Early July 2016, about 3,000 museum professionals convened in Milan (IT) for a packed program with loads of presentations, workshops and excursions. The theme was “Museums and Cultural Landscapes” – a very fitting starting point for EXARC and its open-air museums. EXARC joined lectures from the Committee Museums & PR (MPR). Returning points of attention were the role of museums in their community, storytelling, doing GOOD research and remaining in contact with those who have once visited your museum.
We also saw good presentations in the Committee for Education & Cultural Action (CECA). An important reason for our presence in Milan was the session “The Roman Frontier along the River Rhine.” This was an initiative by ICOM-NL with the cooperation of ICOMOS-NL, ICOM-DE, CECA, MPR and of course EXARC. In seven presentations, the role of museums in revitalizing cultural landscapes was discussed.
EXARC distributed a publication made by OpenArch on the theme of archaeological open-air museums and the dialogue with the museum community.
These sessions as well as the side program were very interesting: Milan was a cooking pot of ideas, a great source of inspiration! Next Convention will be in 2019 in Kyoto! Theme will be “Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition.”