1946
The International Council of Museums is founded in November
of this year in Paris, at the initiative of Chauncey J.
Hamlin (United States), who becomes the first President
of the Organization. The Documentation Centre is placed
by UNESCO under the responsibility of ICOM and the direction
of Yvonne Oddon. It becomes the UNESCO/ICOM Documentation
Centre--the only resource centre for museums of all fields
existing in the world. The centre provides information,
orientation, and research services to museum professionals,
researchers, UNESCO and its Member States. Publication
of the first issue of the periodical ICOM News/Nouvelles
de l'ICOM.
1947 An agreement is signed between
UNESCO and ICOM on 2 October establishing the ways and
means of co-operation between the two organizations. First
Interim Conference of ICOM in Mexico City, Mexico 7- 14
November.
1948 First General Conference in
Paris, 28 June to 3 July. Museologists from fifty-three
countries attend. Twelve specialized committees are created.
Georges Henri Rivière is named Director of ICOM. First
Meeting of the International Commission for Cleaning and
Restoration of Paintings, London, United Kingdom, 13-15
December. Technical and legal study on exchanges and deposits
between museums, carried out by Professor A. Leroi- Gourhan.
It is the starting point for preparatory work requested
by UNESCO, which culminates in 1976 in the adoption, by
the 19th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO in
Nairobi, of the Recommendation Concerning the International
Exchange of Cultural Property.
1949 Second meeting of the International
Committee for the Care of Paintings held in Rome, Italy,
from 12 to 15 December, under the chairmanship of Professor
Cesare Brandi.
1950 First conference of the International
Committee of ICOM for Museum Techniques in Stockholm,
Sweden, 3-8 May. Second General Conference in London,
United Kingdom, 17- 22 July, attended by members from
thirty-one countries and five continents. Main scientific
instruments; museum and education; problems of professional
training. Creation of international committees for laboratories
and documentation.
1951 Meeting of the ICOM Commission
on Racial Questions, a subcommittee of the International
Committee on Museums of Ethnography and Folklore, on 9
June, in Paris, under the chairmanship of Dr. G. W. Locher.
Crusade for Museums organized by UNESCO and ICOM: this
campaign marks the beginning, on an international scale,
of public awareness of the educational role of museums.
Public information activities follow, leading to the institution
in 1977 of an International Museums Day (18 May), celebrated
every year in many countries.
1952 International Seminar in Brooklyn,
New York on the role of museums in education, 14 September
to 12 October, organized by UNESCO in co-operation with
ICOM. Publication of Museums and Young People, by G. Cart,
M. Harrison, and C. Russell, under the auspices of the
ICOM Committee for Education and the ICOM Committee for
Children.
1953 Third General Conference in
Genoa, Milano, Bergamo, Italy, 6-12 July. Georges Salles
(France) succeeding Chauncey J. Hamlin, becomes the second
President of ICOM. Twenty- four countries are represented
at the conference. Ten specialized committees discuss,
among other themes: museum architecture and museums in
modern city planning; museums and scientific and technical
progress; natural history museums and protection of nature;
museums and international understanding; modern art museums
at the service of living art. Conference of museums of
archaeology and history, Naples, July. Main themes: museums
and international understanding; international regulations
in regard to archaeological excavations.
1954 International Conference on
"Local Museums and Cultural Development Outside Large
Centres' at the Schaffhouse Museum, Switzerland, 7-9 July.
International seminar on the role of museums in education
in Athens, Greece, 12 September to 10 October. Organized
by UNESCO in co-operation with ICOM.
1955 Publication, with the help of
UNESCO, of Type Specimen in Botany and Zoology. Recommendations
for their Conservation in Natural History and General
Museums, by W.E. Swinton.
1956 Fourth General Conference, Basel,
Zurich, Schaffhouse, Neuchâtel, and Geneva, Switzerland,
with members from thirty-five countries attending. Main
themes: the natural history museum in the modern world;
the problem of history museums in our times; modern installations
and museum techniques. Conference on problems of museums
in the Near East, in Damas, Syrian Arab Republic, 23-27
October. The purpose of this meeting was the development
of co-operation between museums in this region. First
international museums campaign.
1957 Meeting of the ICOM Commission
for International Art Exhibitions on 2 July, at the Musée
du Louvre. In order to facilitate exchanges of exhibits,
the commission decides to make a customs label for works
of art. This measure is carried out in the framework of
the Florence Agreement on the importation of educational,
scientific, and cultural materials adopted by the fifith
session of the General Conference of UNESCO in July 1950.
