Louvre Abu Dhabi, NYU Abu Dhabi announce programme for reframing museums symposium

Attendees will hear from global scholars, academics, artists, and international museum experts as they address the new responsibilities and challenges facing museums today and showcase innovative opportunities for the sector. The programme is built around the three institutional pillars that have traditionally defined museums: The Collection (16th November); Building/Site and People, part I (17th November); and Building/Site and People, part II (18th November). The full programme is available on the Reframing Museums website.

Manuel Rabaté, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, emphasised the array of topics that will be explored during the Symposium and the breadth of knowledge and experience by the institutions represented. "Now is the time to discuss how to forge ahead with new models to engage audiences and present our collections. We certainly will not find all answers to these complex challenges in three days, but it is vital to seek constant dialogue among global peers and to continue to exchange experiences and ideas for an agile, sustainable, and relevant museum sector."

Mariet Westermann, Vice Chancellor of New York University Abu Dhabi commented, "Universities and museums hold unique and related roles in civil society as institutions of learning and discovery. Through this symposium, we seek to initiate a more hopeful and inclusive conversation among museum professionals, scholars, artists, and others about the relevance and future of museums."

Through a pre-symposium series called "Unframed Voices," museum professionals from across the globe gathered virtually to revisit the three pillars and define the key questions they – as museum professionals and artists – would like to see addressed during the symposium.

The programme format includes roundtable discussions, keynote speeches, and presented case studies followed by regular opportunities for attendees to network in break-out sessions and to continue discussions in a Virtual World Café.

All events are free and open to the public to attend through advance registration. The discussions will be held in English with live translation in Arabic and French as well as live captioning in English.

The daily symposium programming runs on 16th and 17th November from 11:00 – 21:00 GST, and on 18th November from 14:30 to 18:30 GST.