“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, learning, or strategic leadership, Museum Ideas 2026 is an opportunity to reflect, recharge, and reimagine museums.

Join museum colleagues from around the world in London on 16 September 2026 for a day of shared learning, fresh perspectives, and international insights. Delegates from 17 countries attended the 2025 edition of the conference. Book tickets now to benefit from the early-bird rate and be part of the conversation shaping the future of museums.

Conference Chair and First Speakers Announced

Professor Dan Hicks, University of Oxford, returns to chair Museum Ideas for the fifth year. Internationally recognised for his work on museums, heritage, and restitution, Dan is the author of The Brutish Museums and Every Monument Will Fall, and a leading voice in contemporary museum debate.

Dr JC Niala is Deputy Director and Head of Research, Teaching, and Collections at the History of Science Museum in Oxford. JC is a multi-award-winning writer and poet whose research combines history, anthropology and public engagement, with a particular focus on collaborative approaches to collections, heritage and imagination. She was named to the blooloop 50 Museum Influencer List 2025.

Gabriel Matesun is Curator in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, where his work focuses on inclusive, community-centred museum practice and rethinking authority, consent, and care in collections and interpretation, particularly within postcolonial and Global South contexts.

Miriam King is National Learning & Engagement Convenor at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Miriam’s expertise sits at the intersections of youth development, social impact and creativity. She’s passionate about supporting communities to shape the future they want to see and believes in the power of young people to drive social change.

David Reeves is Chief Executive of Auckland Museum in Aotearoa-New Zealand, where he has led transformational change to curatorial practices and access. He works collaboratively to achieve the Museum’s aims of sharing understanding of social and natural worlds, and strengthening engagement with communities.

Marijana Dragicevic is Director of the City Museum of Bjelovar, Croatia, where she leads work that engages with memory, identity, loss and the material culture of everyday life. Current projects include developing a participatory “museum of home” and long-term initiatives focused on community involvement and inclusive practices.

This year the conference features the Decolonising Practices Participatory Pavilion, which will be facilitated by Loyiso Maqwabe Xulu from Luthuli Museum in South Africa, Jocelyne Stahl from Stiftung Humboldt Forum in Germany, and Alastair Willis from Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales.

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

Museum Ideas 2026 is supported by Art Fund.

The Museum Ideas conference in London 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, Italy, 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.

Book Early-Bird Tickets 

Book early-bird tickets today. 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+ members of staff, students, freelancers, those working at small independent museums. 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; and Aleema Gray, Collections Gallery Partnership Lead, Wellcome Collection, London.

Speakers at the three most recent editions of the conference have 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; Korantema Anyimadu, Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum & Gardens in London; Giulia Gregnanin, Director and Curator, Timespan, Scottish Highlands; Nelson Cummins, Curator, Legacies of Slavery and Empire, Glasgow Museums; Shenali Boange, Museum Educator in Learning and Outreach, Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy; Helen Barker, Director, Collections and Programmes, Beamish Museum; Hanouf Al-Alawi, National Outreach Manager, Learning and National Partnerships, The British Museum; Helen Beaumont, Education & Outreach Officer, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin; and Mariano Gilmore, Head of Education and Community, National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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; ‘Talking to Strangers’ by Rosie Stanbury from Wellcome Collection; ‘Redefining the Museum as a Shared Resource: Becoming an Institution of the Commons’ by Giulia Gregnanin, Director and Curator, Timespan, Scottish Highlands; ‘Reinterpreting the Past to Explain the Present and Reimagine the Future’ by Nelson Cummins, Curator, Legacies of Slavery and Empire, Glasgow Museums; and ‘Making Space for Hope’ by Helen Beaumont, Education & Outreach Officer, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin