In October we will be sharing a series of talks exploring the ideas shaping the future of museums. All FREE to watch on museum-id.com — no subscription, membership or ticket required

Due to coronavirus we are unable to run the 2020 conference in the usual way and have decided to make it a FREE online event.

With the current experiences of uncertainty, anxiety and grief, we feel this is the wrong time to be putting the cost of a ticket in the way of taking part in the conference this year. Making Museum Ideas 2020 free is a practical act of solidarity with museum workers.

We hope the talks will provide a space to explore how museums can be reimagined as ethical, people focused organisations in a time of growing inequality, environmental emergency, and economic and political crisis.

Speakers this year include: Melanie Keen (Wellcome Collection); Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell (Smithsonian American Art Museum); Manal Ataya (Sharjah Museums, UAE); Alvin Tan (National Heritage Board, Singapore); Monica O. Montgomery (Museum Hue); Esme Ward (Manchester Museum); Sufea Mohamad Noor (Tate Liverpool); Hudda Khaireh (Somali Museum UK); Lucy Malone (Museum of Ordinary People); Nick Merriman (Horniman Museum); Chris Michaels (National Gallery); Richard Benjamin (International Slavery Museum); Dan Hicks (University of Oxford); Nina Finigan (Auckland Museum, New Zealand); Thanh Sinden (Diversity and Inclusion Consultant); Anna Hansen (Regional Museum Kristianstad, Sweden); Russell Dornan (V&A Dundee); Anjana Khatwa (Wessex Museums); Becki Morris (Disability Collaborative Network); Aisling Serrant (Museum of London); Veronica Carrillo (Museum für Kommunikation); Katrina Lashley (Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum); and Sarah Wang (Vancouver Art Gallery; Canada).

If you would like to add your voice to the conference there is still time and we’ve tried to make the process of contributing a talk as easy and straightforward as possible. Please email info@museum-id.com for further details.

We will be back next year with a full programme of workshops, study days and our annual conference. All tickets booked for our postponed 2020 events have been transferred to 2021 and we look forward to seeing you then. We remain committed to continuing to share museum ideas and doing everything we can to support the wider museum community.

Twitter: @MuseumID #MuseumIdeas

Why we are making Museum Ideas 2020 FREE
With the current experiences of job losses, uncertainty, anxiety and grief, we feel this is the wrong time to be putting the cost of a ticket in the way of taking part in the conference this year. Museum workers need support, solidarity, and meaningful structural change rather than expensive and exclusive events.

Many working in museums are going through a difficult time — the pandemic hitting hardest those already experiencing emotional strain, financial hardship, and barriers to access and opportunity. Making Museum Ideas 2020 free is a practical act of solidarity with museum workers.

We hope the talks will provide a space to explore our hopes and fears about how museums can be reimagined as ethical, people focused organisations in a time of growing inequality, environmental emergency, and economic and political crisis.

Tickets for Museum Ideas 2021
If you have already booked for the 2020 conference your ticket has been transferred to the 2021 conference. Museum Ideas 2021 will take place in the usual way in London in October next year. If you are unable to attend, tickets can be swapped between colleagues working at the same organisation or gifted to someone else to attend in your place.

As with our previous conferences, 25% of tickets for Museum Ideas 2021 are free or available at the reduced rate of £97 for professionals often underrepresented at museum conferences. A crucial part of being an inclusive and relevant event is trying to keep the cost of tickets down as much as possible. Having a higher ticket rate means excluding people who should be represented and who need to be there to move the conversation forward in a meaningful way.

As we move forward with both Museum Ideas 2020 and 2021 we continue to be inspired by the words of our 2019 keynote speaker Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell — “As museum practitioners we can allow museums to be a tool of the establishment, the powered, the oppressor. But through a reflective practice and a reimagining of our purpose, we can instead exercise the power of the museum towards challenging the status quo.”

We would like to thank everyone – delegates, speakers, sponsors – for their continued support. The encouragement and support we have received from so many means a huge amount. We remain committed to continuing to share museum ideas and doing what we can to support the wider museum community.

#MuseumIdeas

There are around 70 tickets remaining for Museum Ideas 2021. If you would like to support our continued work please consider purchasing a ticket to the 2021 edition of the conference. Or you can buy the book of the 2019 conference (£29.95) and/ or subscribe to Museum-iD magazine (£4.95).

Published Tuesday 28 July 2020 / Updated Tuesday 15 September