The customs services of the Member States of the Customs
Co- operation Council recognize the validity of this label.
ICOM meeting on open-air museums in Denmark and Sweden,
5-9 July; guidelines on the aims and organization of this
type of museum are adopted by the participants from twenty-four
countries.
1958 Symposium on museums, film and
television, organized under the auspices of UNESCO in
Brussels, Belgium, 8-11 July. Publication of a handbook
on this subject. Regional seminar on the role of museums
in education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 7-30 September,
organized by UNESCO in co-operation with ICOM. After a
survey, ICOM prepares a study on "international regulations
on the most effective means of rendering museums accessible
to everyone" for UNESCO, which becomes a recommendation
in 1960. This is one of the first efforts to foster adoption
by UNESCO of measures encouraging a more democratic participation
in culture by the public, leading to the "Recommendation
on Participation by the People at Large in Cultural Life
and their Contribution to It", adopted in 1976 by the
General Conference of UNESCO at its nineteenth session.
1959 Fifth General Conference in
Stockholm, Sweden, 1-8 July. Sir Philip Hendy (United
Kingdom) becomes the third President of ICOM, following
Mr. Georges Salles. Thirty countries are represented;
nine International Committees hold working meetings. Main
themes discussed: exchanges between museums and international
art exhibits; survey of the museum profession; advice
for the establishment of museums of science and technology;
the role of ethnographic museums as an instrument for
research. Founding, on 1 March 1959, at the initiative
of UNESCO and ICOM, of the International Centre for the
Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural
Property (now called ICCROM) in Rome: an intergovernmental
institution which will become one of the principal partners
of UNESCO and ICOM in this field. Founding of the Museums
Association of Tropical Africa, associated with ICOM.
1960 ICOM co-operates with UNESCO
in launching the international campaign to save the monuments
of Nubia. Regional seminar on the museum as a cultural
centre in the development of the community, Tokyo, Japan,
3-30 September, organized by UNESCO in co-operation with
ICOM. International meeting on regional and specialized
museums in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 18-30 September.
1961 International meeting of ICOM
on museum architecture in Turin, Genoa, and Milan, Italy,
23-27 May.
1962 Symposium on the problems of
museums in countries undergoing rapid change, in Neuchâtel,
17-25 June. Publication of the proceedings as a handbook.
Sixth General Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands,
2- 11 July, with participants from twenty-two countries.
Main items studied: protection methods against theft of
art works; problems pertaining specifically to the conservation
of cultural property in tropical and subtropical countries;
the role of museums of history and folklore in a changing
world; the functions of museums--research centres as show
places?
1963 Meeting of an international
committee of experts to study the measures to be taken
to promote bilateral exchanges of cultural property, on
3 July at the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires,
Paris. Joint meeting of the Committee for the Care of
Paintings and the Committee for Scientific Museum Laboratories,
in Leningrad and Moscow, 16-23 September.
1964 Regional seminar on the "Role
of Museums in Contemporary Africa", at Jos, Nigeria, 24
August to 18 September, organized by UNESCO in co-operation
with ICOM. The Jos seminar tries to answer, for Africa,
the questions raised during the symposium at Neuchâtel
(see above). Participation in the Freedom from Hunger
Campaign. National Committees of ICOM organize exhibitions
devoted to the fight against hunger. International Symposium
on the Educational and Cultural Role of Museums, Paris,
23-27 November.
1965
Creation of the ICOM Foundation with the purpose of providing
financial means to enlarge the scope of members activities,
on 15 June. Sixth General Conference in Washington, Philadelphia,
and New York, United States, 16 September to 3 October.
For the first time, an overall working theme is adopted:
"Training of Museum Personnel". Dr. Arthur van Schendel,
Director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, succeeds Sir
Philip Hendy and becomes the fourth President of ICOM.
Georges Henri Rivière leaves the directorship of ICOM
to become Permanent Advisor; Hugues de Varine-Bohan (France)
who was Assistant Director since 1962, becomes the Director
of ICOM.
