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Reframing Museums
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  • A Louvre Abu Dhabi and NYU Abu Dhabi Symposium

    16 – 18 November 2020

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Monday, November 16, 2020

Welcome and Opening keynotes | Devising The Future

Start Time: 11:00 | End Time: 11:30 | Speaker(s): HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Mariët Westermann, Manuel Rabaté

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The multitude of inequities laid bare and traumatic losses suffered as a result of the global pandemic ask us to consider the following: What museum model is needed for the future? Whom are museums for? With notions of ownership and expertise being questioned, how can museums contribute meaningfully to our rapidly changing world?

These are some of the questions that Mariët Westermann, Vice Chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi, and Manuel Rabaté, Director of the Louvre Abu Dhabi will introduce as they welcome attendees to Reframing Museums and open this first day focusing on one of the three central pillars that has traditionally defined museums, Pillar 1: the Collection. HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT) will then open the symposium with a short opening keynote.

Roundtable 1 | From acquisition to storytelling: what does the future hold for museum collections?

Start Time: 11:30 | End Time: 12:45 | Category: Pillar 1 | Collections | Moderator(s): Mina Al-Oraibi | Speaker(s): Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Michael Govan, Maria Balshaw CBE, Souraya Noujaim

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The role of the museum has been an ongoing and ever-changing debate for the museum sector. As public institutions, museums are required to constantly reassess their vision of the future in order to respond and contribute to meet evolving demands from the public. Recently, even the definition of “museum” has been debated, in particular around the question of whether having a collection was a prerequisite. Acquisitions were once central to the museum identity, yet today, many museums instead give priority to unlocking the many stories the existing collections contain.

This first roundtable invites panellists to explore what such a shift from acquisition to storytelling might mean for the future of museum collections.

Networking break

Start Time: 12:45 | End Time: 13:30

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Once you log on to the symposium live platform, it’s easy to network – use this time to join a room with pre-suggested topics, or arrange meetings with like-minded attendees by searching through the provided filters. You can also check what’s being said about #ReframingMuseums on the social media feed.

Keynote 1 | Re-envisioning The Museum Together

Start Time: 13:30 | End Time: 14:00 | Speaker(s): Kwame Anthony Appiah

Roundtable 2 | The future of exhibitions in a post-pandemic world

Start Time: 14:00 | End Time: 15:15 | Category: Pillar 1 | Collections | Moderator(s): Antonia Carver | Speaker(s): Chris Dercon, Manuel Borja-Villel, Hamady Bocoum, Hervé Barbaret, Yang Zhigang

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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, museums were faced with closing for an indefinite period of time, causing chaos in exhibition programming. Many museums came up with creative solutions to present their exhibitions virtually, leading museums to question the definition of an exhibition as well as the sustainability of its model, particularly at a time when environmental and financial concerns are paramount.

This roundtable invites panellists to discuss how exhibitions have been and will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and explore if radical changes are underway.

Networking break

Start Time: 15:15 | End Time: 15:30

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A chance to stretch and refresh. Or arrange meetings with other attendees by searching through the provided filters.

Case studies 1 | Digital storytelling and the sharing of knowledge in the digital age

Start Time: 15:30 | End Time: 17:30 | Category: Pillar 1 | Collections | Moderator(s): David Wrisley | Speaker(s): Peter Gorgels, Hilary Knight, Olivier Mauco, Anna Lowe, Lāth Carlson, Sara bin Safwan, Gene Kogan

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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of new digital modes of engaging audiences, there was growing interest in harnessing technological innovation for visitor engagement through 3D modelling, AI and augmented reality to enhance visitor interactions and transform the way collections can be preserved, studied, and shared. Global initiatives such as the ReACH Declaration highlighted the revolutionary opportunities for the museum and heritage sector, enabling, in particular, multiple heritage narratives to co-exist and inviting new voices to the curatorial table. But how does that translate in practice?

This session delves into museum practice through a series of case studies which highlight how museums have embraced the digital space to explore new models to narrate and reach audiences at home as well as within the museum building.

Networking break

Start Time: 17:30 | End Time: 18:00

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Once you log on to the symposium live platform, it’s easy to network – use this time to join a room with pre-suggested topics, or arrange meetings with likeminded attendees by searching through the provided filters. You can also check what’s being said about #ReframingMuseums on the social media feed.

