August 24, 2025
Heritage, Museums, Collections: Professionals’ Sharing of Skills between Africa and Europe. Rome, 25–27 September 2025 Conference
Heritage, Museums, Collections: Professionals’ Sharing of Skills between Africa and Europe
Rome, 25–27 September 2025
About the Conference
This international conference will explore how African museum heritage is understood and presented in European institutions. At a time when debates on decolonization are reshaping museums, the conference will address issues of restitution, provenance, interpretation, and collaboration across continents.
Decolonization is not a single act, but a continuum of practices—questioning established systems, confronting colonial legacies, and restoring memory, identity, and knowledge. For collections not subject to restitution, museums face the long-term tasks of cataloguing works, verifying provenance, and developing innovative approaches to conservation, exhibition, and education.
By bringing together curators, scholars, and professionals from Africa and Europe, the conference will promote dialogue, share experiences, and reimagine museums as living spaces shaped by cultural diversity and historical realities.
The programme will feature:
- Two conceptual sessions with four keynote speakers (two from Europe and two from Africa), followed by two panel discussions.
- Three comparative panels showcasing experiences of African and European museologists and museum professionals.
- A concluding session to synthesize insights from reports and posters.
Key themes will include the long-term responsibilities of museums holding collections not subject to restitution:
- Identifying and cataloguing works
- Verifying provenance
- Defining exhibition and display criteria
- Developing appropriate museological approaches, including interpretation, conservation, restoration, and education
The conference will also address the broader interpretative challenges of presenting art and heritage beyond Western cultural systems. Engaging with non-European perspectives enriches the understanding of global and local heritage, and requires critical reflection on the very foundations of heritage and museums.
Interpretation services in English, French, and Italian will be available throughout the event.
Practical Information
Organisation
An ICOM SAREC Project
Organisers: ICOM Europe, Italian Ministry of Culture – DIVA Department, The Colosseum Archaeological Park, ICOM Italy
Co-organisers: ICOM Africa, ICOM Arab, ICOFOM, SUSTAIN, ICOM COMMS, AVICOM, INTERCOM, ICOM WGD
Under the patronage of:
- Commissione Nazionale Italiana per l’UNESCO
- Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo
- ICOMOS – Italian National Committee
- ICCROM – International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
Sponsored by: Arterìa.