MUSEUMS
Kathleen Whyman, managing editor, Attractions Management
THE HISTORY CHANNEL
Protecting heritage and providing a communication channel are the International Council of Museums’ aims, as president Hans- Martin Hinz explains
What is ICOM’s role and aim? The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is a public interest organisation and was established in 1946, right after WWII. The idea was to organise a worldwide communication tool among museums and museum professionals. ICOM has two main tasks. Firstly, the protection of culture and
heritage in museums, collections and in general, especially in confl icting areas where cultural property and heritage is in danger. And secondly to increase the level of professionalism of museums and staff. We have grown to have more than
30,000 members globally, which I believe makes ICOM the largest international cultural organisation in the world.
How does ICOM work? ICOM has 117 national committees all over the world and 31 international committees. Members of the international committees get together at least once a year to exchange their experiences and discuss how to improve the work they’re doing. They think about new conceptions and how to present culture and history nowadays in a time of globalisation and rapid changes. These ideas are then fi ltered down to ICOM’s members. My task is to help museum professionals exchange, talk, learn and deliver something for their visitors. I was re-elected for a second term in
July 2013 and aim to continue to increase the awareness of museum-related issues and highlight the signifi cance of museums as sites of social encounter.
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Hinz retired from museums management but he still teaches museum studies The director general is the head of the
secretariat in Paris. They, and heads of departments and staff members, run the everyday work of ICOM. The rest of us do it voluntarily. We talk almost every day and I regularly go to Paris for meetings.
What are the ICOM Red Lists? The ICOM Red Lists help customs, police offi cials and professionals concerned by the smuggling and illicit trading in cultural objects, fi ght against the illicit traffi c of
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cultural goods. The list illustrates the cat- egories or types of cultural items that are most likely to be illegally bought and sold. There are so many tragic situations
in countries – uprising, war and natural disasters, such as earthquakes, as well as illegal activities including traffi cking – which puts heritage in danger. Preventing this is a real challenge, but the Red Lists have a strong impact and we’ve been able to get many objects back and return them to their originating countries.
AM 1 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
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