ITP+ and ICOM UK Conference 2026
Written by Amelia Kedge, International Training Programme Coordinator (Legacy Projects)
I am delighted to announce that this Spring we will be joined by eight ITP fellows who will participate in the 2026 ITP+ and ICOM UK Conference legacy project.
Joining us from 11 – 19 April 2026 will be:
Alsu Akhmetzyanova, Independent Curator and Art Manager (Uzbekistan, ITP 2019)
Barbara Vujanović, Chief Curator, Meštrović Atelier (Croatia, ITP 2016)
Gao Rui, Researcher, The Palace Museum (China, ITP 2023)
Levent Boz, Specialist, Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums, Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Türkiye, ITP 2011)
Mattie Reynolds, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Museum Studies, Institute of American Indian Arts (USA, ITP 2024)
Olena Shevchenko, Senior Researcher and Head of the Archaeological Collections Management & Research Department, Odesa Archaeological Museum (Ukraine, ITP 2025)
Roshan Mishra, Director and Curator, Taragaon Next (Nepal, ITP 2018)
Tapunga Nepe, Director, Tairāwhiti Museum (New Zealand, ITP 2017)
Read their biographies HERE.
The theme of this year’s ITP+ course is Global Engagement and Cultural Diplomacy, which will explore how museums can act as agents of cultural connection, collaboration and dialogue in a rapidly changing world. Participants will engage with case studies, practical exercises, and expert-led discussions focusing on:
- Cultural diplomacy and soft power
- International partnerships and exchange
- Inclusive and ethical global engagement
- Responding to global challenges through museum practice
The course will take place across three days at the British Museum in London with session facilitators from the British Museum and other UK institutions.
The programme will then continue in Oxford, where the group will attend the ICOM UK 2026 Annual Conference: Museum Diplomacy in Action.
Fellows shared their reflections on what participating in this legacy project means for both them and their institutions:
‘Joining the ITP+ and ICOM UK Conference will help me learn more about cultural diplomacy in real-world settings and support the international connections I am creating for artists from Central Asia. This builds on the conversations I started as an ITP Fellow in 2019, and now I feel a stronger sense of responsibility and a clearer idea of how museums and galleries can connect different cultures.’
Alsu Akhmetzyanova (Uzbekistan, ITP 2019)
‘Taking part in the ITP+ and ICOM UK Conference is deeply meaningful both for me personally and for my institution, the Ivan Meštrović Museums – Meštrović Atelier in Zagreb. Cultural diplomacy is becoming an increasingly important aspect of our work and plays a key role in the further development of our programmes and international collaborations.
On one hand, this opportunity is invaluable for strengthening professional networks with institutions across the United Kingdom and within the ITP community. Building and maintaining these connections is essential for future partnerships, knowledge exchange, and collaborative projects in the museum and heritage sector. On the other hand, the conference is equally important as a space for developing ideas and approaches to programmes designed for new communities who have been living and working in Croatia in recent years. Engaging with diverse audiences and rethinking how museums can serve as inclusive cultural platforms is one of our key institutional priorities.
On a personal level, I am always happy to return to London and to the British Museum, a place that has already played an important role in my professional path. This time, I am especially excited about discovering Oxford, reconnecting with old friends and colleagues, and creating new professional and personal connections through this inspiring network.’
Barbara Vujanovic (Croatia, ITP 2016)
‘The theme calls for an expansive vision and keen observation. It requires both strategic, big-picture thinking and careful attention to the many detailed aspects of museum practice. Today, this topic deserves to be discussed and studied as a dedicated subject.
Museums—through collecting, exhibiting, and researching culture—should assume their responsibility for cultural diplomacy by fostering diverse forms of international engagement. Taking the Palace Museum as an example, it functioned for five centuries as the political centre of ancient China and the core stage of the country’s diplomatic activities. A part of the collection may have witnessed important diplomatic occasions, and together with other collections, they continue to provide rich resources and inspiration for cultural diplomacy today.
Today, the Palace Museum remains a central force and an important site of China’s cultural diplomacy, continuously participating in history. I look forward to sharing the practices with international colleagues, and even more to using this event as an opportunity to explore together how museums can fully realise their potential in bridging differences and in providing sustained nourishment and momentum for cultural diplomacy.’