1966 Seventh Regional Seminar on
"The Role of Museums in the Community", in New Delhi,
India, from 31 January to 28 February, organized by UNESCO
in co-operation with ICOM. It is envisaged to create an
ICOM Regional Agency in Asia. Symposium on the conservation
of wooden objects in museums organized in Dakar, Senegal,
18-23 April, by the Museums Association of Tropical Africa
(AMAT/MATA) and ICOM.
1967 Meeting of experts on urgent
ethnology: co-ordinated development of museums and scientific
research, held in Baghdad, Iraq, 1-6 April, organized
by the ICOM Committee for Ethnography Museums. Creation
of the ICOM Regional Agency for South and South-East Asia.
Dr. Grace Morley is named head of the agency. The Committees
for Scientific Museum Laboratories and for the Care of
Paintings are merged to become the ICOM Committee for
Conservation, in Brussels, Belgium, during their joint
meeting from 6 to 13 September. Launching of the second
International Museums Campaign on 1 October. Meeting of
a group of experts on the training of museum personnel
in Europe in Brno, Czechoslovakia, marking the first effort
to have museology recognized as a scientific discipline
in universities.
1968 Meeting of the Committee for
Education and Cultural Action, in Leningrad and Moscow,
USSR, 14-21 May, on the theme: "Education and Cultural
Tasks of Museums". Eighth General Conference, in Cologne
and Munich, Federal Republic of Germany, 29 July to 9
August, with participants from sixty-five countries, on
the theme: "Museums and Research". International symposium
on museums and their new public, in Krakow, Poland, 18-24
September, the main purpose of which is to define the
concept of "new museum public" in different social systems
and cultural backgrounds. Symposium on museum architecture
organized by ICOM with the participation of the International
Union of Architects (UIA), at Mexico City, Mexico, 8-14
December.
1969 Pilot project of training seminars
for young curators and museum assistants organized by
ICOM for three French- speaking countries: France, Belgium,
and Switzerland, in Brussels, Paris, and Neuchâtel, January,
February, and November. Publication of the first issue
of Annual--Museums, Education and Cultural Action which
will later become ICOM Education. Publication of the first
volume of the International Museological Bibliography.
International Round Table on "The Role of Museums in the
World of Today", organized by UNESCO in co-operation with
ICOM in Paris, 24-28 December.
1970 Meeting of a committee of experts
named by the Executive Council of ICOM to study the ethics
of acqusition for museums, in Paris, France, 8-10 April.
The committee decides to adopt a professional code of
ethics in the field of acquisitions. In October of the
same year, the General Conference of UNESCO, during its
sixteenth session, adopts the text of the International
Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing
the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership
of Cultural Property.
1971 Ninth General Conference of
ICOM in Paris and Grenoble, France, from 20 August to
10 September, on the theme: "Museums in the Service of
Man Today and Tomorrow-- The Educational and Cultural
Role of Museums". Fifty countries are represented. Dr.
Jan Jelinek (Czechoslovakia) succeeds Mr. A. van Schendel
and becomes fifth President of ICOM.
1972 Round Table on the importance
and development of museums in the contemporary world,
organized by UNESCO in co-operation with ICOM, in Santiago,
Chile, 20- 31 May. International symposium on the problems
of security in museums, at Saint-Maximin, France, 28 May
to 1 June. ICOM decides to publish a handbook on security.
One hundred and forty-five societies of Friends of Museums
meet at the First Congress of Friends of the World"s Museums
in Barcelona, Spain, 19-23 June. International symposium
on "Museums and Environment", at the initiative of the
French Ministry for the Environment and the French National
Committee of ICOM, in Bordeaux, Istres, and Lourmarin,
France, 25-30 September. A museum should strive to achieve
complete symbiosis with the community it serves. A new
type of museum, with a specific relationship to the environment
is described, which will be called an "ecomuseum". Symposium
on the role of museums in continuing adult education for
the development of South-East Asian countries is held
in Malacca, Malaysia, 12-13 December.
1973 Establishment of ICOM Guidelines
for Loans by the working party on insurance, created in
1971. These guidelines are adopted in 1974 by the committee
of experts convened by UNESCO to study insurance and other
forms of coverage of risks to works of art.
1974 Publication of a handbook of
national legislations on the protection of cultural property,
the culmination of efforts pursued since 1970 to denounce
illicit trade in cultural property and to encourage museums
to oppose such trade by disseminating information on national
legislations governing the protection of cultural heritage.
