Meridians of cooperation

Under the auspices of ICOM:
experience, contacts, projects

On 11 - 17 November, the 27th General Conference of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) was held in Dubai. This is the most significant event in the global museum community, held every three years and bringing together over 3,000 professionals from around the world. This year, the prestigious forum was hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

For the first time, Director of the JINR Museum of History of Science and Technology and PhD in History Anastasia Zlotnikova participated in this event as a member of the Russian delegation. We asked her to share her experience at the Conference, the issues discussed, the insights gained from the relevant events and her impressions of UAE museums.

Who were the members of the Russian delegation?

- Our country's delegation included over 50 specialists from various museums and cultural institutions. They were invited to participate by the Russian National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM Russia). The delegation included staff members from museums of various fields: science and technology, art, literary and historical. The museum professionals also had a wide geographical reach, extending from Kaliningrad to Khabarovsk. The JINR Museum of History of Science and Technology was included in the delegation, along with leading Russian science and technology museums, such as the A.S.Popov Central Museum of Communications in St. Petersburg, the Cryptography Museum, the Moscow Transport Museum and the ATOM Museum.

What was the Conference programme?

- This Conference traditionally presents leading practices, challenges and trends in the global museum community. The topic of the 2025 Conference was "The future of museums in fast changing societies". Discussions included the challenges of digitalization, the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and the engagement of young people in museum spaces. The event was held at the Dubai World Trade Centre and Expo Dubai, where keynote sessions, lectures, panel discussions, seminars and training programmes were held. The working language of the Conference was English.

Renowned experts and representatives of the museum community spoke, raising and highlighting current issues related to how museums respond to demographic, technological and environmental changes; how they embrace creative and innovative approaches while preserving cultural diversity and their uniqueness.

The topic of digitalization and the resulting challenge was raised: what to do in a situation where digital content is oversaturated? We are surrounded by computers, screens and smartphones everywhere and people become fatigued. So, on the one hand, we should preserve old documents that need to be digitized. On the other hand, the challenge is to avoid turning museums into purely multimedia spaces, cluttered with projections, touchscreens and displays. Visitors simply cannot see genuine historical objects among them and museums, in turn, lose their authenticity. It is important not to lose this physical reality and to maintain a balance in the use of digital capabilities.

Panel discussions were held on how to attract young people to museums and why it is important. Firstly, museums need visitors, especially, inquisitive ones. Secondly, a museum is a place where people can learn something new and important, including something that could influence their future career choice. Every museum has its own specific features and techniques for engaging young visitors.

At the Conference participants' exhibition stands, valuable informational publications on various aspects of museum work were available.

During the Conference, meetings of international scientific committees were held, bringing together specialists in various fields and disciplines. I participated in sessions of the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Science and Technology (CIMUSET), which our museum is a member of. The meetings included reports, roundtables, panel talks and discussions. Representatives of science and technology museums shared successful case investigations, eager to communicate with colleagues in person and to exchange contacts. It was crucial that we met in person, rather than online. We were able to get to know each other and to explore opportunities for further collaboration that is highly desirable on both sides.

What is the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Science and Technology (CIMUSET) and what does membership entail?

- This was my first time participating in meetings of a specialized scientific committee and learning about its working procedures. The Committee regularly holds conferences at science and technology museums around the world. Recently, project competitions have been organized, with participants presenting their programmes. I am going to gain insight into the specifics of the Committee's work and to participate in its programmes, presenting my own initiatives.

We have experience organizing events for representatives of the specialized museum community. Several years ago, JINR, together with the Polytechnic Museum, hosted a meeting of staff from Russian science and technology museums on visitor engagement practices and scientific communication.

Events like these are crucial for sharing experiences. During the Conference's panel discussions, colleagues were actively engaged in discussions of museum practices. Many of them represent major science and technology museums. Although our museum is small, they were nonetheless very interested in the programmes we implement. I described how the museum works with schoolchildren, the popular science and cultural events it hosts and topical excursions. I also described how at the Institute we work with historical materials, publish memoirs and diaries of scientists, organize historical and memorial seminars, as well as establish an archive that will systematically manage our historical heritage.

