International Council of Museums

Overview

Created in 1946, ICOM is a non-governmental organization maintaining formal relations with UNESCO and having a consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. ICOM also partners with entities such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, in order to carry out its international public service missions, which include fighting illicit traffic in cultural goods and promoting risk management and emergency preparedness to protect world cultural heritage in the event of natural or man-made disasters.

Code of ethics for museums

ICOM adopted its ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums in 1986, a reference tool that sets standards of excellence to which all members of the organisation must adhere. The ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums, translated into 36 languages and revised in 2006, establishes values and principles shared by ICOM and the international museum community. These standards of self-regulation by museums include basic principles for museum governance, the acquisition and disposal of collections, and rules for professional conduct.

Fighting illicit traffic

Illicit traffic in cultural goods causes significant damage to heritage, particularly in regions of the world where cultural objects are most susceptible to theft and looting. Supporting the fight against illicit traffic in cultural goods is among ICOM’s highest priorities. In this context, ICOM publishes its Red List series to raise awareness on smuggling and illicit trade in cultural objects. The ICOM Red Lists are tools designed to help police and customs officials, heritage professionals and art and antiquities dealers to identify the types of objects that are most susceptible to illicit trafficking.

ICOM has already published Red Lists for many different countries and regions:

Museums emergency programme

ICOM is committed to providing cultural institutions with the necessary support and risk prevention tools when faced with conflict situations or natural disasters. Through its Disaster Relief for Museums Task Force (DRTF), its Museums Emergency Programme (MEP) and its active role in the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS), ICOM assists museums worldwide by mobilising its resources quickly and efficiently to provide support both in the prevention and the aftermath of disaster situations.

The Getty Conservation Institute and ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) took part in this programme and helped develop training tools for MEP. ICOM’s action programme offers a long-term global response that strengthens the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) dynamism.

International Museum Day

Every year since 1977, ICOM has organised International Museum Day, a worldwide event held around 18 May. From America and Oceania to Europe, Asia and Africa, International Museum Day aims to increase public awareness of the role of museums in developing society. The event has increased steadily in visibility and popularity over the years. Participation in International Museum Day promotes greater diversity and intercultural dialogue among our international museum community. Each year, ICOM defines a specific theme for International Museum Day: The theme for 2016 was Museum and cultural landscapes. A combination of both nature and history, a cultural landscape is a changing and constantly evolving territory, the product of a specific geological identity and transformations made by time and people. Both individuals and communities are responsible for protecting and enhancing these landscapes. These tasks also fall under the duty of museums, which hold objects and items that serve as both material and intangible legacies of territories both large and small. ICOM patronized the European Night of Museums, an event which announces International Museum Day in the spirit of an all-day and all-night museum week. The theme for 2017 is Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums. This theme focuses on the role of museums that, by working to benefit society, become hubs for promoting peaceful relationships between people. It also highlights how the acceptance of a contested history is the first step in envisioning a shared future under the banner of reconciliation.

Committees

ICOM operates thirty international committees on a range of museum specialties, who conduct advanced research in their respective fields for the benefit of the museum community.

ICOM comprises also 118 National Committees that ensure that the interests of the organisation are managed in their respective countries. The National Committees represent their members within ICOM and they contribute to the implementation of the organisation’s programmes.

General conference

The ICOM General conference is held every three years and gathers museum professionals from several countries. The first meeting was held in Paris in 1948. In recent years, General Conferences have been held in Seoul in 2004 (the first meeting in Asia), in Vienna in 2007, and in Shanghai in 2010. This 22nd General Conference in Shanghai followed the World Expo where an ICOM’s Pavilion was inaugurated and named “Museums, Heart of the City”. The General Conference was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2013 and in Milan in 2016. The next one will be held in 2019, in Kyoto.

Governance

The current ICOM President is Ms. Suay Aksoy. She succeeded Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Hinz,(2010-2016)
Hanna Pennock has been appointed as Acting Director General since 13 May 2013.