Please join us at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK) on 19th and 20th October 2023 for the two-day international conference 'Museums of the Future', exploring the future of museums. The conference is generously supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust.

Time and again, museums have faced and embraced the challenge to reinvent themselves, finding new relevance for the audiences and issues of their day. Just as our predecessors have done in the past, today established institutions and the new contemporary museums are embracing this challenge, creating new and inspiring spaces, reinterpreting and diversifying collections, engaging digitally and focusing on equity and social justice. The conference will bring together architects, museum practitioners, thinkers and young people from around the globe. We will explore cutting-edge museum developments and practice, discuss why museums still matter, and look to the possible futures we can collectively create.

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Museums of the Future Conference
19th & 20th October 2023
Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, V&A South Kensington

Please note, this programme is subject to change.

PROGRAMME:

Thursday, 19th October

10.00 – 10.20 Registration
10.20 – 10.30 Welcome and introduction
Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A

10.30 – 11.15 Architecture and Access: The Transformation of the Modern Museum
Charles Saumarez Smith

11:15 – 13:00 Audiences (1) – Invitations to a New Public
Chaired by Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A
Caro Howell, Director General, Imperial War Museum, London
Nusrat Ahmed, Lead Curator of the South Asia Gallery, Manchester Museum
Helen Charman, Director of Young V&A

Q&A

13.00 – 14.15 Lunch

14.15 – 16.15 Audiences (2) – Welcoming Places; Curating Spaces
Opening address: Amanda Levete, Director AL_A, London
Chaired by Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East
Zak Mensah, Co-CEO Birmingham Museums Trust, Birmingham
Shanay Jhaveri, Head of Visual Arts, Barbican Centre, London
Meneesha Kellay, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, V&A; Co-Curator British Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale 2023

Q&A

16.15 – 16.45 Break

16.45 – 18.00 Opening up the Wonder House: A New Era for Collections Access
Liz Diller, Partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) and a world-leading architect and designer, in conversation with Tim Reeve and Sjarel Ex

18.15 – 19.45 Drinks Reception, Whiteley Silver Galleries

Friday 20th October

10.00 – 10.20 Registration
10.20 Welcome, Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A

In-conversation:
10.30 – 11.15 Decoloniality, Identity and Heritage
Tasneem Mehta, Director, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai, in conversation with Tristram Hunt

11:15 – 13:00 Equity (1) – Exhibitions; Collections; and Representation
Chaired by Joanna Norman, Director of VARI, NAL and Archives
Christine Checinska, Senior Curator, Africa and Diaspora: Textiles and Fashion, V&A
Nick Merriman, Director, Horniman Museum, London
Tony Butler, Executive Director, Derby Museums, Derby

Q&A

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 16.00 Equity (2) – Ownership, Voice, and the Civic Leadership
Opening address: Lisa Havilah, Chief Executive, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Chaired by Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East
Laura Pye, Director, National Museums Liverpool
Jago Cooper, Executive Director, Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia
Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee

Q&A

16.00 – 16.30 Break

16.30 – 17.15 Roundtable – The Museum of the Future
Chaired by Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A
Sonita Alleyne, Master of Jesus College Cambridge
Tilly Blyth, Head of Museum Studies, University of Leicester
Doug Gurr, Director, Natural History Museum, London
Tasneem Mehta, Director, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai

17.15 – 17.30 Concluding remarks, Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A