ICOM prepares, for UNESCO, a study on the technical, legal,
and administrative aspects of an international instrument
on the exchange of original objects and specimens among
institutions in different countries. This study is the
basis of discussions between governmental experts entrusted
with compiling the Recommendation Concerning the International
Exchange of Cultural Property, adopted in Paris by the
General Conference of UNESCO at its nineteenth session,
1976. Tenth General Conference of ICOM in Copenhagen,
Denmark, 5-14 June. Theme: "The Museum and the Modern
World". Sixty-two countries are represented. Luis Monreal
(Spain), is nominated to the office of Secretary- General
of ICOM, replacing Hugues de Varine-Bohan. The General
Assembly adopts new statutes for ICOM. The structure adopted
is more democratic, allowing a larger participation of
ICOM members in the organization of its activities. The
immediate result is a large increase in membership.
1975 Fourth Triennial Conference
of the Committee for Conservation in Venice, Italy, 13-17
October, with more than 400 participants. Papers presented
at this meeting appear for the first time as preprints,
in three volumes. Seminar on the training of museum technicians
in Barcelona, Spain, 20-24 October.
1976 Creation of the International
Committee of ICOM for Public Relations, on 25 June. Two
international committees study the necessity for cultural
decentralization: in Bologna, Italy, 7-11 June, the International
Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art discusses
"Centralization/Decentralization/Noncentralization", and
in Umeå, Skelefteå, and Vilhelmina, Sweden, from 11 to
19 September, the International Committee for Education
and Cultural Action studies "The Roles of the Museum in
a Decentralized Cultural Policy". Meeting of Experts on
"Modern Methods of Inventory of Movable Cultural Property",
organized by UNESCO in co- operation with ICOM, in Barcelona,
Spain, 4-8 October. The nineteenth session of the General
Conference of UNESCO, convening in October at Nairobi,
Kenya, proposes the creation of an International Documentation
centre, through co-ordination with the UNESCO/ICOM and
the UNESCO/ICOMOS documentation centres. ICOM requests
two experts to study the implementation of this project.
First Regional General Assembly of National Asian Committees
at Tehran, Iran, 13-18 November. International conference
of experts on museum storage, organized by ICOM and UNESCO,
under the auspices of the American National Committee
of ICOM, and the ICOM Committee of the American Association
of Museums (AAM/ICOM), in Washington, United States, 13-16
December.
1977 Eleventh General Conference,
in Leningrad and Moscow, USSR, 18-29 May, on the theme:
"Museums and Cultural Exchanges". More than 1,500 participants
from ninety- nine countries attend. Mr. Hubert Landais
(France), succeeds Dr. Jan Jelinek, and becomes the sixth
President of ICOM. Two international committees are created:
the Committee for Museology and the Committee for Literature
Museums. Among the resolutions adopted are: The International
Museums Day, on 18 May, to be celebrated each year; the
creation of an ad hoc committee for the restitution or
return of cultural property to the country of origin;
the decision to produce a Treatise on Museology. Several
international committees publish the results of their
work: International Directory of Musical Instrument Collections,
by the International Committee for Museums and Collections
of Musical Instruments; Museum Public Relations: Results
of a Survey, by the International Committee for Museum
Public Relations; Museum Security, by the International
Committee for Museum Security. At the request of UNESCO,
the Ad hoc Committee of ICOM prepares a Study on the Principles,
Conditions and Means for the Restitution or Return of
Cultural Property in View of Reconstituting Dispersed
Heritages. Organization of the twelfth UNESCO travelling
exhibition: "The Arts of Latin America". Regional symposium
on traditional, rural, and tribal cultures in Asia, in
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 10-20 December, organized by the National
Museums of Sri Lanka, with the collaboration of UNESCO
and ICOM. Starting in 1977, ICOM, at the request of UNESCO,
undertakes projects for technical assistance to museums,
and collaborates on the establishment or renovation of
numerous museums in several countries.
1978 First issue of ICOM Press in
January. First General Assembly of the Organization for
Museums, Monuments and Sites of Africa (OMMSA), to constitute
this organization which ICOM helped to create , in Nairobi,
Kenya, 8-14 January. Following its policy to promote exchanges
between museums, ICOM creates the Museum Exchange Programme
(MUSEP). Janine Schotsmans replaces Dr. Grace Morley as
Head of the ICOM Regional Agency in Asia on 1 October.
