We are pleased to present the programme for the next Annual INTERCOM Conference!

This year, INTERCOM has the honour to be hosted by the Udaipur City Palace Museum in India, in whose collaboration we organise the two days event: from October 23th to October 25th.

DAY 1: CLIMATE CHANGE & MUSEUMS                 

08:00 – 09:00 AM
Registrations & Welcome Tea

09:00 – 10:00 AM
Networking & Informal Gathering

 10:00 – 10:15 AM
OPENING REMARKS

• Welcome Address – Institutional greetings: Udaipur City Palace, Maria Cristina Vannini – INTERCOM Chair, Goranka Horjan – former INTERCOM Chair and ICOM Treasurer
• Introduction to Conference Theme – by UDAIPUR City Palace representative

 

10:15 – 11:00

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Climate Change: How it affects museums and their activities: EYSTEIN MARKUSSON – NATHIST Board member and Director of Svalbard Museum

 

11:00 – 11:15 AM
Tea / Coffee Break

11:15 AM – 12:20 PM

PECHAKUCHA SESSION – Round 1, Moderator: IVETA RUSKULE, INTERCOM Board member
(5 Presentations × 7 minutes each + transitions)

Focus: Case Studies, Urgency, Local Responses

• Candida Pestana: Building from the Land: How the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum Embeds Climate Thinking into Its Institutional DNA
• Stephen Mwila: Addressing Climate Change Through Use of Recycled Empty Egg Trays to Make “Mbusa” Museum Collection as Teaching Aids
• Arafat Ali: Museums for Climate Action: NMST as a Living Laboratory
• Dorjey Yuron: From Community Conservation Area to Living Eco-Museum: A case study of Tar village, Ladakh.
• Kajal Salgaonka: Museums as Agents of Climate Awareness and Action: A Comparative Qualitative Case Study of the Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow) Brazil and Indian Museums Against Climate Change (IMACC)

 

 12:30 – 01:05 PM

PECHAKUCHA SESSION – Round 2, Moderator: Jurica Sabol, ICOM SEE Chair

(5 Presentations × 7 minutes each + transitions)

Focus: Innovation, Sustainability Models, Community Action

• Alenka Kroselj Cernelic: Managing Immovable and Movable Heritage in the 21st Century: the Brežice Castle and the Knight’s Hall, case study for managing Museums and Climate Action
• Jens Bortloff: How a museum can contribute to climate change mitigation from a 360-degree view
• Metowui Hospice Klebo: Rethinking museum practices in the context of climate change in West Africa: digital tools, participatory management and indigenous knowledge
• Tejshivi Jain: Beyond Awareness: How Indian Museums Are Learning to Act on Climate Change
• Sruti Sarma, Krishnakali Ghosh & Dr. Ranit Chatterjee: Museums without Walls: Living Heritage Traditions as Climate Adaptation Models in Riverine Assam
• Azfar Ahmad & Kiriti Sen: Heritage, LiFE, and Hope: A Museum-Led Environmental Stewardship through Planet Patna

 

01:05 – 02:15 PM
Lunch Break

 

02:15 – 03:30 PM

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION

“Museums as Climate Actors: Responsibility vs Capacity” Moderator: IVETA RUSKULE, INTERCOM Board member

Moderated multi-stakeholder dialogue

• Audience participation encouraged

 

03:30 – 03:45 PM
Tea / Coffee Break

 

03:45 – 05:45 PM

WORKSHOP –hybrid form – M. Cristina Vannini, Eystein Markusson
“Embedding Sustainability into Museum Practice”

• Practical tools, frameworks and strategies
• Interactive group work

 

05:45 – 06:00 PM
Day 1 Wrap-Up & Reflections

 

7 – 8 PM

Museum Tour

 

8 pm onwards: Dinner

 

 

DAY 2: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS – AI, BIG DATA & MUSEUMS 

08:00 – 09:00 AM
Registrations & Welcome Tea

 

09:00 – 10:00 AM
Networking & Informal Gathering

 

