Museums Association Conference Cardiff 2025: ITP Report

POSTED ON 09/12/2025 IN Legacy Projects Museums Association

Written by Amelia Kedge, International Training Programme Coordinator (Legacy Projects)

We are very pleased to share the ITP report from our programme at the 2025 Museums Association Conference. Each year the International Training Programme organise a week-long programme structured around the Museums Association (MA) annual conference. The 2025 MA Conference was held in Cardiff and was attended by six fellows:

  • Abdelrehim Moussa, Senior Curator, Museum of Islamic Art (Egypt, ITP 2012)
  • Abdulrahman Al-Khafaji, Head of the Database Division, Iraq Museum (Iraq, ITP 2024)
  • Marie-Antoinette Al Gemayel, Curator, Ministry of Culture, National Museum of Beirut (Lebanon, ITP 2016)
  • Olena Shevchenko, Senior Researcher and Head of the Archaeological, Collections Management & Research Department Odesa Archaeological Museum, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Ukraine, ITP 2025)
  • Richard Ohene-Larbi, Museum Educator, Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (Ghana, ITP 2024)
  • Sayed Ahmed, Director of the Museum Display, The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (Egypt, ITP 2016)
ITP Fellows Richard, Marie-Antoinette, Sayed, Olena, Abdelrehim and Abdulrahman at Big Pit National Coal Museum.

ITP fellows Richard, Marie-Antoinette, Sayed, Olena, Abdelrehim and Abdulrahman at Big Pit National Coal Museum

This year, speakers from across the UK and around the world came together to discuss the latest thinking about museums, galleries and heritage sites. The theme perthyn – the Welsh word meaning to belong – invited attendees to rethink the role of museums as places of connection and belonging, to re-examine how they engage with communities and to act on the idea that “belonging is not just a principle but a basic human right”.

Complementing participation in the MA Conference, a key aim of the week was to extend opportunities for fellows – and by extension their institutions – to deepen their professional knowledge, gain practical insights, and broaden their networks. To achieve this, the ITP team developed a tailored programme of visits across the South Wales region, enabling participants to engage directly with a range of museum practices, heritage sites, and community focused initiatives. Programme visits this year included Big Pit National Coal Museum, Caerleon Roman Baths and Fortress, and the National Roman Legion Museum.

This programme was the International Training Programme’s ninth visit to the Museums Association Conference, and once again offered fellows a valuable platform for dialogue, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas. The experience always proves to be a highlight of our year, as well as a great opportunity to reconnect with ITP alumni.

The conference and the week of programming around it always proves to be a highlight of our year and a great opportunity to reconnect with ITP alumni.

Read the 2025 ITP MA Conference report HERE.

Don’t forget you can read all our previous MA Conference reports by visiting our legacy projects page: https://www.bmitpglobalnetwork.org/itp-legacy-projects/itp-the-museums-association-ma-conference/

Group photo of the ITP team and fellows at Caerleon.

Group photo of ITP team and fellows at Caerleon.