UNESCO brings together 12 museum directors from around the world at an online debate on 18 March. The event will focus on the impact of the pandemic on museum institutions, the lessons learnt, how they are addressing ongoing challenges and shaping the future of museums. Over 90% of the world’s 95000 museums have closed their doors during the first wave of Covid19, a considerable percentage of which were shut down again since the last semester of 2020. Even though museums globally have quickly adapted to the situation, the impact of the pandemic will significantly change, even redefine, museums in the post Covid era.
After an opening by Lazare Eloundou Assomo (Director of Culture and Emergencies at UNESCO) and Alberto Garlandini (President of ICOM), the panelists will discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of museums within two high-level panels.
The first panel, moderated by Laurella Yssap-Rinçon (Memorial ACTe Guadeloupe), includes Barbara Jatta (Vatican Museums), Barbara Helwing (Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin), Xudong Wang (Palace Museum, Beijing), Juliana Restrepo (National Museum of Colombia) and Tristram Hunt (Victoria & Albert Museum, London).
The second panel, moderated by Emmanuel Kasarhérou (Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac museum, Paris), includes Antonio Saborit (National museum of Anthropology of Mexico), Hamady Bocoum (Museum of Black Civilizations, Dakar), Mikhail Piotrovski (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), Ahmed Farouk Ghoneim (National museum of Egyptian Civilization, Cairo) and Deborah Lynn Mack (National museum of African Art, Washington D.C.).
Watch the debate in French: http://webcast.unesco.org/live/room-12/fr
Watch the debate in English: http://webcast.unesco.org/live/room-12/en
For any questions or inquiries about this event, please contact UNESCO Museums Unit at: sec.mus@unesco.org