International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia

Contact

Društvo ICOM, mednarodni muzejski svet – slovenski odbor ICOM

Metelkova 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana

http://slovenia.icom.museum

icom.slovenija@mnzc.si

Phone386 (0) 3 428 6410

Managed byInternational Council of Museums (ICOM)

 Celje Museum of Recent History

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 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 28,000 members of ICOM in 137 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).

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 first head for two terms was Gregor Moder, the then director of the City Museum of Ljubljana (1991–1997). His successor was Ralf Čeplak Mencin, who also headed the committee for two terms (1997–2003). From 2003 till 2011 the head was Nina Zdravič Polič of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. In 2003 ICOM Slovenia became a member of the newly-established ICOM 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 in the field of education and intercultural dialogue. Through its actions, 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 network co-operation through the international meetings and conferences it organises in Slovenia.

All individual members of the ICOM 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. In more than 15 years, 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).

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.

In addition, four Slovene board members currently sit on ICOM international committees, and Orest Jarh from the Technical Museum of Slovenia, has been a member of the Executive Committee of ICOM/CIMUSET since 2001.

Education

Workshops and symposia organised by ICOM Slovenia (for example, the International Summer School of Museology) are of an educational nature and 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

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 in two parts: Object ID Checklist [Identifikacijski obrazec predmeta kulturne dediščine] and Introduction to Object ID [Uvod v identifikacijo predmeta].

See also

• Association of Slovene Museums
• International Summer School of Museology

External links

• International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia website
• International Council of Museums website