Starting online in June and continuing onsite in Africa and Europe, TheMuseumsLab 2024 will bring together 50 Fellows, along with numerous professionals, scholars, artists and activists, all connected to the museum sphere. Together, they will explore the history, present, and future of museums, exchange knowledge, ideas, best practices, and engage with various museum spaces on both continents.
On 6th June 2024, TheMuseumsLab will enter its fourth programme year with a public Kick-Off Event, featuring a keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Rudo Sithole. The event will be publicly accessible via livestream.
This year’s programme will revolve around two main themes: "Reimagining Museums of the Future" and "On Difficult Conversations," aiming to address the challenges and opportunities of international collaboration in the museum and heritage field.
Following the Kick-Off Event, the Fellows will meet online for Module 1, which will provide an in-depth overview of the overarching themes they will encounter during their time at TheMuseumsLab.
During the onsite modules in Berlin (September) and Accra (November), there will be the opportunity to deepen discussions and connections that have been made, and also to engage in new encounters. The Fellows will get first-hand insights and engage with various museum spaces in and around Berlin and Accra. Additionally, one-week Residencies at renowned African and European institutions will provide further opportunities to share visions and approaches and build long-term constructive relationships.
TheMuseumsLab has always been based on cooperation among partners from different fields and perspectives. In 2024, five partners are coming together to conceptualise and realise the programme: Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN), TheMuseumsLab Academic Committee, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and TheMuseumsLab Alumni Network. Additionally, several Programme Museums in Berlin and Accra, as well as 25 Residency Museums are partners with the programme.
TheMuseumsLab aims to drive a transformational change within the international museum sector. Since its inception in 2021, 146 Fellows, 75 Museums, and more than 250 Speakers have been part of this journey. Thanks to the financial support of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the Federal Foreign Office (AA), TheMuseumsLab is able to continue its pioneering mutual learning and knowledge exchange programme for three more years.