His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Government Council of Dubai, witnessed the opening of the twenty seventh Normal Convention of the Worldwide Council of Museums (ICOM Dubai 2025), held below the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Hosted for the primary time within the Center East, Africa, and South Asia area below the theme ‘The Way forward for Museums in Quickly Altering Communities,’ ICOM Dubai 2025 brings collectively greater than 4,500 museum professionals, cultural leaders, and decision-makers from all over the world, reinforcing Dubai’s position as a worldwide centre for tradition, creativity, and information alternate.
The landmark occasion was attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, and Chairman and Chief Government of Emirates Airline and Group; Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Tradition and Arts Authority (Dubai Tradition); His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; His Excellency Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister of Tradition; Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, President and CEO of Frontier25; and plenty of ministers and senior officers.
On the convention’s opening day, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan and Her Highness Sheikha Latifa toured the Museum Truthful, which showcases a variety of pioneering tasks, applied sciences, and improvements from greater than 100 establishments worldwide.
In the course of the tour, Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikha Latifa explored a sequence of interactive experiences designed to allow guests to have interaction with the most recent practices shaping the dynamic museum sector. The truthful additionally serves as a platform for fostering collaboration, constructing partnerships, and strengthening connections amongst establishments, consultants, and decision-makers throughout the worldwide museum neighborhood.
Convergence of worlds
Sheikha Latifa, delivering an honorary keynote handle, affirmed that ICOM Dubai 2025 displays a shared imaginative and prescient pushed by a perception within the energy of tradition to form humanity’s future. Her Highness mentioned that Dubai’s internet hosting of the occasion stands as a recognition of its pioneering position on the worldwide cultural stage.
Her Highness famous that the occasion marked a convergence of worlds, experiences, and views: “We collect right here, every carrying the story of our folks, our nations, our cultures, our heritage, and our museums. Collectively, our tales meet, intertwine, and kind a residing archive that displays the richness and variety of human expertise, and reminds us that, at its coronary heart, tradition is an ongoing dialogue between the previous, the current, and the long run.”
In a poetic reflection capturing the fantastic thing about cultures converging within the coronary heart of Dubai, Her Highness added: “Within the coming days, Dubai will create a mixed-media masterpiece, a bridge connecting creativity, imaginative and prescient, and cultures. It’s going to weave collectively numerous narratives right into a single, intricate canvas of traditions and views, presenting probably the most lovely portraits of humanity, the place cultures meet, minds join, and creativity unites us all.”
Her Highness mirrored on the journey that led to ICOM Dubai 2025, noting that the highway had not all the time been straightforward: “This journey taught us that persistence, listening, and flexibility are instruments of progress and the inspiration upon which visions take form.”
She additional famous that “the best dialogues start with questions”, expressing her appreciation for the query typically posed: whether or not a younger metropolis like Dubai could lead on such a profound world dialog on human heritage. “That very query,” she mentioned, “allowed us to inform our story with depth and which means.”
A profound human story
Her Highness mirrored on the UAE’s deep historic roots, saying: “This land has by no means been distant from creativity and cultural alternate. For hundreds of years, civilisations flourished right here, creating, innovating, buying and selling, sharing information, and laying the foundations of a human story that continues to unfold as we speak. From this legacy, Dubai attracts its energy and management, affirming that tradition has all the time been, and can all the time stay, the essence of our identification. Internet hosting ICOM Dubai 2025 is a continuation of this lengthy journey of inspiration and human contribution.”
She additionally recalled the ancestral legacy of the sailors, merchants, and craftspeople who have been custodians of intangible heritage lengthy earlier than the time period was coined. “They created out of necessity,” she mentioned, “however shared out of belonging.” Her Highness went on to recall the story of the union of the seven emirates, which she described not solely as a political union however, above all, as a cultural one, a testomony to the assumption that “a society linked to its cultural roots finds energy and unity in its heritage, and inside its identification beats the power to resume, develop, and form the long run.”
Sheikha Latifa famous that Dubai’s internet hosting of ICOM 2025 provides a singular alternative to spotlight the area’s wealthy cultural heritage and its ongoing contributions to world creativity. She emphasised that this second belongs to not one metropolis alone, however to a shared civilisation: “A collective identification that stretches throughout the Arab world, the Center East, Africa, and South Asia, the place communities share in our pleasure and celebration.”
She careworn that this yr’s convention theme, ‘The Way forward for Museums in Quickly Altering Communities,’ may discover no higher residence than Dubai, whose range mirrors the very spirit of ICOM Dubai 2025. “This convention,” she mentioned, “is an invite to mirror on how museums can protect their mission and essence, whereas persevering with to evolve and reply to the wants of their communities.”
Heartfelt invitation
Her Highness concluded her speech with a heartfelt invitation: “As you discover our museums, exhibitions, and heritage districts, I invite you to look past what meets the attention; to hearken to the tales behind the partitions and buildings, and to the tales crafted by the palms, desires, and creativeness of our folks. Allow us to proceed this journey collectively, a journey of connection and inspiration.”
