2019 ICOM Kyoto "Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition"

2019年09月09日



The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is an international organization of museums and museum professionals which is committed to the research, conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world’s natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible. ICOM is the only global organization in the museum field represented in over 141 countries, with 119 national committees and 30 international committees. Every three years, ICOM gathers the international museum community around a theme of crucial interest to facilitate cultural exchange, to promote international cooperation, and to inspire local actions in order to allow museums to continue their public service mission to the society in its General Conference. In parallel, an International Museum Fair, where suppliers and museums showcase their latest projects and products, takes place in the whole week. The ICOM’s 25th General Conference was successfully held in Kyoto, Japan, from 1 to 7 September, 2019.


The theme of the ICOM General Conference 2019 is Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition. What singles out this year’s general conference in ICOM’s history is that we have come to a time with so many societal turbulence and political dissimilarities that a new definition of museum is needed to explore the shared but also the profoundly dissimilar conditions, values and practices of museums in diverse and rapidly changing societies. Since ICOM’s creation in 1946, the ICOM definition played a central role for museums and museum professional and became a reference in the international museum community. In the aftermath of the 2016 ICOM General Conference in Milan, a new Standing Committee has been appointed to study the current definition. The Committee on Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials (MDPP, 2017-2019) explores the shared but also the profoundly dissimilar conditions, values and practices of museums in diverse and rapidly changing societies. Combining broad dialogue across the membership with dedicated expert fora, the committee is addressing the ambiguous and often contradictory trends in society, and the subsequent new conditions, obligations and possibilities for museums. A vote for a new definition of museums was expected to happen in the Kyoto conference. However, After a profound and healthy debate among ICOM members, the Extraordinary General Assembly has decided to postpone the vote on the new museum definition. The decision gathered 70,41% votes in favour. This means that the discussion continues, and MDPP will continue its work by interacting with all the National and International Committees, to talk about the implementation and assimilation of these new ideas as they will probably appear in the new definition that will be and amendment of the proposed one.


Qian Xuesen Library & Museum became the first institutional member in mainland China of University Museums and Collections (UMAC), an international committee of of ICOM in 2014. Since then, Qian Xuesen Library & Museum has signed a series of collaboration initiatives with UMAC. One flagship program of the cooperation is the “University Museums Training Week Shanghai (UMTWS)”, which has taken place in Shanghai for the past three years and has attracted university museums researchers and professional staff from mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan. 


Ms. Wenjia Qiu, international collaboration coordinator of Qian Xuesen Library & Museum, was elected as the secretary in the UMAC 2019-2022 Board in UMAC 19th Annual Conference September 3rd. She presented Museums and Collections in Double First-class Universities in Shanghai: Distinctive Models and Shared Concerns in one of UMAC's conference sessions.