“A conference for mind expanding conversations and international networking” — Martin Payne, Head of Schools and Young Audiences, The British Museum

Whether you work in public programming, interpretation, education, or strategic leadership, Museum Ideas 2025 is an opportunity to reflect, recharge, and reimagine what’s possible in museums today.

Book now to join museum colleagues from 17 countries at Wellcome Collection in London on 17 September for a day of shared learning,  fresh perspectives, and international insights.

From co-produced, polyvocal interpretation in East London to becoming an institution of the commons and redefining the museum as a shared community resource in the Scottish Highlands.

From how three city blocks in Buenos Aires can transform your whole perspective on museums, to embracing emerging cultural identities and making space for hope in a co-produced arts project in Dublin.

From reimagining community engagement in northeast England to equipping audiences with the agency and confidence to face community and environmental challenges in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

From working with children from refugee families in northern Italy to advancing participatory research that enables audiences to contribute different forms of knowledge and understanding in museums.

Join fellow attendees from China, India, United Arab Emirates, United States, New Zealand, Argentina, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and England, Scotland, and Wales.

Speakers and contributors include: Hanouf Al-Alawi, The British Museum; Helen Beaumont, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin; Shenali Boange, Museo Egizio, Turin; Amy Davy and Sophie Hoffman, V&A East; Mariano Gilmore, National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires; Giulia Gregnanin, Timespan, Scotland; Professor Dan Hicks, University of Oxford and Pitt Rivers Museum; Lisa Kaimenas and Geraldine Straker, Beamish Museum; Julia Nurse, Eris Williams Reed, Sumitra Upham and Janice Li, Wellcome Collection; and David Reeves, Auckland Museum, Aotearoa–New Zealand.

Museum Ideas 2025 is supported by Art Fund. 

Now in its 14th year, Museum Ideas has welcomed thousands of museum professionals from over 30 countries and featured speakers from around the globe, including South Africa, Argentina, India, UAE, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The annual event offers fresh perspectives on how museums can thrive in an era of change. Join us to explore new ideas, make valuable new connections, and help drive change across the museum sector. Be part of shaping the future of museums together.

Tickets are limited: Book your place today 

Book now to avoid missing out. Save when you book with colleagues with multiple delegate discounts – bring your team and inspire change together. Click ‘Select options’ below to reserve your ticket. Book your ticket online below or email info@museum-id.com if you prefer to be invoiced.

Reduced rate tickets at £97 are available for museum workers who may face barriers to training and professional development opportunities, including people of colour, LGBTQIA+, working class and disabled members of staff, students, freelancers, those working at small independent museums, and sector newcomers. Reduced rate tickets are also available to those who have attended a study day this year. Simply email info@museum-id.com to check availability and book your ticket at the reduced rate.

Tickets are non-refundable but may be swapped between colleagues at the same organisation and between different events if places are available.

“Museum Ideas is the best museum conference. It secures superb, relevant speakers, who cover a rich and wide range of topics. It offers food for thought and feeds the soul with engaging and inspiring conversation, networks and ideas” — Helen Whiteoak, Head of Participation, National Portrait Gallery, London

“A packed programme with a breadth of insight into museums that is not otherwise accessible – diverse and inspiring” — Susan Eskdale, Lead for Community Engagement, Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton

“An impressive conference, expertly curated to bring together voices from across the world. I would highly recommend to colleagues and will definitely attend again in the future” — Laura Crean, Assistant Director, Strategy and Governance, Imperial War Museums

“An inspirational conference! A coming together of museum minds – sharing ideas and making connections” — Gillian Crumpton, Head of Interpretation, Ironbridge Gorge Museum

Past Speaker Highlights
Past speakers have included Bonita Bennett, Director, District Six Museum, Cape Town, South Africa; Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC; Joyoti Roy, Head of Strategy, CSMVS Museum, Mumbai, India; Manal Ataya, Director General, Sharjah Museums, UAE; Kaywin Feldman, Director and President, Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, Head of Public Programs, Smithsonian American Art Museum; Esmé Ward, Director, Manchester Museum; Nina Finigan, Curator, Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Aotearoa New Zealand; Maria Ribas, Head of Audience Development, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona; Winnie Lai, Curator, Learning and Interpretation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Christian Díaz and Romina Frontini, HABEMUS//, Bahía Blanca, Argentina; Ranmalie Jayawardana, Community Participation Lead, International Slavery Museum, Liverpool; Rachael Minott, Head of Participation, Birmingham Museums Trust; Aleema Gray, Collections Gallery Partnership Lead, Wellcome Collection, London; and Nick Merriman, Chief Executive, Horniman Museum and Gardens, London.

Speakers at the 2024 and 2023 conferences included Puawai Cairns, Director of Audience and Insight, Te Papa Tongarewa, Aotearoa – New Zealand; Jennifer Scott, Director and Chief Curator, Urban Civil Rights Museum, United States; Helen Arfvidsson, Curator of Global Contemporary Issues, National Museums of World Culture, Sweden; Afia Yeboah, Senior Producer: Community Partnerships and Participatory Practice, V&A East; Khalil Thirlaway, Creative Producer: Community and Youth, Natural History Museum; Rachel Noel, Head of Learning Programmes and Partnerships, Tate; and Co-chair, We Don’t Settle, Birmingham; Chloe Cousins, Social Justice Manager at Manchester Museum; Iheanyi Onwuegbucha, Princeton University, and co-curator, John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, Lagos, Nigeria; and Korantema Anyimadu, Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum & Gardens in London.

At the 2018 conference award-winning playwright Linda Brogan spoke about the ‘Excavating The Reno’ community project in Manchester’s Moss Side. Bringing together archaeologists, artists, social historians and the public, the project explored the story of a soul and funk club that became a sanctuary from racism in the 1970s. Linda’s talk was extraordinary. This is what Sandra Shakespeare from Museum Detox had to say about it: “Excellent to see the work of Excavating The Reno — an absolutely remarkable fresh change to see such honesty at a museum conference where the tendency is always to showcase the great and the good. It was deeply moving to witness vulnerability and authenticity.” This was echoed by Dhikshana Pering: “Still thinking about the Excavating The Reno project at Museum Ideas — hands down no conference session in my life has left such an impact”

Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, Head of Public Programs at Smithsonian American Art Museum, opened the 2019 conference and set the agenda with her compelling talk ‘Break the Wheel: Museums Challenge the Status Quo’: “As museum practitioners we can allow museums to be a tool of the establishment, the powered, even 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.” Dr Lauren Vargas from the University of Leicester commented: “This may have been the best museum conference presentation I have ever witnessed — thank you for reminding museums of their role in challenging the status quo and how power is determined by relationship with social justice.”

Other highlights from previous editions of the conference have included ‘The Right to Remember’ by Bonita Bennett, Director of the District Six Museum in Cape Town; ‘A Year in Museums’ by Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC; ‘The Good of Being Different in a Time of Sameness’ by Mike Sarna, Royal Museums Greenwich; ‘Immersive Theatre in Museums’ by Peter Higgin, Director of Enrichment at immersive theatre company Punchdrunk; and ‘Talking to Strangers’ by Rosie Stanbury from Wellcome Collection.