The Editors: ICOM (International Council Of Museums, Conseil International Des Musees) is the international organisation of museums and museum professionals which is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.
The Editors: ICOM (International Council Of Museums, Conseil International Des Musees) is the international organisation of museums and museum professionals which is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.
Created in 1946, ICOM is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and as a not for profit organisation. From up to now, ICOM has 28,000 members in 137 countries, the National Museum of Vietnamese History is one of them. ICOM organized 21 times of General Conference.
On the road to the 22nd General Conference, will take place in Shanghai, China in Oct 2010, along with the ICOM News we have received from ICOM, the Editors excerpt some articles about this important event.
How museums can promote and contribute to social harmony
In December 2006, the Organizing Committee of the 22nd ICOM General Conference submitted a proposal for the conference theme, which received outline approval from ICOM. The Organizing Committee then invited Chinese museum professionals to argue and discuss the theme in June and July 2008. In September 2008, the Organizing Committee held a colloqium of ICOM experts to help it reach a conclusion. In December 2008, the Executive Council approved the Organizing Committee’s proposals and adopted “Museums for social harmony” as the theme of the 22nd ICOM General Conference.
Apropos of social harmony
The concept of harmony is both meaningful for mankind as a whole and emblematic of Oriental cultures. The main features of social harmony are dialogue, tolerance, co-existence and development, which are based on pluralism, diversity, competition and creativity. At its core is the ability to get on together whilst accepting difference – the effort to find common ground without jettisoning distinctive identities. Social harmony is multi-tiered: it encompasses harmony between all ethnic groups and cultures (between the dominant culture and subcultures and between the cultures of difference social classes); harmony in the sense of respect for a country or a culture; harmony between different religions; and harmony between Man and Nature.
The part museums play
It is both apt and realistic to talk about the part museums play in social harmony, insofar as they have to confront the realities of a world of alienation that is destructive of the environment and conducive to culture conflicts. It is both apt and realistic to talk about the part museums play in social harmony, insofar as they have already expressed the wish to help appease conflicts and restore social harmony.
Museums’ cultural and social remits should encourage them to promote social harmony more strongly and contribute to it more actively. Social harmony is most directly demonstrated by mutual trust and interaction between populations, societies and cultures. This mutual trust springs from mutual understanding, which in turn results from the kind of mutual knowledge we arrive at by talking to each other. Museums provide a structured platform for interactions between cultures, which make them ideal ambassadors for intercultural communication. They make it easier to acquire knowledge of cultures and gain insight into them by presenting the facts about them and their histories in an objective way, thereby mitigating cultural conflicts arising from misunderstandings.
Debating the issue
The General Conference theme “Museums for Scial Harmony” will provide a general arena for discussion, leaving room for related themes to be developed in subsequent in-depth debate. It will act as a central pivot topics in the areas of relationships between the individual and the group or between groups, spanning both mankind and the natural world so that all participants from the various regions should find precisely the theme they are looking for.
An Laishun
Deputy Director, International Friendship Museum
Deputy Secretary General, Chinese Society of Museums
Organizing Committee Working Group on the theme of the 22 nd ICOM General Conference
als@ciae.com.cn
ICOM News, 2009 – 2010, vol 62, no.2