Meeting of experts on the principal criteria for the planning
of museums of science and technology in developing countries,
in Manila, the Philippines, 11-15 December, organized
by UNESCO in collaboration with ICOM.
1979 Publication in May of the first
issue of the ICOM Asia Newsletter, by the ICOM Regional
Agency in Asia. Following the recommendation adopted by
the ninth General Conference of ICOM, museums carry out
numerous activities to celebrate the International Year
of the Child, among which are conferences of museums and
children in Brussels, Belgium, 17-18 February, and Washington,
United States, 28-31 October. Participation in the preparation
of several UNESCO publications, in particular the issues
of Museum for this year. Second Regional Assembly of the
National Asian Committees of ICOM in Bangkok, Thailand,
10-15 December.
1980 Publication of the Spanish edition
of the Museum Security Handbook. Twelfth General Conference,
in Mexico City, Mexico, from 25 October: "The World's
Heritage--The Museum's Responsibility".
1981 Preparation of two publications
for UNESCO: Guidelines for the Collection of Traditional
Musical Instruments and Les musées de site archéologique.
At the request of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee,
drafting of a Standard Form Concerning Requests for Return
or Restitution of Cultural Property, and of Guidelines
for the Use of the Standard Form. Publication of the Directory
of African Museums. First meeting of the ICOM ad hoc committee
for professional ethics with a view to drawing up a code
of ethics. First international consultation of specialists
on the study, documentation, and conservation of rock
art, 3-5 September, Valcomonica, Italy.
1982 Preparation and publication
of a study Museums: an Investment for Development, at
the request of the International Fund for the Promotion
of Culture, for the International Seminar on the Financing
of Culture, 22-24 March, Madrid, Spain. Organization of
an international conference on "Museum Planning: from
Methodology to Reality", 28-30 June, Paris, France. Participation
in the Second World Conference on Cultural Policies, July-August,
Mexico City, Mexico. Third ICOM Asian Regional Assembly,
18-22 October, Seoul and Kyongju, Republic of Korea. Themes:
"Museums and National Development" and "New Constructions
and Rehabilitation of Old Buildings for Museum Use". Creation
of a common data base for the UNESCO/ICOM and UNESCO/ICOMOS
Documentation Centres.
1983 First meeting of ICOM National
Committees in Africa, 21- 26 February, Niamey, Niger.
ICOM report on the Niamey Centre for Training in Museology
and Museography submitted to UNESCO. Thirteenth General
Conference, 24 July to 2 August, London, United Kingdom.
Theme: "Museums for a Developing World". Geoffrey Lewis
(United Kingdom) succeeds Hubert Landais as seventh President
of ICOM. Creation of a new regional body: ICOM Secretariat
for Latin America and the Caribbean. Publication of the
Directory of Asian Museums.
1984 Launching of a significant professional
training programme in Egypt within the framework of UNESCO's
International Campaign for the creation of the Nubia Museum,
Aswan, and of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
in Cairo. ICOM collaborates closely with UNESCO in promoting
the latter's International Campaign for the Safeguarding
of Moenjodaro. Publication of Museum Studies International,
a directory of museum training programmes. The ICOM International
Committee for Conservation adopts an important professional
document: The Conservator-Restorer: A Definition of the
Profession.
1985 Participation in a symposium
on "The Legal Aspects of the International Art Trade"
organized by the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva,
11-13 April, Geneva, Switzerland. Regional seminar on
"Public Oriented Museum Policies", 15-24 April, Djakarta,
Indonesia. The ICOM International Committee for Museums
and Collections of Musical Instruments (CIMCIM) adopts
the Recommendation for Regulating the Access to Musical
Instruments in Public Collections. ICOM submits to UNESCO
a feasibility study for a national inventory of cultural
objects in Mali. Patrick D. Cardon succeeds Luis Monreal
as Secretary General. Participation of ICOM's International
Committee for Education and Cultural Action (CECA) in
a symposium on "Museums and Education" organized by UNESCO
(July, Guadalajara, Mexico).
1986 UNESCO-ICOM seminar on "The
Means of Integrating Museums into the Community in Asia",
28 January to 1 February, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Fourteenth
General Conference, 26 October to 4 November, Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Theme: "Museums and the Future of Our Heritage:
Emergency Call". Adoption of the ICOM Code of Professional
Ethics by the 15th General Assembly, 4 November, Buenos
Aires, Argentina. Publication of Public View, a handbook
prepared by ICOM's International Committee for Museum
Public Relations, and of the Dictionarium Museologicum,
a twenty-language glossary of museological terms, prepared
by the International Committee for Documentation.
