25th ICOM General Conference Kyoto Japan 2019

25th ICOM General Conference Kyoto Japan 2019 START DATE: September 1, 2019END DATE: September 7, 2019

The ICOM General Conferences attract delegates in the range of 2500-3000 in a range of about 140 countries. This is an excellent opportunity for all ICOM members to understand the functioning of ICOM and the depth and breadth of the organization. The sessions and technical excursions allow opportunities for exchanging ideas and broadening perspectives with international committee members on overlapping issues. In addition to the plenary sessions highlighted with keynote speeches on topics pertinent to the field of culture, the strengthening of symbiotic relationships between the 30 International Committees and between the 121 National Committees are some of the expected outcomes of the conference. In addition to the rich academic programme of General ICOM Conference over the 5-day conference, Kyoto museums and cultural precincts will host evening receptions, providing the chance to socialize with colleagues from around the world.

ICOM-CC ACTIVITIES AT KYOTO CONFERENCE

ICOM-CC had a prominent presence in the upcoming ICOM Kyoto 2019, the 25th ICOM General Conference. Besides collaborative sessions with INTERCOM, ICAMT, COMCOL, and ICOFOM, we also organised a visit to the Nara Research Institute for Cultural Properties and an excursion to the Tohoku Region. 

‘How far can we come with traditions?’

2 September, 14.30-18.00h at the Inamor Memorial Hall.

This collaborative session between ICOM-CC, INTERCOM and ICOM SEE, was organised by Anna Bülow (ICOM-CC), Goranka Jorjan (ICOM SEE) and Ole Winter (INTERCOM). Highlights of the session included a panel discussion titled ‘Shaping the Future, Doing More with Less’.

Moderator: Anna Bülow, Coordinator, ICOM-CC Working Group Preventive Conservation.

• Martina Fraioli (European network on cultural management and policy, Italy) Museums organizational and identity challenges: an Italian case study
• Jose A. Ortiz (MOMA PS1; New York, USA): Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: New York City Prepares a Plan for Change.
• Priscilla Mutile Mbai (National Museums of Kenya): Management of Public programming at the National Museums of Kenya: Building Cultural Understanding through Dialogue and Performances

Q&A – 30-minute debate

• Roya Taghiyeva (Azerbadjian): Museums and NGOs: the Close Partnership in Safeguarding Cultural Traditions
• Jillian Decker / Jerisha Parker-Gordon (New Jersey, Delaware, USA): Interpreting Priorities: How Museums Balance Competing Obligations
• Olga Van Oost (Belgium): Managing a Liquid Museum: from theory to praxis. The case of museums in Belgium
• Fatemeh Amini Khashouei (Iran): Museum management and innovative activities in the future of museums
• Hsinyi LO (China): The Traditional Art Center as A Case Study of Cross-Domain Organization and Cooperation Platform for the Ageing Issues

Q&A – 15-minute debate

‘Storage of Collections- Prepare for the Future’

3 September, 13.30-18.00h in Room D.

Co-organised by ICOM-CC, International Committee for Architecture and Museum Technique (ICAMT) and International Committee for Museum Security (ICMS) and led by Jean Hilgersum (ICAMT) and Anette Hansen (ICMS) and Achal Pandya (ICOM-CC).

The joint session had presentations on approaches to and practices for collection storage; space management and re-grouping of collections, solutions for museums with small budgets and few resources, storage security and also a panel discussion on the safeguarding collections for the future through proper storage, training, policies and management.

Moderator: Jean Hilgersum, ICAMT, The Netherlands.

• Gaël de Guichen (ICCROM, Italy) How International organisations have dealt with storages in the last century
• Vernon Raplay (Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK): V&A’s plan for a Collections Resource Center: At risk or accessible?
• Kiem-Lian The (Toornend Partners, The Netherlands) New Storage facility for four museum institutions including the Rijksmuseum
• Achal Pandya (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi, India) Storage Reorganization Project in India
• Gabriel Moore Bevilaqua (CIDOC, Moreira Salles Institute, Brazil): Documentation Strategies and tools
• Bart Ankersmit (Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands) The influence of temperature and moisture
• Jesper Stub Johnsen (The National Museum of Denmark) New Storage facility in Denmark

Closing Final Discussion

‘What is the essence of Conservation?’

