'Sustainable Dialogues' International Museum Conference - presentations Monday 18 April

In recent years, museums have redefined their role in society. To show their added value to the common good, loosen their ties with government funding and increase contact with communities, museums have explored new outreach strategies and opened their doors to new audiences.

In a more democratic cultural spirit, museums have invested in tailor-made programmes for a wide variety of audiences. Whilst continuing to deliver top-quality museum experiences, museums have created partnerships, either with other museums or with organisations outside the museum sector, or even the cultural sector. These partnership have rooted museums more deeply in their societies

In a series of presentations, we will be focusing on new partnerships between museums and other organisations that aim for enhancing quality, sharing knowledge, reaching larger audiences and exchanging collections. We discuss various partnership models that focus on reinforcing the prominent role of museums in society. The following themes have been identified for the museum conference.

Audience Outreach
Museums are increasingly expected to reach larger, and particularly new, audiences. Museums already develop tailor-made programmes for target audiences. However, in order to actually attract larger and new audiences, museums are partnering with organisations who can offer access to these new target groups. The focus of these partnerships vary from joint marketing strategies to joint educational programmes, collaborations with media and publishing companies, and various joint outreach activities. We will discuss various partnership models for reaching larger and new audiences.

Speakers:

Rinske Hordijk, Director Art Tube - Art Tube

Anna Gor, Director of Volga-Vyatka region Branch of National Centre for Contemporary Arts (Nizhny Novgorod) - New art/New museum/New audience. In Search of the New Language of Communication

Joined Forces: Knowledge Alliances
Sharing knowledge and developing joint programmes are sheer necessities and major goals for museums. The creation of alliances and networks between museums, but also with commercial companies and educational and social institutions, has enabled museums to increase their quality. The focus here is on knowledge alliances and partnerships for research that are self-evident. We will be discussing various forms of partnerships for joint multi-disciplinary knowledge. The motives for joining in these partnerships vary considerably and will be discussed as well.

Speakers:

Teus Eenkhoorn, General Director Reinwardt Academy - The Reinwardt Academy Goes International

Mariam Dandamayeva, Academic Secretary at the State Hermitage Museum St. Petersburg - Knowledge Alliances

Marina Fomina, Head of Communications of the Polytechnic Museum

Quality-Boosting Collaborations
In these days of financial uncertainty and declining government support, museums are collaborating with other organisations to decrease costs, create higher revenue and more efficiency. At the same time, there is a challenge to increase quality. By sharing knowledge and know-how on all aspects of their operations, museums can perform better. We will be exploring various forms of partnerships and focusing on how collaboration at the operational level contributes to the quality of the museum.

Speakers:

Stijn Schoonderwoerd, General Director of The National Museum of World Cultures - Museums Are All About People

Natalia Karovskaya, General Director of the State Museum Preserve Rostov Kremlin - Museum Strategies: Creating Networks and Friendship

Unveiling Hidden Museum Treasures
Besides exhibiting artefacts, museums are duty bound to collect, store and preserve collection pieces. The majority of museum pieces worldwide, however, are in storage and not accessible to the public. In order to increase the visibility of their collections and enrich the museum experiences, museums have invested in digitalisation projects to show their collections online. Museums are also exploring new ways to disclose their hidden treasures by stimulating the exchange of objects and organising special events. We will be focusing on partnerships that stimulate the transfer and exchange of objects and the international mobility of collections. Moreover, we will examine new models and initiatives for unveiling hidden museum treasures to the public.

Speakers:

Ina Klaassen, Business Manager and Deputy Director of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen - Collection Building

Kirill Meerov, Head of Multimedia Department of the State Historical Museum - Virtual Exhibition "Russia and the Netherlands" and the project "Exhibition forever”