A Decade On: Back to the British Museum

Written by Dora Jok, Senior Fellow of ITP 2026 (Malaysia, ITP 2016)

In many countries, where rivers shape the landscape and communities learn to live with change, a reed bends with the water rather than resisting it. Returning to the British Museum ten years after my first International Training Programme fellowship in 2016, I am reminded that growth often comes not from standing still, but from learning when to bend, adapt, and embrace new opportunities.

Despite the body aches from sitting for so long on a non-stop flight from my hometown, the journey was smooth and without any significant glitches until I reached Schafer House. Stepping into Schafer House once again brought back memories of my first training with the British Museum in 2016. I remembered the pretty faces with warm smiles, the professional networks that have remained over the years, and the exciting experience of people from diverse cultures learning together as one global museum community.

The next morning, I walked to the British Museum, trying to remember the route. I found myself mesmerizing the streets, the signages, and the buildings around me. After a few detours, I finally arrived at the museum. The British Museum remains as vibrant as ever, packed with visitors from many nationalities, truly living up to its phrase “a museum of the world, for the world”. It continues to be an inspiring place for learning and knowledge exchange.

While waiting for George and Caitlin at the reception area, I found myself reflecting on how the ITP team developed such an outstanding training programme. How did they secure the funding? How did they manage to remain relevant to participants from different backgrounds and countries? How did they involve so many people in the programme and sustain a strong network among museum professionals from different institutions? These are some of the valuable lessons that participants can learn from the programme itself.

The training is much more than building a network of friends, as Ciprian Dobra (ITP 2019 and Senior Fellow 2023) aptly expressed. He captured this idea beautifully on a mug, and I could not agree more. Through the ITP, the British Museum has created a global network of museum professionals across countries with distinctive cultures and unique histories. This network enables the sharing of best practices, updated curatorial knowledge, collaborative projects, and meaningful engagement with society. These are the lessons that we learn together. Museums cannot work in isolation; they must collaborate and engage with stakeholders locally, nationally, and internationally.

George briefed me on the upcoming programmes. He also introduced me to a new application called Swapcard, which will be used for the first time in ITP. Swapcard is a conference networking platform that allows users to view event schedules, arrange meetings, identify participants, and access venue information. This was completely new to me, as I had never seen or used the application before. It is a handy tool and very much suited to today’s world, where many interaction takes place online.

For ITP 2026 fellows, I am looking forward to seeing you and learning together, thus created a lifetime network and I would like to end this blog with Ciprian’s phrase “ITP, more than a network, friends”.