Hayk Mkrtchyan

Biography

From 2001 – 2005 Hayk studied at the Armenian State Pedagogical University, in the Faculty of Culture, Department of Museum Studies and Monuments Preservation. After graduating he qualified as a museologist and guide, and also began working at the History Museum of Yerevan as a senior researcher and briefly as Deputy Director of Finances.

Hayk moved into the position of Senior Researcher at the Memorial Museum of Avetiklsahakyan, which was his role during his attendance of the ITP summer programme. Since then, Hayk became the coordinator of the Museum Education Centre in Armenia until taking on the role of Director of the Association of Museum Workers and Friends in 2017. The Association was founded in 2003 and has more than 50 museums around Armenia as members. The organisation aims to support museum work in Armenia through professional education, and the development and modernisation of the field in general.

Since 2013 Hayk has been a board member of the International Committee of Marketing and PR within ICOM, which has helped him to achieve great results, including the 2015 conference New Technologies, New Possibilities, New Marketing Approaches.

On top of his duties as Director of the Association of Museum Workers and Friends, Hayk works as an assistant to the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport.

At the British Museum
During his time on the International Training Programme in 2014, Hayk was based in the Middle East department and his partner placement was spent at Glasgow Museums.

Hayk’s place on the programme was generously supported by the Aall Foundation.

Legacy Projects
In November 2015 Hayk 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.

At this conference Hayk began discussions with colleagues from Manchester Art Gallery, on hosting an education conference and workshop in Yerevan Armenia.

In October 2016 Hayk, with the help of Marine Mkrtchyan (Armenia, ITP 2014) and Davit Poghosyan (Armenia, ITP 2015) hosted Learning, Engagement and Museums, a four-day conference and workshop held at 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.

Hayk returned to the British Museum in 2017 in the role of Senior Fellow. He supported the ITP team in the build up to, during and after the 2018 Summer Programme, attended by 25 museum professionals from 18 countries. In this position, Hayk also took on the role of guest editor of the 2018 ITP newsletter.

Hayk organised a workshop on Museum leadership and management which was held in Armenia in 2019 supported by the ITP and delivered by Janet Vitmayer, former Chief Executive, Horniman Museum and Gardens and Iain Watson, Director, Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums.

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 5 (2018), Learning, engagement and museums
ITP Newsletter Issue 5 (2018), Bulletin Board
ITP Newsletter Issue 5 (2018), The ITP in Armenia: The power of collaboration