Roundtable 3 | Modelling the future: new business models for the museums

Start Time: 18:00 | End Time: 19:15 | Category: Pillar 3 | People | Moderator(s): Fiammetta Rocco | Speaker(s): HE Saood Al Hosani, Françoise Benhamou, Frédéric Jousset, Peter Keller, Max Hollein

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COVID-19 has represented a humanitarian challenge of unprecedented magnitude with lasting effects on how people live, work, exchange, and play. The pandemic has also revealed, on one hand, the strength of museums as an essential social glue and vital tool in the civic space and, on the other hand, the fragility of the museum eco-system and its foundations. Although museums have shown resilience in light of financial difficulties in the past, threats to the future of tourism, infeasibility of blockbuster shows, combined with museum closures, have stretched reserves and forced many museums to rapidly re-think their operational structures. What does that mean for future museum business models in the short, medium, and long term?

This roundtable invites panellists to discuss the need for new business models with museums facing financial crises and challenges to some of their key factors of success.

Virtual World Café | Exploring Survival Together

Start Time: 19:15 | End Time: 20:15 | Moderator(s): Rose-Marie Mousseaux, Maya Allison | Facilitator(s): Diana Campbell Betancourt, Morad Montazami, Janine Dieudji, Maya El Khalil, Joyoti Roy, Fatema Alhammadi, Salwa Mikdadi, Robert Kilroy, Anaïs Aguerre, Otone Doi

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This session will enable a virtual space for attendees to sign up to continue (in smaller groups) discussion following the Q&A discussions from the day’s sessions, centred around the notion of survival which would have been explored - directly or indirectly - throughout the day. These small group discussions will be organised in breakout rooms welcoming up to 15 participants. Further information to register to these breakout rooms will be communicated to attendees closer to the Symposium.

Keynote 2 | Re-thinking the Imaginary Museum

Start Time: 20:15 | End Time: 20:45 | Speaker(s): Jean-Luc Martinez

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Opening remarks | Reflection session

Start Time: 11:00 | End Time: 11:25 | Speaker(s): Mariët Westermann, Manuel Rabaté

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Symposium co-hosts, Mariët Westermann and Manuel Rabaté, will open the second day of Reframing Museums which will be dedicated to unpacking challenges at stake with the two other pillars that have defined museums traditionally, namely Pillar 2 (Building/Site) and Pillar 3 (People). These two traditional museum pillars will be explored through a series of roundtable discussions, case studies and discussion between speakers and attendees. This welcome session will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned from the exploration of Pillar 1 (Collections) during the first day of Reframing Museums.

Roundtable 4 | The Museum as a re-imagined public space

Start Time: 11:30 | End Time: 12:45 | Category: Pillar 2 | Building/Site | Moderator(s): Tim Jones | Speaker(s): Didier Fusillier, Eugene Tan, Zeina Arida

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As stewards of shared public collections, museums today occupy an increasingly disputed space in the public realm. They are faced with the complex challenge of (re)building bridges between the past, the present, and the future, and contributing to healing fragmented and polarised contemporary societies. In this context, how can a museum be re-imagined as a public space that strives to be welcoming to all audiences and engages with contemporary debates such as social justice and inclusion.

In this fourth roundtable panellists are invited to discuss the many iterations of the museum as a public space looking at examples inside and outside the museum sector.

Networking break

Start Time: 12:45 | End Time: 13:30

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Once you log on to the symposium live platform, it’s easy to network – use this time to join a room with pre-suggested topics, or arrange meetings with likeminded attendees by searching through the provided filters. You can also check what’s being said about #ReframingMuseums on the social media feed.

Keynote 3

Start Time: 13:30 | End Time: 13:45 | Speaker(s): HE Noura Al Kaabi

Keynote 4 | A world history of museums

Start Time: 14:00 | End Time: 14:30 | Speaker(s): Krzysztof Pomian

Random Networking

Start Time: 14:30 | End Time: 15:30

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This session will allow attendees to access a space that will randomly allocate breakout rooms to encourage networking.

Case studies 2 | Museums and Empathy: towards new forms of engagement

Start Time: 15:30 | End Time: 17:00 | Category: Pillar 3 | People | Moderator(s): Tom Crow | Speaker(s): Elif M. Gökçiǧdem, Dacher Keltner, Helen Chatterjee, Maral Jule Bedoyan, Kavita Singh

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Museums have traditionally been valued as institutions promoting informal learning through display and interpretation. In recent years, the role of the museum as an institution has seen an increased emphasis on social responsibility and the use of the museum as a civic space or hub.

This session will see the presentation of a series of case studies that highlight research on museums as vehicles for promoting understanding through empathy, followed by a panel discussion with the speakers and a live Q&A.

