The ICOM COMCOL 2023 Annual Conference is taking place from Oct. 24 to 27 in Taipei City and Yilan County with 25 international participants including scholars from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Jointly presented by the ICOM International Committee for Collecting (COMCOL), National Taiwan Museum (NTM), and the Chinese Associations of Museums (CAM), it is the first international gathering focused on museum collections organized in Taiwan.
COMCOL is a committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), one of the most important museum organizations in the world. Their mission is to share new findings and case studies with museums around the globe, in order to build global networks and assist in establishing museum collections.
Minister of Culture Shih Che, vice president of ICOM Inkyung Chang, vice president of COMCOL Danielle Kuijten, and other board members of COMCOL were present at the opening of the conference on Oct. 24.
Minister Shih Che said that it is an honor for Taiwan to host COMCOL’s annual event and provide a platform for museum professionals to share their experiences. He added that the International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR) Annual Conference will be hosted in Tainan in December this year, hoping that Taiwan would contribute constant efforts to the development of museums and museology.
Vice president Chang of ICOM said that this year’s conference, titled “Living Collections, Living Communities: Contemporary Practices of Care in Collecting”, invited speakers from different countries to present their own experiences, case studies, and in-depth reflections. Through multiple topics such as community, connection, technology, and others, she looks forward to hearing from each and every one of them, she added.
Besides keynotes and paper presentations, the conference also featured four dialogue sessions themed “Living Collections”, “Indigenous Stewardship”, “Migration Conversation”, and “Ethics and Care in Collecting,” aiming to emphasize diversity and sustainability in the practice while promoting an interdisciplinary scientific approach.
For more information on ICOM COMCOL 2023, please visit https://www.comcol-taiwan.org/.