Round table dedicated to the ICOM 75th Anniversary

The round table "Professional development and well-being of the museum community: the role of specialized organizations", dedicated to the 75th Anniversary of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) was held on December 7

The event was organized by the Russian Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM Russia) together with the UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty. The round table was dedicated to the ICOM 75th Anniversary and intended to draw attention to points of contact that are important for ICOM and UNESCO.

Based on the topics of the participants' theses, the round table was divided into two blocks:

The first thematic block was devoted to institutional and informal museum practices of supporting the professional community.

The discussion was about practical strategies for organizing social and emotional support for the museum community, the work of museum specialists in crisis situations, measures aimed at developing the competencies of the museum community, as well as the tactics of behavior of organizations in a period of rapidly changing realities.

Within the framework of this discussion, the importance of the emotional and psychological stability of each individual - museum specialist was noted; the need for cooperation and mutual support within the international community, including the promotion of educational courses and internships, events dedicated to the exchange of experience.

The issues of communication with different target audiences were raised, means of supporting the museum community were proposed within the framework of available services and media, and successfully implemented cases were demonstrated.

Much attention was paid to the topic of mentoring and different models of managing organizations, the culture of management, the life cycle of organizations, as well as the continuity and attraction of young personnel to the already formed museum communities.

Within the framework of the second part of the round table, we talked about museum-university partnerships, which are aimed at strengthening the competencies of the professional community.

The reports and discussions of this direction touched upon the topics of education of young specialists and the composition of training programs; experts talked about the need to involve students in real museum practice, as well as in the scientific agenda of the scientific activities of museums, the organization of joint events with students and universities. Already existing cases involving students in museum practice were presented, and current museum specialists - in conducting educational programs for students, joint research projects; the topic of additional educational programs and refresher courses was raised.

In addition, one of the important topics discussed at the round table was the topic of updating the professional view of museums in the world and increasing the prestige of the museum profession.

The round table is available in the recording at the link. Please, note the working language: Russian.

The speakers of the round table:

• Aida Alymova, President of ICOM Kyrgyzstan

• Tatyana Bembel, President of ICOM Belarus

• Alya Zagitova, project manager, Ideas for Museums Autonomous Nonprofit Organization, consultant on low-budget marketing of cultural projects

• Elfira Malikova-Gurbanova, candidate of art history, museologist-scientist, associate professor of the department of "museology" of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts

• Natalia Miroshnichenko, Deputy Director General of the Museum-Reserve “Kimmeria MA Voloshin "

• Vladimir Opredelenov, Deputy Director for Digital Development, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Head of the Department of IT in the field of culture, National Research University Higher School of Economics

• Irina Chuvilova, head of the research group "Russian Museum Encyclopedia", Autonomous Nonprofit Organization "New Institute for Cultural Studies"

• Elena Elts, Associate Professor, Department of International Humanitarian Relations, St. Petersburg State University

Round table moderators:

• Aigul Khalafova, Head of the Cultural Program of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty

• Dinara Khalikova, specialist in social and cultural projects, member of the Presidium of ICOM Russia

Interpreting into Russian Sign Language: Irina Ginsberg.

We thank the speakers and participants for the discussion!