Message from the President: July 4, 2012

Montreal, July 4, 2012

Dear colleagues,

Greetings to one and all. The month of June was highly productive. With the organization of the AVICOM meeting in Montreal and the ICOM annual assembly in Paris, I can assure you that your committee was in high gear. What’s more, we have already begun preparations for next year’s conference in Rio de Janeiro. Enjoy this new letter to members! 

 

AVICOM Board Meeting

As Chair, I presided over a meeting of the Board of Directors in Paris on June 4. We reviewed and updated the AVICOM file.

 

AVICOM 2012 Conference in Montreal

The FIAMP International Jury met on two occasions to evaluate over 65 candidates from several European countries and Canada. The finalists were selected and Moment Factory is currently working on the staging of the awards ceremony. This event is not to be missed.

The detailed program of the AVICOM 2012 Conference is available online. Several international specialists will make presentations. An exceptional gathering.

 

As Chair of AVICOM, I attended the annual assembly of ICOM international in Paris. I am pleased to give you here a brief summary of the content of the discussions and ensuing decisions. I invite you to read what follows, for it announces good news on several fronts.

Apart from the points raised on the advisory committee agendas, such as the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting, certain points concerned the enrichment of the network of museums in general and committees in particular.

• ICOM now has 29,528 active members.
• Members originate from 134 countries.
• Participation from developing countries is on the rise; Africa increased the number of its members by 15% and Latin America by 10%.
• ICOM has just introduced a new collaborative Internet platform called ICOMMUNITY, which is based on 4 themes to broaden our skills and knowledge
  • News and Events will encompass ICOM activities and major events of the international museum community;
  • Resources will provide a list of documents on the operations of ICOM, thematic files, and professional training and upgrading videos;
  • Content can be presented with links to with other organizations or individual members;
  • Certain texts, video or photographs can be used to prompt discussions, questions or sharing of information.

 

Next Triennial Conference in Rio de Janeiro, 2013

A report was presented on the status of the preparations for next year’s general meeting. I had the opportunity to have lunch with Carlos  Roberto F. Brandão, President of ICOM Brazil and the initiator of the Brazilian project. In addition, AVICOM received confirmation of the agreement from the Chair of CECA (Education and Cultural Action), regarding the joint presentation of a portion of our conferences in Rio. The theme of the Rio Triennial is Museums (memory + creativity = social change).

 

2016 Triennial

After a vote from delegates, Milan was chosen as the next host of the Triennial in 2016. ICOM Canada delegates, myself included, showed solidarity. Proxy voting was employed.

 

Discussions

Three discussion groups met for over an hour. I moderated one of these groups and made the public report. The theme was “museum management in the current economic context.” Some fifty people took part in the discussion, which could take place in French, English or Spanish. One of the issues raised was the skills that are now required by museum directors.  This question was an interesting one, since it provided a profile of the challenges faced by directors. Here is a summary of the main aptitudes required:

1. Financial skills, ability to meet fundraising challenges; executive skills; strong advocacy skills; development and communications skills; understanding of human resources issues
2. Understanding of diversity issues both inside the specific museum and outside, as pertains to the museum community as a whole
3. Understanding of museums as cultural and heritage institutions

Discussions also focused on the means ICOM should employ in fostering the development of these skills. This subject is of interest to all museums, including those of Montreal and Quebec,  since it involves possible courses of action to be taken by ICOM worldwide, which are equally applicable regionally.

1. Case studies could be featured regularly on ICOMMUNITY for subsequent use by museums for their own training purposes
2. Mentoring programmes and short-term residential workshops developed by the Secretariat within the network
3. Strengthen collaboration/communication between National and International Committees
4. Promote the Code of Ethics through more translations; encourage the sharing of publications, resource documents and museum management tools
5. Take countries’ specificities into account
6. Motivate ICOM members as stakeholders
7. Homogenization of accounting procedures
8. Motivate young people to participate, become involved in the network

A text on the international ICOM website provides further details on these exchanges.

 

International Committees and Recommendations

This meeting involving all specialized committees was an opportunity to discuss exchange practices that could serve to better develop common projects. In this regard, ICOMUNITY was seen as a new platform for professional content, considering how difficult it is for museologists to travel abroad to initiate new projects.
New procedures for presenting financial statements were also announced, which will give ICOM a better overall view of  its financial resources. This followed a request from the French auditor. 

 

Positive results from this trip

• The Director General of ICOM International will be in Montreal from October 9 to 12 for AVICOM’s annual meeting:
  • His presence will raise the profile of the event in Montreal and Quebec;
  • His opening address will attract delegates and thus increase our chances of selling tickets and funding the project.
• Promotion of the event in Montreal to several chairpersons of national and international committees.
• Gathering of information on Rio in order to better integrate our organization into the project’s development network and benefit from related subsidies.
• Meeting with the developer of the Google Art Project and David Assouline to inquire about having one of their representatives attend the Montreal meeting, to ensure that Canadian museums are part of the new platform. As of June 12, no Canadian museum appeared in the database. Since then, AGO in Toronto has been integrated.
• A discussion with the Director of Administration and Finances in order to fully understand the AVICOM committee’s funding process. I was able to learn, moreover, that the latest AVICOM request was favourably received for the sum of 2,300 euros.
• Preliminary discussions on a collaboration between the Education & Cultural Action Committee and AVICOM.

 

Manon Blanchette Ph.D.
AVICOM President