Program

ICOM organizations ICMEMOHRI (International Committee for Memorial and Human Rights Museums) and IC Ethics, in cooperation with NIOD Institute for War Holocaust and Genocide Studies, are organizing the expert meeting Museums in Ukraine Facing War, Civil Unrest and Conflict from 1-3 November. Eight representatives of Ukrainian museums will discuss with international museum heritage and memory culture experts, in relation to war, mass violence and conflict. Besides the representatives from Ukraine, participants present are from Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Serbia and the USA.

Theme

The war in Ukraine poses museum professionals for huge challenges and dilemmas. They have to function in threatening conditions in a war where cultural heritage is under deliberately attack. What are the implications of this situation for their work, their personal lives and for the protection of their collections? How do they plan for the post-war period – both in terms of narrative and of collecting tangible and intangible heritage during the war? The expert meeting aims to work towards an outcome of initiating plans for the future and promoting a sustainable international cooperation.

In this expert meeting, ICMEMOHRI and IC Ethics offer Ukrainian museum professionals the possibility to exchange experiences; ideas, dilemmas and good practices with colleagues from countries that also faced armed conflict such as in Rwanda, Lebanon, Bosnia-Herzegovina and representatives of the Second World War and Holocaust Museums. Based on the needs of the Ukrainian participants, this expert meeting will offer a platform for discussing a broad range of questions like: How will historical and military events and the role of the aggressor be represented? How can museums be future places of remembrance and reconciliation? How do they work with and support contemporary artists? How can trauma be processed through culture and, in particular, through museum presentation? How to address ethical dilemmas such as cultural forensics and collecting? The expert meeting aims to work towards an outcome of initiating plans for the future and promoting a sustainable international cooperation.

You can download the program here