Athens Schedule 2024

CoMuseum 2024

MUSEUMS AND TRUST

4 DECEMBER 2024, BENAKI MUSEUM/PIREOS 138

PROGRAM

DECEMBER 4

12:00 – 18:15 (Eastern European Time)

*Please note that slight amendments to the final agenda might occur.

11:30 – 12:00

Arrivals

12:00 - 12:40

Welcome Remarks

Dr George Manginis, Academic Director, Benaki Museum
Lina G. Mendoni, Minister of Culture, Hellenic Republic
Matthew Lodge, British Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic
Virginia Blakeman, Cultural Attaché, U.S. Embassy Athens
Anastasia Andritsou, Director, British Council in Greece and Cyprus

Introduction

Dr Sophia Handaka, CoMuseum Co-Founder and Curator of World Cultures, Benaki Museum, Greece

12:40 – 13:00

Keynote speech

“Museums in a Changing World: Audience Trends, Impact, Trust”

with
Susie Wilkening, Principal and Founder, Wilkening Consulting, U.S.

Every day, millions of people engage with museums and museum content. Why do they choose to do this? What impact have museums had on their life? And why do they trust what museums share? Explore how extensive research on museum audiences in the United States is helping museums not only answer these questions, but also prepare for increasingly tumultuous and polarizing times. We will delve deep into research findings, discuss who does (and who doesn’t) trust museums, and how controversy and politicization is changing how museums plan for the future.

13:00 – 13:45

Panel discussion #1: Museums, trust and leadership

with

Anja Sommer, Head of Cooperations Unit, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden, Germany
Stephanos Cherouvis, Senior Project Manager and Researcher, Ecsite, Belgium
Seán Doran, Co-Creator/Lead Artistic Partner ULYSSES European Odyssey, Ireland
Liam Browne, Co-Creator/Lead Artistic Partner ULYSSES European Odyssey, Ireland
Agni Terlilxi, Deputy Head of Conservation and Restoration of Works, Art National Gallery Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Greece

Moderated by
Lizzy Moriarty, Independent Museum Consultant – Museum Expert, Museums Revisited, British Council, UK

13:45– 14:05

Keynote speech

“Building a future for a society in flux”

with

Elly Andriopoulou, Managing Director, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), Greece

What does it take for cultural institutions to become the cornerstones of more equitable, sustainable, and cohesive societies? Commitment, consistency, and courage are only but a few of the qualities that cultural leaders and their institutions need to showcase in their quest to become trustful platforms for civic engagement and social imagination. An exploration of methodologies, practices, and experiments that connect a mission and good intentions to daily operations and true impact in micro and macro level.

14:05 – 14:50

Panel Discussion #2: Inclusive futures

with

Bartosz Frąckowiak, Foresight Consultant and Art Curator, 4CF The Futures Literacy Company, Poland
Epaminondas Christophilopoulos, President, MOMus | UNESCO Chair on Futures Research, Greece
Elena Mavromichali, Strategist – Cultural Advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister, Advisor to the Special Secretariat of Foresight Hellenic Republic

Moderated by
Tom Fleming, Director, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, and Global Culture Expert, UK

14:50 – 15:20 | BREAK

15:20 – 15:40

Keynote speech

“Two ears and one mouth: On caring to listen and listening to care”

with

Monxo López, Curator of Community Histories, Museum of the City of New York, U.S.

We will explore how curation can transcend traditional frameworks by embracing active listening as a core practice, engaging deeply with community voices, historical narratives, and collective memories that may otherwise be overlooked. This approach reimagines museums not only as spaces of presentation but as environments for receiving and responding to diverse perspectives, positioning listening as a powerful tool in exhibition design. Drawing on recent projects from the Museum of the City of New York, this presentation invites a rethinking of curators as facilitators of dialogue, dedicated to creating exhibitions that resonate authentically with audiences and bridge the gap between institutional authority and public voice.

15:40 - 16:00

Keynote speech

Delivering Britain’s missing Migration Museum

with

Sophie Henderson, CEO, Migration Museum, UK

The Migration Museum is currently based in a busy London shopping centre but will be arriving in a permanent home in the City of London in three years’ time. Why does Britain need a Migration Museum and how can it achieve its aims of contributing to a better conversation about migration, supporting teaching and learning about migration and driving representation, belonging and inclusion? How can it create a space that is welcoming, participatory, conversational, playful, collaborative, educational and purposive? What can it learn from its journey so far and what challenges will it face in the future?

16:00 - 16:45

Panel Discussion #3: Museums and migration

with

Constance Rivière, Managing Director of the Établissement Public du Palais de la Porte Dorée, France (online)
Adla Shashati, Director, Greek Forum of Migrants, Greece
Alexandra Bounia, Professor, Museum Studies, University of the Aegean, Greece
Yonous Muhammadi, President of the Greek Forum of Refugees and Bureau Member of the European Migration Forum in Brussels

Moderated by
Anna Routsi, Senior Investigator – Greek Ombudsman, Columnist, Greece

16:45 - 17:30

Panel Discussion #4: Museums working towards accessibility

with

Stela Anastasaki, Co-Founder, Off Stream, Greece
Charis Ann Gullickson, Senior Curator, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Norway
Haroula Hadjinicolaou, Art Historia, Department of Education, Benaki Museum, Greece
Annalisa Trasatti, Coordinator, Museo Tattile Statale Omero, Ancona, Italy

Moderated by
Tatiana Karapanagioti, Producer, Member of LifeisforAll, Greece

17:30- 17:50

Keynote speech

“Tabakalera: a platform for Art, Society and Innovation”

with

Clara Montero, Cultural Director, International Centre of Contemporary Culture Tabakalera, Spain

This presentation introduces Tabakalera, a center for contemporary culture in San Sebastián’s former tobacco factory, transformed into a culture system that combines a cultural program for a wide and diverse audience with an artistic production center and a focus on mediation initiatives and community projects. Fostering and prototyping co-creation between engaged communities, experts and creatives can contribute to new forms of society driven and artists driven innovation to address common challenges as well as to contribute to a more critical and enabled citizenship. An arts center can play a crucial role to achieve it while putting arts at the center.