His Excellency Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, UAE Minister of Tradition, delivered a keynote handle highlighting that ICOM gives a singular platform for consultants and cultural leaders to collaborate below one roof. He famous that Dubai’s internet hosting of the worldwide convention reaffirms the UAE’s dedication to advancing the museum sector, exemplified by world-class establishments such because the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Museum of the Future, and the just lately reopened Al Ain Museum, alongside Sharjah’s 17 museums and the upcoming Pure Historical past Museum and Zayed Nationwide Museum. He additionally underscored the nation’s progress in cultural preservation, together with the launch of the Nationwide Register of Archaeological Artefacts and the inscription of 16 components on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage record, reflecting the UAE’s rising affect as a trusted world cultural companion. Her Excellency Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State on the Ministry of International Affairs, mirrored on museums as areas for dialogue and understanding rath
Keynote shows
The day’s programme, curated by the ICOM Dubai 2025 Organising Committee, featured keynote shows by outstanding cultural figures and museum consultants, together with globally acclaimed sculptor El Anatsui, who spoke on restoration and resilience; ICOM President Emma Nardi, who described the Normal Convention as a celebration of the worldwide museum neighborhood; and ICOM Director Normal Medea S. Ekner, who emphasised the evolving position of museums in responding to technological, social, and environmental change.
Nasir Al Darmaki, Chair of ICOM UAE, underscored the historic inclusion of Arabic amongst ICOM’s official languages for the primary time, alongside English, French, and Spanish, reflecting ICOM’s dedication to inclusivity and regional engagement inside the world museum neighborhood.
Three predominant themes
The opening day of the worldwide convention, which runs till November 17, featured a wealthy sequence of classes stuffed with concept exchanges and in-depth discussions across the occasion’s three predominant themes: Intangible Heritage, Youth Energy, and New Applied sciences. Among the many key classes was ‘AI and Museums: From Imaginative and prescient to International Motion,’ led by Medea S. Ekner, Director Normal of ICOM, and Krista Pikkat, Director of Tradition and Emergencies at UNESCO, France. The day additionally included a set of inspiring talks below the theme ‘The Digital Future,’ that includes Dr Uzma Z. Rizvi, Archaeologist at Pratt Institute, USA; Majed Al Mansoori, CEO of the Museum of the Future; and Evita Huch, Head of Innovation on the Rijksmuseum Innovation Lab, Amsterdam.
The ICOM Resolutions Legacy and Implementation session, titled ‘Legacy and Implementation,’ introduced collectively key consultants, together with Lio Gauli, Analysis and Curatorial Fellow on the Nationwide Ainu Museum; Astghik Marabyan, Head of Cultural Heritage on the Ministry of Schooling, Science, Tradition, and Sports activities of Armenia; Mark Swiney, Senior Assistant Legal professional Normal of Tulsa; Zahida Quadri, Chair of the Worldwide Committee for Regional Museums at ICR-ICOM; and Penelope Theologi-Gouti, Chair of ICOM Greece and Chair of the ICOM Resolutions Committee. The panel explored the legacy of ICOM’s Resolutions Committee and its affect on shaping museum priorities and practices globally, emphasising the significance of capacity-building, cross-sector collaboration, training, and the reinforcement of museums’ position as world cultural anchors.
Specialised workshops
The primary day additionally featured a spread of specialized workshops, together with a complicated coaching session titled ‘Reverse Mentoring: Empowering Youth for Museums and Heritage,’ hosted by the Youth Panel Nationwide Heritage Board of Singapore. This session launched a brand new format debuting at ICOM conferences, aimed toward getting ready the following era of leaders within the museum subject. Knowledgeable mentoring session, ‘Skilled Growth for Museum Staff (For Grantees),’ featured audio system reminiscent of Uns Kattan, Deputy Director and Head of Studying and Analysis at Artwork Jameel; Darren Barker and Eric Langham, Co-founders of Parker Langham; Maya Allison, Government Director and Chief Curator at NYU Abu Dhabi Artwork Gallery; and Wael Kamal, Senior Director Key Accounts, Expertise Options at LinkedIn MENA.
Additional, the programme included a masterclass titled ‘Methods for Conservation: Technological Obsolescence,’ led by Sundar Raman, Artistic Engineer at PRESENT, adopted by a specialised session on “Methods for Conservation: Object-Centred Processes” delivered by Anupam Sah, Artwork Conservator-Restorer on the Anupam Heritage Lab.
All through the week, the convention will proceed to host specialised workshops and boards, together with the ‘Youth Discussion board for Younger Professionals,’ aimed toward empowering the following era of leaders, and Mentoring Periods on ‘Collections, Conservation and Intangible Heritage,’ designed to strengthen connections between rising practitioners and worldwide consultants.