10:00 – 10:15 AM
Opening Remarks – Day 2 Context Setting

 

10:15 – 11:00 AM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

 

“Technology vs Authenticity: Where Do Museums Stand?” SILVIA CENDRON – Strategic Coordination MUSEO EGIZIO, Turin, Italy

 

11:00 – 11:15 AM
Tea / Coffee Break

 

11:15 AM – 12:20 PM

PECHAKUCHA SESSION – Round 1 MODERATOR MARTHA IKABONGO, INTERCOM Secretary
(5 Presentations × 7 minutes each)

Focus: AI in Management, Curation, Collections, Interpretation

• Goranka Horjan: Managing Museum Knowledge in the Age of AI
• Virginia Meredith Soenksen: From Archive to Authority: Human-in-the-Loop Agentic AI for Museum Collections Stewardship
• Yumiko Tachibana: Rethinking Museum Audiences in Japan: Using Audience Data to Inform Museum Policy and Practice
• Tatiana Nikolaeva: Leo Tolstoy or AI? Preserving Literary Heritage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
• Ghazala Salam: Beyond Immersion: Reimagining Human Connection in the Age of AI
• Varvara Merekova and Vladislav Kolesnikov : Deaf and Voiced: Rethinking Digital Access through Sign Language
• Gijs Schunselaar : Think big, act small, be happy: leadership learnings in digitization
• Jurica Sabol : Inclusive Museums for the Digital Era: Accessibility, Participation, and AI-Enhanced Cultural Experiences

 

12:30 – 01:15 PM

PECHAKUCHA SESSION – Round 2 MODERATOR: REENA DEWAN, INTERCOM Treasurer
(5 Presentations × 7 minutes each)

Focus: Audience Engagement, Data Systems, Digital Access

• Cristine Pieske: AI Resources in Museums: anticipating risks and increasing the operational efficiency of security teams. A case study of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (Brazil)
• Siddhant Shah: CultureD – Ability & AI Tools in Museums for Disability Inclusion
• Sakshi Jain: Digital Transformations – AI, Big Data & the Future of Museums
• Esther Kabalanyana Banda: Roots, Rhythms, and Custodianship:The Role of Museums in Zambia in Safeguarding Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Ecological Narratives
• Sana Durrani: “Future of the Museums vs. Museum of the Future: A South Asian Lens on Transforming Museums with Emerging Technologies”
• Fatma Ahmed Soliman: Pixels of Eternity: Reimagining Egypt’s Heritage
• Vinko Kovac : The Way to Heritage Is Through the Stomach: Using Artificial Intelligence to “Unlock” a Historic Cookbook

 

01:15 – 02:15 PM
Lunch Break

 

02:15 – 03:30 PM

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION

AI: the Reimagined Museum Ecosystem – Manuel Rabaté, the KIRAN NADAR MUSEUM OF ART, New Delhi, India (tbc) – awaiting confirmation

• Ethics, access, and future frameworks Moderator: GORANKA HORJIAN ICOM Treasurer

 

03:30 – 03:45 PM
Tea / Coffee Break

 

03:45 – 05:45 PM

• WORKSHOP – hybrid format – Cristina Vannini 

Introduction: “Applying AI & Data Tools in Museum Practice – Prof. Michele TRIMARCHI Magna Graecia University at Catanzaro, Italy, Department of Laws, Economics and Sociology

Hands-on tools, use cases and implementation pathways

 

POSTER SESSION:

Jonas Hamerlinck

Nandan Shastri and Kiran Java

Funase Chitsulo

Esraa Mahmoud & Mona Nasef

Supretha Das & Sanjit Jorder

Asta Ivanauskiene

Sikdar Md. Zulkernine

 

 

05:45 – 06:00 PM
Conference Closing

• Key Takeaways – Host or audience
• Vote of Thanks – M. Cristina Vannini

 

6:30 PM – 8:00 INTERCOM ASSEMBLY hybrid format

 

8 PM onwards DINNER