ITP UK Partner Meeting 2015 – Birmingham

Last week on a sunny (but windy) day in Birmingham, members of the ITP team, BM reps, and UK Partner representatives met in preparation for the 2015 ITP summer programme.

The meeting was kindly hosted by our UK partner representative Adam Jaffer at the beautiful and historic Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG).

The purpose of these meetings, which currently take place once a year, is to catch up with UK partner colleagues, announce candidates and countries for the 2015 ITP, discuss our legacy projects and to plan BM and partner programmes.

We were also able to visit the newly opened and impressive Staffordshire Hoard Galleries and BMAG’s current exhibition “Love is Enough: William Morris and Andy Warhol”.

At the end of the meeting, attendees were asked to work together in groups to discuss the aims and objectives of the ITP. A valuable opportunity to share our own diverse motivations for taking part in the programme, we closely considered how the ITP might adapt for future years to further benefit all involved: participants, partners and the BM alike. By revisiting our founding aims and objectives, we were able to think about how these might change to keep the ITP relevant for the future.

Just a few of the significant issues included:

• The importance of cultural as well as intellectual exchange, and how we might seek a balance between global understanding, sharing knowledge and social change.

• How UK partners could develop their programmes and maintain flexibility to meet the expectations of a changing participant base.

• Further recognising and utilising institutional strengths.

• Justifying partner involvement in programmes such as the ITP to other institutions, trustees and funding bodies.

• How to promote collaborations, projects and dialogue between UK partners, participants and the BM after the programme.

• Plans for nurturing and sustaining our dynamic network.

Looking at the original aims and objectives of the ITP, our groups were given 15 minutes to come up with changes and additions of around 5 of their own.

Our Founding Aims and Objectives

To share skills, knowledge and experience across the international museum and heritage sectors

To develop a platform for cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration.

To have a positive impact on international museum development.

To provide opportunities for personal and professional career development.

To work in collaboration with British Museum strategy

To create, develop and strengthen the British Museum’s partnerships within UK and abroad

To enhance the profile of the British Museum both nationally and internationally

To create an environment in which our UK partners can develop their international strategies.

To enable UK museums’ staff and collections to benefit from the participants’ knowledge and experience.

To promote a sustainable, dynamic network of international museum professionals.

Aims and Objectives: Our workshop results

To develop dynamic network of museum professionals in intellectual and cultural exchange

To support regional museums in maintaining links with past participants

To provide a range of museum experiences (national, BM, university, local government) to participants

To embed the ITP into wider institutions/partners with all museums within a group/area involved (e.g all in Oxford museums involved, visiting more museums in Bristol)

To provide diverse experiences in cultural exchange with ITP participants and local communities, encouraging local community visitors and showing diversity in the UK.

To demonstrate the value of the ITP in the development UK partners’ international strategies.

To promote dialogue between ITP participants to encourage tolerance and understanding across cultures

The opportunity to get international expertise/perspective on collections

To strengthen relationships with the BM

Genuine knowledge exchange between institutions

Promote the profile of partner institutions and further international ambitions

To get an understanding of international markets and establishing links with future leaders in the museum sector

Contributing to international museum professionalism

To capture anecdotal evidence of positive changes in participating institutions

Participant networks

Promotion of internal, regional and national collaboration (as well as BM)

To benefit internally and externally, across partners and within institutions.

Contacts – future projects with BM and other partners, participants.

Advocacy

To nurture our existing, dynamic network of international museum professionals.

If you have any comments or questions for the ITP team or our UK partners, please post in the comments section below!