1987 From November 1986 to April
1987, ICOM, in collaboration with the Egyptian Antiquities
Organization (EAO), organizes a training programme for
the staff of the Nubia Museum in Aswan, and the National
Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, Egypt, as part
of UNESCO's International Campaign for the Establishment
of the Nubia Museum in Aswan and the National Museum of
Egyptian Civilization. UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee
for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries
of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation
holds its fifth session in Paris, France, 27-30 April.
ICOM and UNESCO work very closely in this field. First
Regional Assembly of the Secretariat for Latin America
and the Caribbean, in Guadalajara, Mexico, 17-22 August.
Theme: "Training of Museum Personnel". Round Table on
conservation-restoration of cultural property: "Current
Research and Techniques", Paris, France, 15-16 October.
Fields: easel paintings, polychrome, graphic arts, textiles,
archaeological objects. First meeting of the 3rd Governing
Board of ICOM, Regional Agency in Asia and the Pacific
held in Tokyo, Japan, 25-29 October. Federico Mayor is
elected as the 8th Director-General of UNESCO.
1988 First Conference of the International
Congress of Maritime Museums is held in Sydney, Australia,
25-28 September. Workshop on "Science Museums Without
Walls--Exhibits To Go", organized by the Indian National
Council of Science Museums with the participation of UNESCO
and ICOM, 5- 13 December, Delhi, Calcutta, and Bangalore,
India. The UN General Assembly inaugurates the World Decade
for Cultural Development. Four major objectives: acknowledging
the cultural dimension in development, asserting and enhancing
cultural identities, broadening participation in cultural
life, promoting international and cultural participation.
1989 Fourth Regional Assembly of
ICOM for Asia and the Pacific, in Beijing, China, 1-7
March. Six resolutions are adopted including the Necessity
of Encouraging Personnel Exchanges in Museums of the Region,
the Support of Professional Activities, and Museology
and the Social Role of Museums in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Implementation of the Swedish African Museum Programme
(SAMP) initiated by the Swedish National Committee of
ICOM in May. Proposals: exchanges of staff and of exhibitions,
joint investigations in a specific subject area, information
exchange, and help with working materials. 15th General
Conference of ICOM in The Hague, The Netherlands, 27 August-6
September. Theme: "Museums: Generators of Culture". Six
resolutions are adopted: Museums: Generators of Culture,
the Training of Museum Personnel, Inclusion of the Spanish
Language as a Working Language for ICOM Publications,
Documentation and Information, Communication Between Museums,
and Cultural Dimension of Development. Alpha Oumar Konaré
(Mali) succeeds Geoffrey Lewis as 8th President of ICOM.
The new Statutes focusing more attention on ICOM's regional
activities and democratisation are adopted. Creation of
the International Committee for Management (INTERCOM).
1990 ICOM News is published in 3
languages--English, French, Spanish--from the ICOM Asia-Pacific
Organization in Calcutta, India. The long-standing promise
of a Spanish edition of ICOM News is fulfilled. During
the 71st session of the Executice Council in Paris, France,
5-6 july, an ethics Committee is created. It studies various
problems related to professional ethics and decides to
encourage translations of the ICOM Code of Professional
Ethics guaranteeing ICOM's moral authority.
1991 For the first time in ICOM history,
the Executive Council meets in an Asian country, Delhi
and Calcutta, India, 3-9 March, to reinforce the importance
of regional ties. Founding meeting of the new ICOM Committee
for Audiovisual Media and NewImage and Sound Techniques,
Paris, France, 5-7 June. During the seventy-third session
of the ICOM Executive Council, in Paris, France, 10-11
June, decision to establish an ICOM Fund for Mutual Assistance
in order that everyone who wishes to participate in the
organization's work may have the opportunity to do so.
UNESCO holds its Second International Round Table of Experts
on the Preservation of the Angkor Monuments, in Paris,
France, 8-11 September. ICOM pleges to act. ICOM Encounters
in 3 African countries--Benin, Togo, Ghana--on the theme
"What Museums for Africa? Heritage in the Future", 18-21
November. Workshops include the themes of management and
financing, training and exchanges, museums and research,
and museums as a tool for development. Adoption by the
Executive Council of the Resolution on Current Political
and Economic Changes and Disturbances in the World concerning
the protection of cultural property in relation to current
world political and economic changes. Elisabeth des Portes
is appointed Secretary General by the Executive Council,
replacing Patrick Cardon.
