International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia

The International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia, established in 1991 as a national committee of the international organisation ICOM, is a voluntary, independent, non-profit association with over 100 members who work together on the field of museums and cultural heritage protection and related educational and promotional tasks. It is financed by the Ministry of Culture and through the annual fees of its members. Since 2013 it has bestowed the ICOM Slovenia Award in order to promote the international aspect of museological endeavours.

Background

Created in 1946, the ICOM is a non-governmental organisation maintaining formal relations with UNESCO and having a consultative status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council. As a non-profit organisation, ICOM is financed primarily by membership fees and supported by various governmental and other bodies. It carries out part of UNESCO's programme for museums. Based in Paris (France), the ICOM Headquarters houses both the ICOM Secretariat and the UNESCO-ICOM Museum Information Centre.

The 44,000 members of ICOM in 158 countries participate in the national, regional and international activities of the organisation: workshops, publications, training, twinning programmes, and the promotion of museums through International Museum Day (May 18, annually).

ICOM Slovenia direction

Since the establishment of the ICOM Slovenia, the Slovene National Committee has adopted the strategic plans of the ICOM and promoted its principles in Slovenia. The members from Slovenia are active in all ICOM's committees and have taken presidential, co-ordination and chairing roles from the start. The first head of ICOM Slovenia was Gregor Moder, the then director of the City Museum of Ljubljana (1991–1997). His successor was Ralf Čeplak Mencin from the Slovene Ethnographic Museum (till 2003). From 2003 till 2011 the head was Nina Zdravič Polič from the same museum, followed by Tanja Roženbergar, the then director of the Celje Museum of Recent History (till 2016), and Kaja Širok, the director of the National Museum of Contemporary History (since 2017).

In 2003 ICOM Slovenia became a member of the newly-established ICOM Europe and in 2005 it joined the ICOM SEE that connects museum workers from 11 states of the South East Europe.

Programme and mission

A recognised professional society with the status of an association in the public interest, ICOM Slovenia promotes international museum relations and networking. Through its activities, the Slovene National Committee strengthens international co-operation by spreading Slovenia's cultural history and heritage beyond its borders and by enhancing the distinct features of its cultural heritage. At the same time, ICOM Slovenia actively contributes to a greater openness of Slovenia by establishing joint forums and networking through the international meetings and conferences it organises in Slovenia.

All individual members receive the ICOM News and Study Series plus a membership card which permits free access to the majority of world museums. Institutions also get the Museum Magazine published by UNESCO and three membership cards. All members are eligible to become active members of one international committee.

International cooperation

The ICOM has more than 30 international committees which focus on various aspects of the field of museology. A number of ICOM conferences have been organised jointly with other ICOM committees and collaborators such as: CIDOC – annual conference on museum documentation (1993), ICR – annual conference on regional museums, in collaboration with Austria and Italy (1994), CEICOM – conference of the Central European ICOM Committee (2001), three concurrent IC meetings CIMUSET – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Science and Technology, ICTOP – International Committee for the Training of Personnel and MPR – Committee for Marketing and Public Relations (2003), IC GLASS – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Glass and ICFA – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Fine Arts (2004), ICR – annual conference on regional museums and CIMAM Board meetings – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (2005), ICOM Europe For Peace and Cultural Diversity Conference (2006), the ICOM COMCOL annual conference in Celje (2014); ICOMAM international conference War and Peace, Fear and Happiness in Pivka (2018).

ICOM events in Slovenia

In August 2007, an ICOM-CC Glass and Ceramics Working Group conference took place in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. ICOM Slovenia continues its involvement in ICOM Europe activities and has played an active role in the 2008 Tour and Conference Between the Old and the New Europe, as well as in pending projects. ICOM Slovenia continues to co-operate in projects with ICOM SEE. It is thus part of the regional long-term project of Revitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage in Southeast Europe, in 2009 a special workshop on photographing museum objects was organised by ICOM Slovenia at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje.

Since 2017 ICOM Slovenia has cooperated with the Association of Slovene Museums and the Slovene Museum Society, the other two representative organisations in the museology domain in order to strengthen the sector. A joint annual conference has been organised.

Education

Workshops and symposia organised by ICOM Slovenia (for example, the International Summer School of Museology) contribute to progress in the field. In addition, ICOM Slovenia puts great emphasis on the accessibility of information that can be achieved through efficient forms of communication, such as: events connecting museums and programmes (International Museum Day); informative and promotional leaflets and brochures; translations of key publications, and a bilingual website.

Exhibitions

An annual outdoor billboard exhibition has been organised following the International Museum Day's topic. Usually it takes place on the museum square at Metelkova ulica in Ljubljana.

During the time of the Slovene EU Presidency in 2008, member museums of the National Slovene Committee of the ICOM organised several exhibitions took place in Brussels: Plečnik Project, Early Modern Slovenian Architect by the National Gallery of Slovenia held at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium; Currency Changes in Slovenia in 20th Century by the National Museum of Contemporary History held at the EU Parliament; The Slavs of Europe: The Slovene Contribution by the Slovene Ethnographic Museum held at the Musée de Cinquantenaire; The Art and the Bee by the Museum of Apiculture from Radovljica held at Maison du Folklore et des Traditions.

Publications

The ICOM Slovenia publishes an annual newsletter in English in addition to various leaflets and brochures about their activities and issues related to museology.

The ICOM Slovenia further contributes to the museums field by translating key publications into Slovenian. In 2005 the New ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums was translated, representing a great achievement for the ICOM, as the terminology in the code had to be adjusted to Slovene legislation and museum practices. In 2007 the J. Paul Getty Trust's Object ID, which outlines the procedures for identifying and cataloguing objects of cultural heritage, was translated and published online.

ICOM Slovenia Award

Since 2013 ICOM Slovenia has bestowed the ICOM Slovenia Award in order to promote the international museological endeavours. Each year two projects are awarded, one for the outstanding international cooperation, the other for the implementation of the annual ICOM theme. Among the recipients are the Javorca WW1 chapel exhibition project by the Tolmin Museum, the Southern Constellations: The Poetics of the Non-Aligned exhibition by Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (MSUM), the Slovene Ethnographic Museum for the EU project SWICH – Sharing a World of Inclusion, Creativity and Heritage, the Museum of Architecture and Design for the project Faraway, So Close at the 25th Biennial of Design (BIO).

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