International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia

International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia, established as an Association in 1991, 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 education and promotion tasks. It is financed by Ministry of Culture and with the annual membership fees.

History

The museums of Slovenia joined the activities of ICOM in 1991 and has since functioned in line with ICOM programmes. The first head for two terms was Gregor Moder, then the director of the City Museum of Ljubljana (1991–1997). His successor was Ralf Čeplak Mencin, who also headed the council for two terms (1997–2003). From 2003 onwards the head of the council is Nina Zdravič Polič. In 2003 ICOM Slovenia became a member of the newly-established ICOM Europe.

Programme / Mission

ICOM Slovenia is a recognised professional society with the status of an association in the public interest, which 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 international meetings and conferences it organises in Slovenia.

All individual members of ICOM get 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

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

In more than fifteen years, a number of ICOM conferences have been organised jointly with other ICOM committees and collaborators such as: in 1993 CIDOC (annual conference on museum documentation), in 1994 ICR (annual conference on regional museums, in collaboration with Austria and Italy), in 2001 CEICOM (conference of the Central European ICOM Committee), in 2003 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), in 2004 IC GLASS (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Glass) and ICFA (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Fine Arts), in 2005 ICR (annual conference on regional museums) and CIMAM Board meetings (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art), in 2006 ICOM Europe For Peace and Cultural Diversity Conference. In August 2007, an ICOM-CC Glass and Ceramics Working Group conference took place in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. ICOM Slovenia continues its involvement in International Council of Museums (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 South East Europe, in 2009 a special workshop on photographing museum objects was organised by ICOM Slovenia at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje.

Awards

Some museums with particularly interesting collections have won important awards. For example, the Ljubljana Brewery Museum is the holder of a Council of Europe Award, the Kobarid Museum with its installation about the Soča (Isonzo) Front of World War One was awarded the title of European Museum of the Year in 1993, and the Idrija Municipal Museum took the prestigious Luigi Michelletti award in 1997.

Education

All events organised by ICOM Slovenia such as workshops and symposia (for example, the 4th International Module of the Summer School of Museology, Celje, see Celje Museum of Recent History) 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); leaflets and brochures of informative and promotional nature; the new ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums published in Slovenian language in 2005, the publication of an ID Object leaflet in Slovenian in 2007, website information.

Exhibitons

Exhibitions take place in the individual museums. There were exhibitions in Brussels at the time of the Slovene EU Presidency: Plečnik Project, Early Modern Slovenian Architect, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, 2008 by the National Gallery of Slovenia; Currency Changes in Slovenia in 20th Century, the Parliament, Brussels, 2008 by the National Museum of Contemporary History; The Slavs of Europe: The Slovene Contribution, Musee de Cinquantenaire, Brussels, 2008 by the Slovene Ethnographic Museum; The Art and the Bee, Maison du Folklore et des Traditions, Brussels 2008 by the Museum of Apiculture, Municipal Museums of Radovljica.

Publishing / Publications

It publishes Newsletter, annual publication in English. Beside this they publish leaflets and brochures of informative and promotional nature. In 2005 New ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums in the Slovene language was published; in 2007 there was a publication of an ID Object in Slovene.

External links

International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia webpage

International Council of Museums (ICOM), Slovenia

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