1992 Publication of the first Membership
Directory, allowing easier communication between members.
Publication of the proceedings of the ICOM encounters
held in Benin, Ghana, and Togo, "What Museums for Africa?
Heritage in the Future". Publication of Museums Without
Barriers. A New Deal for Disabled People dealing with
providing better facilities for disabled people. 16th
ICOM General Conference in Quebec City, Canada, 19-26
September. Theme: "Museums: Rethinking the Boundaries?"
Two resolutions are adopted: Rethinking the Boundaries
and Preventing Threats to Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Saroj Ghose (India) succeeds Alpha Oumar Konaré as the
9th President of ICOM. Following the encounter "What Museums
for Africa? Heritage in the Future" held in 1991, a new
programme is adopted for three years entitled the ICOM
Programme for Africa (AFRICOM) with the objective to develop
exchanges among professionals of Africa and abroad and
to strengthen regional professional networks.
1993
ICOM adopts a new logo for the
organization. International Museums Day: Museums and Indigenous
Peoples, 18 May, to concur with the UN Year of Indigenous
Peoples. Regional Workshop on illicit traffic of cultural
property in Arusha, Tanzania, 28-29 September. ICOM, in
coordination with UNESCO and Interpol, aims to strenghthen
collaboration between museum professionals, the police
and customs. The Arusha Appeal is launched for the fight
against illicit traffic of cultural property in Africa.
ICOM carries out a fact-finding mission to the Republic
of Croatia, 9-29 October. 5th ASPAC's Regional Assembly
in Sydney, Australia, 24- 27 September). Publication of
Directory of Museums of the Asia-Pacific Countries by
the ICOM Asia-Pacific Organisation. Publication of One
Hundred Missing Objects: Looting in Angkor, the first
in a series of books as part of ICOM's fight against the
illicit traffic of cultural objects. Two months after
the publication of Looting in Angkor, on 4 December, a
Khmer sculpture that appeared in the book was found and
returned to the Cambodian Embassy in Paris, France.
1994
A first-time meeting of Arab
museum professionals is organized in cooperation with
the Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom
of Jordan, in Amman, Jordan, 26-30 April. Publication
of the Directory of Museums in the Arab Countries and
the first issue of The Arab Museums Newsletter. Regional
Workshop on the Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property,
Bamako, Mali, 12-14 October. Publication of Looting in
Africa as part of the series One Hundred Missing Objects.
ICOM/LAC 14th Annual Meeting in Cuenca, Ecuador.
1995 17th General Conference, 1-7
July, Stavanger, Norway. Theme: "Museums and Communities".
Six resolutions are adopted: Museums and Communities,
Protection of the Cultural Heritage during Armed Conflict,
Conventions Regulating the Physical and Legal Security
of Cultural Heritage, Museum Training and Global Awareness,
Developments in Information Technologies, and Testing
of Nuclear Weapons. Publication of the Study on Autonomy
of Museums in Africa, under the AFRICOM Programme, May,
1995 and of Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property in Africa.
Publication of a new serie, Study Series of ICOM International
Committees. The first issue is dedicated to the Conservation
Committee. Publication of Guide to Museum Administration
in Europe. ICOM creates its home pages on the Internet
and encourages museums to develop access and connection.
Regional Workshop on the fight against illicit traffic
of cultural property with UNESCO and ICOM's Regional Organization
for Latin America and the Caribbean, September, in Cuenca,
Ecuador. Enrollment for Professional Enrichment Programme
(PEP): Meeting held in ICOM ASPAC's headquarters in Calcutta,
India, dealing with computers in museum documentation,
computers for desk top publication, production of CD-ROM
and generation of short video programmes. Restitution
of several objects published in Looting in Africa.
Adoption of the second phase of the AFRICOM Programme,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 10-17 November.
1996 April : Creation of the International
Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) by ICOM, IFLA, ICA
and ICOMOS to respond to emergency situations that affect
the heritage. An emergency mission was organised by ICOM
and the Musée de l'Armée (France) in March, in order to
provide the National Museum of Sarajevo with first necessity
materials.
May : International Museum Day on the theme «Collecting
today for tomorrow».
