Davit Poghosyan

Biography

Davit Poghosyan is the Director of the History Museum of Armenia. He has previously worked as a lecturer at Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan, Faculty of Culture from 2010 (Associate Professor from 2018) to 2020. He started his career in the Service for the Protection of Historical Environments and Cultural Museum Reserves (Ministry of Culture of Republic of Armenia), where he worked as a researcher, senior researcher and expert from 2005 – 2017. In 2017 Davit was invited to join the staff of the Memorial Complex of Sardarapat Battle, National Museum of Armenian Ethnography and History of Liberal Struggle, where he was adviser to the director. Then he was appointed as head of the PR and Museum Collaborations department until 2019.

Davit has accrued over fourteen years’ practical field experience since his graduation from the Department of Museum Work and Monuments Preservation at the Armenian State Pedagogical University. He is a specialist in museum communication and heritage management. He runs dozens of museum related courses and internships at the Armenian State Pedagogical University. He has supervised many Bachelor and Master theses on Museum Studies. Davit is the author of more than twenty scientific papers and two books on theory and the practical field of museums and site-museums. He holds a PhD in Pedagogical Sciences on Museum as an Information-Communication System: Functions and Prospects (with special reference to the museums of the Republic of Armenia). He has done numerous presentations and opening speeches for local and international scientific conferences, workshops, seminars and other professional events.

From the early stages of his career Davit has participated in activities with the Association of Armenian Museum Professionals and Friends of Museum, ICOM National Committee of Armenia (from 2008, founding member) and many international and local trainings, workshops, conferences. These included New York University intensive Summer Institute Program for museum specialists (2006) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency “Museum and Community Development” Knowledge Co-Creation Program (2018). He was also involved in the organisation of several international and local professional events, workshops, conferences, trainings on Museum Studies including: Museum Exhibition: Planning and Design (Yerevan, 2017) and Main Strategic Marketing Tools for Museums (Yerevan, 2018). He is a board member of ICOM National Committee of Armenia and Scientific Council of Faculty of Culture of Armenian State. In 2019 during ICOM 25th General conference in Kyoto Davit was selected as a board member of ICOM /ICTOP (International Committee for the Training of Personnel) and will be preparing to organize ICOM/ICTOP’s annual conference in Yerevan for 2020.

At the British Museum

During his time on the International Training Programme in 2015, Davit was based in the Middle East Department. His UK Partner museum was Glasgow Museums.

Davit’s exhibition project proposal was entitled Frog Conversation: Through the Ages.

Davit was the International Training Programme 2015 Dresden Fellow.

Legacy Projects

In November 2015 Davit attended the ITP Mumbai Workshop Creating Museums of World Stories. The workshop was held at CSMVS and was attended by many ITP fellows from different years and countries, UK partners and British Museum Colleagues.

In 2016 Davit was awarded a research fellowship with the State Museums of Dresden (SKD) where he worked for two months at the Grassi Museum in Leipzig on The changing museum and educational projects; an object for dialogue from diaspora to diaspora.

In October 2016 Davit, working with Marine Mkrtchyan (Armenia, ITP 2014) and Hayk Mkrtchyan (Armenia, ITP 2014) hosted Learning, Engagement and Museums, a four-day conference and workshop held at the Cafesjian Centre for the Arts in Yerevan Armenia. The event was attended by 19 Armenian museum educators from 18 institutions, UK partner museum educators from Glasgow Museums, Manchester Art Gallery and The Collections and ITP fellow museum educators from Egypt, India, Lebanon and Turkey.

In June 2018, Davit co-organised the Lori Summer School in Armenia with Ronan Brindley, ITP UK Partner Representative at Manchester Art Gallery and ITP fellows Hayk Mkrtchyan (ITP 2014, Senior Fellow 2017), Marine Mkrtchyan (ITP 2004) and Astghik Marabyan (ITP 2017).