Museum Voices

17 September 2024

9.30am - 4.00pm

Salone Pietro da Cortona

The conference will be held in Rome on September 17 and 18, 2024, under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture, Sapienza Università di Roma and ICOM Italia and in collaboration with SARAS Department (Sapienza Università di Roma), the General Directorate of Museums (MiC), Ecole
du Louvre, University of Québec in Montreal, and the Center for Critical Museology, Promotion and Public Participation.

Over the past decade, museums have experienced a period of extraordinary success and cultural and political renewal. The relevance they have achieved in terms of educational and social transformation constitutes a phenomenon of exceptional interest, evidenced not only by the growing participation of visitors in initiatives that support the experience of collections, but also by the constant activism showed by each institution. Museums are increasingly inclined to open themselves up to communities
and citizens, understanding their needs and development opportunities, to the point of implementing co-creation processes aimed at creating a more qualitative and specific cultural offer capable of reaching different target audiences. In light of this change, it seems necessary to question the resilience
and effectiveness of certain transformations, trying to identify concrete and measurable goals without compromising the core components of museum missions: particularly, conservation, research, and education. Even the need for plural narratives and a postcolonial perspective on collections requires ethical and methodological reflection that help prevent ideological pressure or manipulation.

The international approach of the conference aims to facilitate open-ended reflections on the role of museums, analyzing the resources and risks of the increasingly prevalent transformation of exhibition spaces into contexts of democratic engagement and co-construction of meaning around cultural heritage. The speakers will present a variety of experiences and case studies, developed in diverse realities (from national museums to territorial museums), including their methodologies and possible instruments of evaluation and communication.
To foster dialogue between Italian and international universities, museums, institutions and research centers, the initiative will be divided into four thematic areas, which will include experts from the countries involved, museum curators, and researchers in the field of education and heritage policies. A comparative approach will be pursued, highlighting best practice and working models that could be the
object of future research and experimentation in other contexts.

Languages: Italian, French, English

Mode: in-person, with the option of attending online (Zoom) by registering at the link
https://tinyurl.com/journee2024

Venues: September 17 at the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica (Palazzo Barberini); September 18 at Sapienza University of Rome (Faculty of Letters, Museo dell’Arte Classica and Aula Venturi), concluding with a visit of the Museum of Civilizations

In-person: free admission, subject to availability
Participation is free of charge

Information: (julie.pezzali@uniroma1.it; for online registration: grem@uqam.ca)