4 September, 13.30-18.00h in Room E

The cycle of ICOM-CC conferences concluded with this collaboration between ICOM-CC and ICOFOM,

Moderators: François Mairesse (ICOFOM) and Renata F. Peters (ICOM-CC).

Preliminary programme:

• Stephanie Auffret (Getty Conservation Institute, USA): Considerations on the Preservation of the Authenticity of Cultural Heritage: a Conservator’s Journey.
• Supreo Chanda (University of Calcutta, India): Veil of Modernity in Conservation of Living Heritage.
• Scarlet Galindo (National Watercolour Museum, Mexico): Constructing the future, lines to be consider.
• Hsu Hsinhui (Chung Tai World Museum, Taiwan, Republic of China): Museality, Authenticity and Reality: a Buddhist view on the conservation and exhibition of Buddhist objects.
• Gina Levenspiel (University of Melbourne, Australia): Continuity by repetition - why form matters in architectural conservation.
• Francois Mairesse & Renata F. Peters (Université de Paris 3 - Sorbonne, France & University College London, UK): What is the essence of conservation?
• Mari Nakamura (Tagawa City Coal Mining Historical Museum, Japan): Investigating the Way of Conserving the Originality of Modern Paper Materials.
• Robyn Slogett (University of Melbourne, Australia): Evidence and authenticity - the problem of cultural relativism in conservation decision-making.
• Markus Walz (University of Applied Sciences Leipzig, Germany): Authenticity—argued as affective, authoritative, and attributed.

Anyone interested in reading the extended selection of papers submitted to this session before the presentations should contact the organisers on icofomsymposium@gmail.com. The full published papers can be downloaded at: 

• International Committee for Museum Management (INTERCOM) 
• International Committee for Architecture and Museum Techniques (ICAMT)
• International Committee for Collecting (COMCOL)
• International Committee for Museology (ICOFOM)
• International Committee for Museum Security (ICMS)

ICOM-CC Off-Site Day - Thursday 5 September

Nara Research Institute for Cultural Properties

5 September 2019

Our ICOM-CC liaison for the ICOM General Conference in Kyoto, Reiko Sakaki, created for us an attractive and relevant program for the Conference Off-Site day on 5 September 2019. On this tour we learned about the conservation of objects that were damaged by the March 2011 Tsunami and visit the Nara National Research Institute where many of these artefacts were treated. There was a chance to experience some very special UNESCO World Heritage sites, stroll around the old town of Nara and study some traditional Japanese artistry. 

Download the programme for the ICOM-CC Off-site to Nara. 

ICOM-CC Post-Conference Tour in Tohoku Region 

Together with invaluable planning and support from the ICOM Kyoto 2019 Organising Committee and the Organising Committee for the ICOM-CC’s Post-Conference Tour in Tohoku (spearheaded by ICOM-CC Kyoto liaison, Reiko Sakaki, Tobacco and Salt Museum, Tokyo) ICOM-CC offered a 4-day post-conference tour in the Tohoku Region of Japan. 

On March 11th, 2011, devastating earthquakes and tsunami hit the Tohoku region, and many museums and cultural heritages sites and objects in this region suffered serious damage. Since then, the staff of these museums have dedicated enormous time and resources to rescuing damaged objects and to conserving and restoring them. On this post-conference tour, visited some of the museums that suffered from this disastrous phenomenon, and heard the experiences of the museum personnel.

Among the institutions visited:

• Fukushima Cultural Property Centre / Shirakawa branch (Fukushima Prefecture)
• Tohoku History Museum, Rias-Ark Museum of Arts (Miyagi Prefecture)
• Rikuzentakata City Museum, Iwate Prefectural Museum (Iwate Prefecture)

The final report on the Tohoku Region visit can be downloaded in English or in Japanese.

Presentation of the Kyoto 2019 ICOM-CC recipient of the ICOM Young Professional travel grant.