NEWS: 29 08 2022

Nearly 2,600 museum professionals from 123 countries came to the Czech Republic last week, which hosted the International Council of Museums (ICOM) General Conference for the first time ever. The Olomouc Museum of Art also left its mark in Prague.

One of the main organizers was our colleague, the deputy director of the MUO, Gina Renotière, who is the chair of the Czech ICOM Committee. “I was proud of our skills and abilities as I watched the foreign guests looking at the beautiful exhibitions and watching the performance of Cirk La Putyka with enthusiasm. During the evening I was also able to thank Mrs. Gina Renotière from the Olomouc Museum of Art, Chairperson of ICOM Czech Republic, who was instrumental in the success of this global event.”

The MUOs education department also received a big award. For the animated film “Sebastiano Luciani zv. del Piombo. Madonna with a veil. The emergence of the image”, our colleague Hana Lamatová received the award of the International Festival F@IMP 2021-2022, which is organized by the ICOM subcommittee for new audiovisual technologies and social media. This educational film was created by Hana Lamatová together with animator Radim Ševčík.

In addition to a rich professional and cultural programme at the Prague Congress Centre, the conference included off-site meetings in Prague museums, a museum night, a museum fair and finally 40 excursions to various parts of our country. One of these places was Olomouc, where two dozen museum professionals visited on Friday 26 September. In addition to a tour of the city accompanied by a ride on a historic tram, they were also welcomed by the Mayor Miroslav Žbánek and the Director of the Olomouc Museum of Art Ondřej Zatloukal. Part of the expedition was tempted by the worshop with David Hrbek in the Museum of Modern Art, others visited the Jesuit Convent, which now houses the art history department of Palacký University.

In general, the most important outcome of the conference is the new definition of a museum: A museum is a permanent non-profit institution in the service of society that professionally processes, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Museums are open to the public, accessible and inclusive. They promote and develop diversity and sustainability, and operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of diverse communities. They offer a variety of stimuli for learning, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.”

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Photographs by MUO / Tereza Hrubá