Museums

In a constantly changing world, museums are transforming into dynamic entities that go beyond their traditional roles of preserving and exhibiting objects. Today, these cultural institutions serve as true actors in multifaceted development, positively influencing various aspects of our societies: economic, educational, heritage, territorial, cultural, social, and peacebuilding through intercultural dialogue.

In the Islamic world, which boasts remarkable cultural and historical diversity, it is essential to preserve, enhance, and promote cultural heritage through its museums, collections, and overall cultural, artistic, and craft production. However, these institutions face multiple challenges, such as lack of funding, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient use of digital technologies for collection preservation and institutional promotion on digital platforms, absence of ancillary services (shops, restaurants, cafes, film libraries, photo libraries, research services, etc.), difficulties in attracting sponsors, and lack of technical, administrative, and support staff. In this context, ICESCO, through its new vision, is committed to developing a strategy to support museums in the Islamic world. This strategy aims to strengthen the capacities of museum professionals to ensure sustainable heritage management and diversified development.

Key Elements of ICESCO’s Strategy for the Development and Support of Museums in the Islamic World :

1. Capacity Building for Museum Professionals and Managers
  • Organize trainings for museum staff (curators, mediators, managers, etc.) in areas such as collection conservation and management, and cultural mediation.
  • Encourage research and publications on museum collections and histories.
  • Foster the creation of platforms for exchanging best practices and partnerships among museums in the Islamic world.
  • Draft and update scientific and cultural projects for museums.
  • Develop research related to tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
  • Build capacities in restoration, recollection, communication, preventive conservation techniques and documentation of collections, organization and production of touring and temporary exhibitions, organization and management of the reserves, development of policies and strategies for ancillary services (shops, restaurants, cafes, photography and reprography services, etc.), development of procedures of creating museum friends’ clubs, creation of tools for developing partnerships with other cultural institutions, and design of cultural projects and seeking funding.
  • Create online platforms that offer virtual access to collections for a broader audience;
  • Utilize digitization software for collections, and design digital cultural mediation tools.
  • Create and update digital databases of collections to facilitate research and long-term preservation;
  • Diversify activities and target audiences (temporary exhibitions, free exhibitions in public spaces, workshops, conferences, etc.);
  • Develop dynamic programming reflecting the diversity of cultures in the Islamic world;.
  • Participate in international museum networks and events;
  • Organize traveling exhibitions to promote heritage in the Islamic world;
  • Draft and promote directories of museums in the Islamic world;
  • Collaborate with foreign museum institutions.
  • Involve communities in defining museum directions and programs.
  • Develop activities that meet the needs and expectations of local populations.
  • Develop a social approach to heritage to encourage community ownership of cultural heritage.
Download the PDF

Museums in the Islamic world face significant challenges such as lack of funding and insufficient technical staff and digital technology use. In response, ICESCO seeks to implement a strategy for supporting museums in the Islamic world, with specific measures to build museum professionals’ capacities, facilitate the digitization of museum institutions, boost their international visibility, and anchor them in local communities. This approach aims to ensure sustainable management of heritage and diversified development, underlining the crucial role of museums in preserving the rich cultural heritage of the Islamic world.