – Museum Expert, Museums Revisited, British Council, UK
- Yonous Muhammadi, President, Greek Forum of Refugees, Greece
- Constance Rivière, Managing Director, Établissement Public du Palais de la Porte Dorée, France
- Anna Routsi, Senior Investigator – Greek Ombudsman, Columnist, Greece
- Paraskevi Salavgia, Creator of the self-help Documentary ‘Two sides of the same world’, Disability Counsellor, Greece
- Adla Shashati, Director, Greek Forum of Migrants, Greece
- Anja Sommer, Project Manager, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Germany
- Annalisa Trasatti, Co-ordinator, Museo Tattile Statale Omero, Ancona, Italy
- Susie Wilkening, Principal and Founder, Wilkening Consulting, U.S.
More speakers will be announced soon.
Programme
- 4 December 2024: The conference will take place at the Benaki Museum (138 Pireos Street, Athens) – view the programme.
- 5 December 2024: A series of workshops and masterclasses will be held at the Benaki Museum (138 Pireos Street, Athens) – view the programme.
- 6 December 2024: The conference will be held at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall (25 Martiou Street, Thessaloniki) – view the programme.
Registration
Registration for the CoMuseum Conference is now open – secure your place today!
Participation is free following registration.
Partnerships and support
The conference is organised by the British Council, the Benaki Museum and the U.S. Embassy in Greece, in collaboration with the British Embassy in Athens, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Greece and the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Athens, the Municipality of Thessaloniki and ICOM Greece. The CoMuseum is generously supported by the Benaki Museum Strategic Partner Dei, the Benaki Museum Official Hospitality Sponsor COCO-MAT HOTELS and the Benaki Museum Official Air Carrier Sponsor AEGEAN.
Information
For further information on the CoMuseum and the Museums Revisited programme, please contact Maria Papaioannou at Maria.Papaioannou@britishcouncil.gr.
Past and future events
Previous editions of the International Conference for Museums are available on the CoMuseum website.
If you’d like to stay up to date with all our museum events, join our Museum Professionals Network, and register for our Arts newsletter and/or CoMuseum newsletter.