November & December : publication of the «Study Series»
Nos. 2 and 3 devoted to the International Committee for
Documentation (CIDOC) and International Committee for
Education and Cultural Action (CECA). First meeting of
the ICOM Regional Organisation for the Arab Countries
(ICOM-ARAB) in Cairo (Egypt), on May 29th.
June: 86th Session of the Executive Council in Paris.
Third regional workshop on the fight against the illicit
traffic in cultural property, in Kinshasa (DRC); and creation
of the ICOM Regional Organisation for Central Africa (ICOMAC).
September: Publication of the Handbook of Standards.
Documenting African Collections, the result of four
years of work of professionals from seven African museums
in collaboration with the International Committee for
Documentation (CIDOC).
October: Publication of Illicit traffic of Cultural
Property in Latin America.
19 November: Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of ICOM
at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. 55th session of the Advisory
Committee and 87th session of the Executive Council in
Paris.
1997 January: publication of a new
edition of One Hundred Missing Objects. Looting in
Angkor.
18 May: 20th anniversary of the International Museum Day
on the theme «Fighting the illicit traffic of cultural
property» choosen for two consecutive years.
June: 56th session of the Advisory Committee and 88th
session of the Executive Council. Meetings in June and
October of the International Committee of the Blue Shield
(ICBS). June: publication of One Hundred Missing Objects.
Looting in Africa (updated reprint). Meeting in Paris
of the Ethics Committee.
Publication of the Bibliography of ICOM Publications:
1946 - 1996. August: Fact-finding mission of the International
Committee for Museum Security (ICMS) in Burundi, in the
framework of ICOM solidarity with museums of Burundi.
September: publication of an Arabic version of the
Handbook of Standards. Documenting collections.
October: Amsterdam, a workshop organised in the framework
of the AFRICOM Programme, on the protection of the African
heritage which convened museum professionals from Africa,
Europe and the United States. One of the results of the
workshop was the publication of « The Red List of ICOM
» a list of African archaeological objects particulary
prone to looting.
25 November : Opening of the Nubia Museum in Aswan (Egypt)
for which ICOM was in charge of the staff training programme.
December : 89th session of the Executive Council and extraordinary
session of the Advisory Committee in Paris. Publication
of «Study Series» No. 4, dedicated to the work of the
International Committee for Museum Security (ICMS).
Return to their country of origin of several objects of
the African heritage in June, November and December. 31
December : Elisabeth des Portes, Secretary General, leaves
ICOM to be Director General of «L'Union des Fabricants».
1998 January : Publication of the
third issue of the Series One Hundred Missing Objects
entitled Looting in Latin America. Creation, at the
initiative of the International Committee for Exhibition
Exchange (ICEE) of a series entitled «Tools». The first
issue published is Exhibition Budgeting. Publication
of No. 5 of the « Study Series » under the scientific
direction of the ICOM International Committee for Audiovisual
and New Technologies (AVICOM) April: Summit of the Museums
of the Americas on «Museums and Sustainable Communities»,
organised by AAM/ICOM, ICOM-Canada, ICOM-Costa Rica, ICOM-LAC
and MAC. Thanks to the publication One Hundred Missing
Objects. Looting in Latin America, stolen objects
were found in France in returned in April to Colombia.
May : Manus Brinkman is appointed Secreraty General of
ICOM by the Executive Council. 18 May : International
Museum Day on the theme «Fighting the Illicit traffic
of Cultural Property». 90th session of the Executive Council
of ICOM in Los Angeles organised in the framework of the
American Association of Museums' (AAM) annual meeting.
On this occasion a pannel session on Museum Ethics was
presented. June: Regional workshop on the fight against
illicit traffic in Hammamet, Tunisia and meeting of the
ICOM-ARAB Regional organisation. September: meeting of
the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS)
concerning the Afghan heritage. September: Publication
of the History of ICOM, 1946-1996. October: 18th
General Conference of ICOM in Melbourne, Australia from
9 to 16 October on the theme «Museums and Cultural Diversity.
Ancient Cultures, New Worlds». Publication of issue No.
6 of the «Study Series» under the scientific direction
of the International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR).
By September, 1998, ICOM has more than 15,000 members,
116 National Committees, and 25 International Committees.
The Secretariat is composed of 11 persons.
Sources
: Museums Vol. 32, No
3, 1980
ICOM News
Administrative Reports of ICOM
