Museum conference Sustainable Dialogues Saint Petersburg

After a successful first edition at Hermitage Amsterdam in 2016, representatives of leading Russian and Dutch museums participate in the second edition of Sustainable Dialogues in Russia. The conference is dedicated to the role (inter)national museums have in local communities.

Initiators DutchCulture, Foundation SAM (Foundation for Amsterdam Museums) and ICOM Russia aim to stimulate the cultural dialogue between Russia and the Netherlands and fortify their mutual relations. The conference will be hosted by the State Hermitage St. Petersburg, the State Russian Museum, the State Russian Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO, and Tsarskoje Selo and. Sustainable Dialogues is supported by the Russian Ministry of Culture.

Topics of conversation
What is the role and responsibility of museums in their local context? During the conference we seek to exchange knowledge between Russian and Dutch museums on how to build partnerships with, and benefit from, local communities. Various presentations, workshops and study visits will address topics like ‘The museum as a platform for education and mediator of social relations’, ‘The museum as a driver for local economies’ and ‘The museum as an agent for social inclusion’.

Participants
The Dutch delegation consists of 25 members, with representatives of the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), Hermitage (Amsterdam), Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Drents Museum (Assen), Textielmuseum (Tilburg), Zaans Museum (Zaandam), Anne Frank House (Amsterdam), National Museum of World Cultures (Amsterdam), Foam (Photography Museum Amsterdam), Reinwardt Academy (Amsterdam), Wat Telt! (Amsterdam), Street Art Today (Amsterdam), Het Dolhuys (Haarlem) and the Outsider Art Museum (Amsterdam).

A large number of Russian professionals will participate: representatives of the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow), GULAG History State Museum (Moscow), Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow), State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), State Russian Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO (St. Petersburg), Tsarskoje Selo (St. Petersburg), Volga-Vyatka Branch of the State Museum and Exhibition Center ‘Rosizo’ (Nizhny Novgorod), State Darwin Museum (Moscow), Museum of Russian Impressionism (Moscow), State Museum-reserve “Rostov Kremlin” (Rostov), National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan), Museum-Reserve “Town-island of Sviyazhsk” (Sviyazhsk) and Non-Commercial Partnership Kolomna Centre for the Experiental Travel Development “Kolomna Trading Quarter” (Kolomna).

More information
See below for the Sustainable Dialogues conference programme timetable and the biographies of participants. If you would like to know more about the conference or about cultural collaboration between Russia and the Netherlands in general, please contact Ruben Eijkelenberg.