I had a fruitful opportunity to communicate and to share experiences with the representatives of scientific museums in India, China, Mexico, Brazil, Iran and several European countries. They were also interested in the fact that we are a museum affiliated with a research organization that is unusual for them. Our Institute currently actively collaborates with research organizations in these countries on scientific matters and I proposed simultaneously developing cultural, educational and popularization projects related to museums. The proposal was supported and we agreed to exchange information and to explore avenues for collaboration.

What are the specific features of a museum within a research organization?

- We have a direct access to specialists, that is, scientists of different generations that live and work alongside us and we can (and do) implement scientific and cultural projects with their participation.

Of course, every museum has good tour guides but they are not always experts in the field they teach. We, however, can cooperate with true professionals and engage them in preparing tour programmes, as well as implementing scientific and educational events. We also implement projects aimed at popularizing science from a very early age (starting with preschool), thereby generating an interest in research among our youngest visitors.

That's why we have a "Club of future scientists", a highly sought-after project for children aged 6 to 14, where they are engaged in physics, carry out topical experiments and make their first discoveries. We also engage our scientists, representatives of various scientific fields (physicists, chemists, mathematicians, biologists) as mentors. Many of our students participate in the Scientific and Practical School Conference "Mendeleev readings" that our museum has been organizing for 10 years. These children later enroll in natural science programmes, admitting that their interest in research was first sparked by our club.

During topical tours at the museum, our visitors learn about the Institute, its scientific programmes and its long-standing traditions. Many are deeply impressed by the high level of this research and its potential for humankind. People are inspired and proud to live in Dubna and to be able to meet world-class scientists, such as Yuri Ts. Oganessian, simply by strolling along the embankment. And if they are tourists, they feel pride in a country with a rich scientific past, present, and we believe, future.

Which museums in the UAE have you visited?

- The General Conference was a great opportunity to learn about the work of colleagues in the host country. As part of the Conference programme and independently, I was able to visit a number of exhibitions and museum spaces: the Terra Nature Centre at Expo Dubai and the Museum of the Future in Dubai; the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Islamic Civilization and the Science Museum in Sharjah; the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Presidential Palace and its exhibition spaces and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. I always try to visit all available exhibitions. For me, a well-rounded perspective is an important skill, allowing me to learn from experience both in exhibition design and in implementing museum programmes for different visitor categories. This is especially relevant today, as my team and I currently work on a new museum space.

My colleagues and I from science and technology museums were excited to visit the Museum of the Future, yet we were a bit disappointed. We expected to see advanced technologies and innovations we might not have known about but in reality, it turned out to be a museum of experiences, a fantasy exhibition about the future and one-time only. The idea is to immediately transport visitors aboard a spaceship that transports them 50 years into the future. The exhibition resembles an entertaining multimedia show based on space-topical films. The museum impresses with its architecture and design, immersive environment, art installations, thoughtful logistics and work with people with disabilities. The visuals are beautiful but everything is somewhat superficial, lacking depth. From a scientific perspective, there was practically nothing to glean. There's no explanation of how things work. In our community, we're accustomed to more complex things, where the goal is to uncover the history of a subject, to demonstrate evolution, cause-and-effect relationships and others. That's a different level of knowledge. But the Museum of the Future certainly has and will have an audience and this is also an interesting user experience.

I particularly liked the Sharjah Museum of Archaeology that boasts an impressive exhibition where multimedia content effectively complements and illuminates the artifacts. The collection contains many unique items, beautifully displayed. There are also original interactive features. The children's educational play area is well-organized and equipped.

I also was drawn to the exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Civilization, dedicated to the science and technology of Islamic countries. It features current layouts of mechanical devices such as a windmill, an ancient crane, measuring instruments and more.

How would you evaluate the trip and what would you like to implement in your work?

"The trip was very eventful and important in terms of our museum's participation in such a significant global event. The impressions I gained from attending the General Conference and learning about UAE museum practices will undoubtedly serve as a source of inspiration and creative reflection for me as I prepare museum projects and work on creating a modern exhibition space. New contacts with colleagues, business meetings and initial cooperation agreements could become the first step in developing cultural collaboration with other scientific centres and museums, we will work in this area in the fuutre. With colleagues from Russian science and technology museums, we discussed the possibility of preparing a consolidated programme for one of the upcoming conferences of the Committee for Museums and Collections of Science and Technology.

Maria KARPOVA,
Photos by Anastasia ZLOTNIKOVA