Gao Rui (China, ITP 2023)
‘Participating in this ITP+ course and the ICOM UK Conference encourages me to reflect more deeply on the role of museums as active actors in the field of cultural diplomacy. In my professional work, I am closely involved in international exhibitions and institutional collaborations, where dialogue, trust, and long-term cooperation are fundamental. This programme offers an important opportunity to rethink how museums can respond to global challenges by building meaningful international partnerships based on dialogue, trust, and mutual respect. At the same time, it gives me the opportunity to learn from different institutions and to share my own experience. In addition, the opportunity to make new friends within the ITP network and to reconnect with my colleagues and friends at the British Museum is a great source of excitement and personal motivation for me.’
Levent Boz (Türkiye, ITP 2011)
‘In order to foster a sustainable and equitable future, it is vital to bring Indigenous issues to the forefront of the global museum discourse. ICOM UK and the ITP+ programme is an excellent international platform to do so. The ICOM UK conference theme, diplomacy in action, fits so perfectly with the work I’ve been doing recently to support Indigenous students in higher education and museum studies as well as my wider goals of exploring international best practices in museums. Using the platform of the conference as a stage, I hope to centre the work being done by Indigenous arts, culture, and museum professionals to address the continued need for the systematic decolonization of museum practice.
Sharing the on-going international partnership I’ve been supporting between two Indigenous-serving arts institution in the US and Australia with the UK museum sector is incredibly exciting. It’s even more exciting to be able to offer the insights my colleagues and I gathered during this process with the wider ITP network and to hear their feedback.’
Mattie Reynolds (USA, ITP 2024)
‘Taking part in the ITP+ and ICOM UK Conference is especially meaningful to me as a museum professional and researcher. It allows me to connect international professional experience with the urgent needs of safeguarding cultural heritage in Ukraine, particularly in times of challenge, recovery, and transformation. Attending museum conferences enables me to learn about contemporary museum practices, new technologies, digital tools, innovative approaches to working with collections and audiences, as well as international museum standards, so that I can later implement them in my own institution. At the same time, I aim to share this knowledge not only within my museum but also with Ukrainian museum colleagues more broadly, contributing to the integration of Ukrainian museums into the global professional dialogue. This is particularly important to me as I will soon complete my time in the United Kingdom and return to work in Ukraine, and I see this participation as an important step in my professional development. Such knowledge is especially essential for the integration of Ukraine and its museum institutions into European space.’
Olena Shevchenko (Ukraine, ITP 2025)
‘I am excited to attend the ICOM-UK Conference this April, where I will present my first ICOM paper, ‘Museum Diplomacy: The Evolving Role of Museums in Nepal’s Conflict Recovery.’ I am also happy to join the panel on museum diplomacy and share Nepal’s challenges and strengths with the wider museum community. I am very excited and looking forward to the programme.’
Roshan Mishra (Nepal, ITP 2018).
‘The Indigenous communities of the Tairāwhiti region have significant cultural materials held in museums and collections around the world. Working collaboratively and supporting their aspirations is an integral role we have as whare taonga (museums). This includes collaborative research projects, relationship-building with source communities, cultural exchanges, co-curated exhibitions, and discussions around access, care, and the potential reconciliation of taonga. These activities exemplify cultural diplomacy in practice, as they rely on trust, long-term relationships, and shared responsibility across borders.
Our museum’s mission statement — is to be “a waharoa (gateway) and a resource for our communities and to stimulate appreciation, understanding, enjoyment, and involvement in the arts, culture, and heritage of Tairāwhiti” — positions the museum as both a local anchor and a global connector. Through international partnerships, visiting scholars, and the circulation of knowledge and collections, the museum contributes to global conversations about Indigenous rights, ethical museum practice, and the role of cultural institutions in fostering understanding between cultures.
I am particularly interested in the idea of reimagining museums, which I see as central to current discussions about global engagement and cultural diplomacy. Reimagining museums means moving beyond traditional institutional models and focusing instead on relationships, shared authority, and ethical responsibility. In an international context, this involves seeing museums not just as places that store objects, but as active spaces for dialogue that connect communities, histories, and nations.
For Indigenous communities, reimagined museums have the potential to support cultural revitalisation, restitution, and self-determination through collaborative governance, co-curation, and the respectful sharing of knowledge. Engaging with global perspectives also allows museums to learn from different approaches to contested histories, repatriation, and inclusive practice, strengthening their role as trusted cultural intermediaries.
Museums can make a meaningful contribution to cultural diplomacy—fostering mutual understanding, addressing historical imbalances, and creating spaces that connect the past, present, and future in relevant and transformative ways.’
Tapunga Nepe (New Zealand, ITP 2017)
We are looking forward to welcoming the ITP fellows back to London and the British Museum, and showing them all that the city of Oxford has to offer.