ICMM - Monday 14 September
Monday program
Morning
| 08.00 - 8:30 | Registration |
| 08:30 - 9:00 | Welcome |
| 09:00 - 9:45 | Courageous Leadership Keynote + Q&A |
Courageous Leadership: Museums in an Age of Culture Wars
Dr Kim Sajet Director, Milwaukee Art Museum, USA
With some variation depending on the nature of a museum’s collection, community, and country, most museum director position descriptions are remarkably similar -- and rather overwhelming. Directors are expected to be visionary leaders, fundraisers, financial stewards, HR experts, government partners, board managers, public advocates -- and look good doing it. But rarely on that laundry list is the word courage.
Yet courage may be one of the most important qualities museum leaders need as they navigate competing demands about institutional mission and values-- and about what museums should collect, exhibit, say, and stand for.
Dr. Kim Sajet, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum and former director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, will draw on her experience navigating the American culture wars to explore courageous leadership in museums and offer suggestions on how leaders can act with conviction while protecting institutional integrity and the historical record.
| 09:45 - 10:30 | Panel discussion |
| Kim Sajet - Milwaukee Art Museum, United States of America | |
| Marika Hedin - Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Sweden | |
| Carol Ann Scott - ICOM International Museum Research and Exchange Centre, Australia | |
| Enric Garcia-Domingo - Maritime Museum of Barcelona, Spain | |
| 10:30 - 10:45 | Break |
| 10:45 - 12:00 | Plenary session on Courageous Leadership |
| Richard Kendall, Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Hong Kong | |
| Larissa Nabuco Nogueira, Aleixo Belov Sea Museum, Brazil | |
| Ulla Träs, Forum Marinum, Finland | |
| Feng Zhao, China Maritime Museum, China | |
| Dmytro Kobaliia, Khortytsia National Reserve, Ukraine |
Afternoon
| 12.00 - 1:00 | Lunch |
| 1:00 - 1:15 | ICMM Greenhill-Johnston Life Fellow Award |
| 1:15 - 2:15 | Focus Presentations on Historic Ships |
| Lars Amreus, Swedish National Museums for Maritime, Transport and Military History, Sweden | |
| Stirling Smith, Australian National Maritime Museum, Australia | |
| Marco Ansaldo, Maritime Museums of Genoa, Italy | |
| Robert Rumble, Imperial War Museums, United Kingdom | |
| Nurul Hamizah Afandi, Pahang State Museum, Malaysia | |
| Xiao Jie, China Maritime Museum, China | |
| Corioli Souter, Western Australian Museum, Australia | |
| Jeroen van der Vliet, The National Maritime Museum Amersterdam, Netherlands | |
| 2:15 - 2:45 | Networking break |
| 2:45 - 4:15 | Workshops (See below for details) |
| A Ship That Never Was? Fixing Time and Framing Stories in Historic Ship Preservation | |
| Hands-on lessons for small and large object 3D scanning | |
| Pasifika: Pacific Maritime Museum Projects and Opportunities | |
| Stronger Together: Tangible Benefits of International Co-operation | |
| 4:30 - 6:30 | James Craig reception and sail |
James Craig reception and sail
4:30 - 6:30
Workshops
A Ship That Never Was? Fixing Time and Framing Stories in Historic Ship Preservation
Session lead: Andrew Baines
Session description: Historic ships are often presented at a single moment in time. These decisions can create powerful visitor experiences, but they also shape which stories are told and which are left behind. Drawing on examples from preserved vessels around the world, this interactive workshop will explore how restoration and interpretation choices influence our understanding of maritime heritage. Through case studies and discussion, participants will examine practical approaches to balancing conservation, authenticity, visitor engagement, and the challenge of representing the multiple lives of historic ships.
Format: A structured and highly interactive workshop combining short case-study presentations, facilitated discussion, small-group exercises, and plenary debate. Participants will be invited to share experiences from their own institutions and work collaboratively to explore common challenges and approaches.
Target audience: The workshop is intended for curators, conservators, educators, maritime archaeologists, exhibition developers, museum leaders, historic ship operators, and others involved in the preservation, management, and interpretation of maritime heritage.
Hands-on lessons for small and large object 3D scanning
Session lead: Michael Rampe
Session description: This will be a combined tour and demo of the various 3D digitisation approaches undertaken at the Australian National Maritime Museum. From studio-based photography of objects, larger subject imaging in storage, 3D imaging and printing of a boat reconstruction, use of 3D interactive elements on the floor and a tour and discussion of full floating vessel 3D digitisation challenges and approaches.
Format: Structured workshop, tour and demonstration
Target audience: The workshop is suitable for any audience but particularly those working in digital, education, conservation and exhibitions.
Pasifika: Pacific Maritime Museum Projects and Opportunities
Session lead: Matt Poll
Session description: By location, museums across the Pacific (an area representing nearly a third of the earths surface) all engage with maritime issues. This workshop represents a rare opportunity for representatives working in or directing institutions across the region to come together for a Talanoa – or conversation that is open, free and without a strict agenda. It is also a chance for Pacific Island Museum colleagues to share/ Tufa at (Samoan) with the wider maritime museum community opportunities for partnerships and mutual support.
The workshop will be led by Matt Poll, Australian National Maritime Museum Head of Indigenous Programs. Participants will be invited to present to the group projects of interest, pacific wide initiatives they are involved and to describe the museum landscape in their location. Representatives from Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa, Australia, and New Zealand will be speaking. Andy Lowe (Pacific Island Museums Association / Fiji Museum) will also present on current initiatives to promote long term communication and mutual support initiatives.
Format: Representative from Pacific institutions will speak for ten minutes followed by a Q and A session. Preparation of PowerPoint offerings will be encouraged.
Target audience: Museum practitioners working in the Pacific and representatives seeking to develop working initiatives such as exhibitions, collection research, cultural tourism, and digital presentation.
Participant preparation: Presenters and participants are welcome to bring institutional literature, posters, and other items to illustrate the institutions.
Stronger Together: Tangible Benefits of International Co-operation
Session lead: Peter Fray
Further details coming soon.