Networking break

Start Time: 17:00 | End Time: 17:30

View DescriptionHide Description

Once you log on to the symposium live platform, it’s easy to network – use this time to join a room with pre-suggested topics, or arrange meetings with likeminded attendees by searching through the provided filters. You can also check what’s being said about #ReframingMuseums on the social media feed.

Roundtable 5 | Voices of authority: expertise, participation and inclusion in the museum of tomorrow

Start Time: 17:30 | End Time: 19:30 | Category: Pillar 3 | People | Moderator(s): Emily Kasriel | Speaker(s): Laurence Des Cars, Kaywin Feldman, Adriano Pedrosa, Manal Ataya, Amareswar Galla, Salah M. Hassan

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Recent calls, from museum staff and visitors alike, for more transparency in museum leadership and governance have been accompanied by scrutiny on how museums respond to promoting gender equality, racial justice, inclusion, and diversity. Moreover, as we explored in Case studies 1 during the first day of Reframing Museums, digital advances have also transformed which voices are heard by museum leadership, challenging traditional expertise and curatorial practices.

In this context, this roundtable invites panellists to address how museums can examine their structures as organisations, reassess expertise, and provide insight into creating a more inclusive place for audiences and staff alike.

Virtual World Café | Exploring the museum as a re-imagined public space

Start Time: 19:30 | End Time: 20:30 | Moderator(s): Rose-Marie Mousseaux, Maya Allison | Facilitator(s): Diana Campbell Betancourt, Morad Montazami, Janine Dieudji, Maya El Khalil, Katia Arfara, Salwa Mikdadi, Robert Kilroy, Anaïs Aguerre, Otone Doi

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This session will host attendees who sign up to continue in smaller groups discussion following the Q&A discussions from the day’s sessions, centred around the notion of museum as a re-imagined public space that will have been explored - directly or indirectly - throughout the day. These small group discussions will be organised in breakout rooms welcoming up to 15 participants. Further information to register to these breakout rooms will be communicated to attendees closer to the Symposium.

Keynote 5

Start Time: 20:30 | End Time: 21:00 | Speaker(s): Sandra Jackson-Dumont

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Keynote 6 | Tomorrow’s museum reimagined

Start Time: 14:30 | End Time: 15:00 | Speaker(s): Nujoom Alghanem

Roundtable 6| Museums & Archaeological Sites: Activating the ancient through contemporary in museums

Start Time: 15:00 | End Time: 16:15 | Category: Pillar 2 | Building/Site | Moderator(s): Nora Razian | Speaker(s): Peter Magee, Caroline Autret, Clare Davies, A. Ege Yildirim, Guilhem André

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With exhibitions such as the Liverpool Biennial 2016, the ‘Anche le statue muoiono’ in 2018 or ‘Phantom Limb’ in 2019 showing how commissioned artworks by contemporary artists can respond to antiquities within the museum to highlight new ways of looking at collections, provenance, heritage, preservation and interpretation can go hand in hand offering stimulating new bridges between the past, the present and the future.

This session invites panellists to discuss how museums can offer new ways to interpret heritage and archaeological sites.

Networking break

Start Time: 16:15 | End Time: 16:30

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A chance to stretch and refresh. Or arrange meetings with other attendees by searching through the provided filters.

Roundtable 7 | The future of curators

Start Time: 16:30 | End Time: 18:00 | Category: Pillar 3 | People | Moderator(s): Andrew McClellan | Speaker(s): Sophie Makariou, Jessica Morgan, Thelma Golden, Reem Fadda, Rose-Marie Mousseaux

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Curatorial interventions have been evolving in recent years, with curators becoming less attached to particular institutions, with an increased emphasis on crowdsourcing and learning from audiences as well as the trend of journalists becoming curators. Although the practice of inviting guest curators for exhibitions is not a new one, institutions are also recognising the importance of expanding their areas of knowledge by inviting voices from outside their own institutions. What does that mean for the future of curators in their training, recruitment, and evolving practice?

This final roundtable discussion invites panellists to discuss the future of curators and curatorship.

Closing remarks | Manuel Rabaté and Mariët Westermann in conversation

Start Time: 18:00 | End Time: 18:30 | Speaker(s): Mariët Westermann, Manuel Rabaté

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This session will wrap up the symposium, outlining a broad vision of key highlights and questions prompted by the discussions throughout.
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© Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi / Louvre Abu Dhabi Photos: Hufton+Crow, Roland Halbe

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