2012 Annual Meeting of Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association and International Workshop on Museum Standards Organized by Hunan Provincial Museum Held in Taiyuan, Shanxi

From October 29 to November 4, the 2012 Annual Meeting of Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association and International Workshop on Museum Standards were held in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. This meeting, sponsored by Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association and co-organized by Hunan Provincial Museum and Shanxi Museum, attracted more than 100 representatives of museums and related institutions from all around the country.

The opening ceremony of 2012 Annual Meeting of Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association and International Workshop on Museum Standards

Present at the opening ceremony on October 20 were Song Xinchao, deputy director-general of State Administration of Cultural Heritage and chairman of Chinese Museums Association, Hartmut Prasch, chairman of International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR/ICOM), Wang Jianwu, the director-general of Shanxi Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, Jane Legget, board member of the International Committee for Regional Museums, Han Yong, the chairman of Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association and Chen Jianming, deputy chairman and secretary-general of Chinese Museums Association and director of Hunan Provincial Museum.

During the meeting, five representatives from China Three Gorges Museum, Shanxi Museum, Shanghai Museum, Hunan Provincial Museum and Beijing University of Chemical Technology were invited to give the keynote speeches around the theme of “museum standards” respectively from the perspectives of collection management, display and exhibition, social education, audience service and museum administration. During the two-and-a-half-day workshop, Hartmut Prasch, chairman of International Committee for Regional Museums and Jane Legget, member of ICOM-ICR gave lectures to the attendance on the concept, design, application, evaluation and supervision of museum standards through various forms such as presentation, case studies, theory analysis and group discussions. This workshop, interactively and informatively, harvested a great success.

The themed discussion during the workshop

The second member congress meeting of Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association was also held.

Director Chen Jianming addressed the congress meeting.

The second member congress meeting of Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association

Related Information:

1. Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association in Brief

Regional Museums Committee of Chinese Museums Association is a subordinate committee of Chinese Museums Association. Since its foundation in November 2007 as a public interest organization set up voluntarily by experts, professionals and groups from regional museums and other related regional cultural undertakings, the committee has persisted in its mission to promote the exchange and cooperation among the regional museums and development of related regional cultural causes. The committee now boasts 40 museum members, including all the provincial museums and some influential municipal ones, giving rise to its crucially significant role in China’s museum circle. Its founder is Hunan Provincial Museum, where the Secretariat is situated.

2. ICOM-ICR in Brief

International Committee for Regional Museums or ICR in short, is an international committee affiliated to International Council of Museums. ICR was created in the 1960s for regional museums that are among the most numerous in the world. The mission of this committee is to build the platform and forum for the cooperation and information exchange between different museums, professionals and related institutions and to promote the development of regional museums worldwide. The Committee meeting is held annually on the hot topics in museum circle. 

As an outcome of ICR’s four years endeavors on the theme of “museum quality and standards” from 1999 to 2002, Guidelines to Improve Museum Quality and Standards was published, covering the studies in such fields as museum management, collection, exhibition, communication/education, audience service, evaluation, pubic relationship, marketing and the introduction to the related research results of different countries.

3. Brief Introduction to the Experts from ICOM-ICR

Dr. Hartmut Prasch

Born in 1961 in Spittal/Drau, Austria, Hartmut Prasch studied Cultural Sciences at the University of Innsbruck/Austria. In 1985 he got his PhD.  From 1985 till 1987 he worked as a research assistant and lecturer at the University of Innsbruck and then returned to Spittal/Drau to become Director of the Museum of Folkart and Tradition in Porcia Castle, which he is until now. In the following more than 20 years he developed this museum from a traditional into a high standard Regional Museum with multimedia components of a Regional Information Centre integrated. The museum won many major national and international cultural awards between 1989 and 2010.

Beside, Hartmut Prasch worked at a lecturer for museology and museum development at the Universities of Innsbruck, Graz and Klagenfurt between 1985 and 1993.

In 1999 he started his own business as a Consultant and Project Developer with several cultural projects in different parts of Austria, Slovenia and Italy.

Because of his international publications and lectures at major conferences Hartmut Prasch was elected as board member of different international Organizations, such as ICOM Executive Council, International Committee for Regional Museums ICR/ICOM (current Chairman), European Museum Forum and European Heritage Association.

Jane Legget, PhD FMA.

Dr Jane Legget. is Associate Director of the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute where she directs the Heritage and Cultural Tourism research programme area. Dr Legget is also a Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology’s School of Hospitality and Tourism. Dr Legget has worked variously in the museum sector as curator, manager, consultant and academic. Her professional and research interests include museum quality standards, performance indicators, public accountability in the heritage sector, museums and tourism, women’s heritage, museum repatriation programmes, heritage and cultural tourism, museum public policy, museum training and development.

Jane Legget has a strong mix of experience within the cultural heritage sector as both an academic and a museum professional, gained in the UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand. She was elected a Fellow of the Museums Association of Great Britain and edits Te Ara - Journal of Museums Aotearoa. She is a Board member of the International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR).

In 2008 Jane Legget joined AUT as Associate Director (Cultural Heritage) with NZTRI and Senior Lecturer in Tourism Studies within the School of Hospitality and Tourism, specializing in cultural heritage tourism. She has worked in a number of museums and heritage organizations in Britain and New Zealand, most recently with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, advising museums on the North Island. Her PhD research on museums and accountability was supported by a Bright Futures Top Achiever Doctoral Research Fellowship from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. She has also worked on development projects with a number of small community museums.