click here to close X

Frénk van der Linden
is a free-lance journalist. He works for Dutch TV, radio, magazines and newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He is renowned for his hundreds of interviews, coverages and documentaries, and is seen as one of the best interviewers in the Netherlands. Some years ago Frénk van der Linden started with moderating debates and conferences. In this setting he also hosts talkshows.

click here to close X

click here to close X

Frénk van der Linden
is a free-lance journalist. He works for Dutch TV, radio, magazines and newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He is renowned for his hundreds of interviews, coverages and documentaries, and is seen as one of the best interviewers in the Netherlands. Some years ago Frénk van der Linden started with moderating debates and conferences. In this setting he also hosts talkshows.

click here to close X

click here to close X

Anneke Luger
was principal of the Amsterdam Vossius Gymnasium for many years. Presently, she works as a free lance consultant in the fields of cultural education and human resource management. She has an MA in Dutch literature with a minor in English and general history and is a qualified counselor.

click here to close X

click here to close X

Francine Mariani Ducray
(1954) studied political science and law in Paris in 1974. She started as civil administrator at the Ministry of Culture and became technical adviser of the Minister of Culture and Communication. She also worked as an administrator for the Musée du Louvre and became director of the general and financial administration of the Ministry of Culture and Commnication in 1993.

In 1998 she worked as general inspector of the administration of cultural affairs and in 2001 she started her current function as director of the Musées de France at the Ministry of Culture and Communication.

click here to close X

click here to close X

Wim G. van der Weiden, MA
born 18 August 1940.Trained as an historian, he became director of Museon, the National Museum for Education and the first space theatre in Europe, Omniversum, both in The Hague. He was Chairman of ICOM Netherlands (International Council of Museums) (1982-1989), and a member of the Executive Council ICOM (1986-1989). In 1989 he became a member of the European Museum Forum, since 2002 Chairman. For a period of 12 years he was director of Naturalis, the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden. In this period a complete new museum was built under his supervision. Since October 2003 he is Chief Editor of the Foundation Present Past (now known as Anno).

click here to close X

click here to close X

Teresa Mom (1950)
Teresa Mom (Teresa Mom Consultancy Ltd) has a broad experience in consulting governmental and non-governmental organizations in the Netherlands and abroad. She is specialized in organization development and in management of cultural institutions such as universities and museums. She is frequently chairing expert meetings in the Netherlands and abroad, and is involved in coaching high-level professionals. Before starting her carrier in consultancy, Teresa Mom has been a faculty member in the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Amsterdam, where she lectured and researched in the field of social and cultural philosophy.

click here to close X

click here to close X

Michael Houlihan
has been Chief Executive of Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland (MAGNI) since 1998 and took up his post at the National Museums and Galleries of Wales in April 2003. Prior to being appointed the Chief Executive of MAGNI in 1998, Michael Houlihan worked at a senior level in a number of the UK's national and regional museums. Between 1971 and 1984 he rose to be Keeper of Permanent Exhibitions and Head of Exhibitions Research at the Imperial War Museum before joining the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London as Deputy Director and then Director from 1994.

click here to close X

click here to close X

Frans Grijzenhout
(1956) is Head of Conservation Training and Education at ICN, the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage. He is a professor of Cultural heritage, conservation and restoration at Amsterdam University.

click here to close X

click here to close X

Debate 1: Collection mobility and European citizenship


Referent 1: Taja Vovk Cepic (Director, City Museum, Ljubljana).
Referent 2:Sárolta Schredl
(Head of department museums and libraries, Austrian Federal Office for the Care of Monuments)


Collection mobility is a means, not an end. Museums want more of it, and in different forms, in order that they can present more, better and more interesting exhibitions and so retain their existing public and, they hope, attract new visitors. The European Council and European Commission on the other hand, see collection mobility in terms of European cultural exchange and cooperation. They see a causal link with the creation of a European citizenship. Are these two objectives compatible? Can collection mobility contribute towards the creation of a European identity? Can museums fulfil this expectation on the part of policymakers?

A parallel objective in European cultural politics is the fostering of regional cultural identities. Quite apart from the issue of whether and how this might contribute towards the unification of Europe, there is the question of whether museums have a role to play. By reinforcing regional collections? By presenting culture from other regions? How are these matters viewed in the ten new member states?

read more

click to close X

click here to close X

Debate 2: 'Collectie Nederland' - Collection Europe?


Referent 1: Dieter Bogner (museum developer, Vienna).
Referent 2: Frank Bergevoet (Consultant, ICN, Amsterdam).
Referent 3: Janne Vilkuna (Professor of Museology, University of Jyväskylä).



The term 'Collectie Nederland' first appeared in the Dutch museum world just over a decade ago. The idea behind is that all the public collections in the country are part of one huge virtual collection. In terms of mobilisation, rearrangement, co-ordination and valuation , this concept has had an enormous impact upon the debate about the management of museum collections. Are such notions of trans-institutional collections relevant in the European context?

read more

click here to close X

click here to close X

Debate 4: The museum extra muros


Referent: Petra Timmer (independent curator, Amsterdam).


The term 'museum extra muros' refers to the presentation of collections outside the museum precincts. This often means at another museum, but increasingly it also means at non-museum locations. In the Netherlands, at least, this trend is being encouraged by the government. The aim is to make cultural heritage more visible, in a way which may be surprising or give the location cultural added value - for example, by returning heritage to authentic contexts or presenting it in unexpected surroundings.

This session will introduce and then discuss new developments and ideas in this field. It is to address practical questions. For example, where do the boundaries or conservation, management and security lie? How do you organise remote management? And who should be considered for loans? What are reliable partners to lend to? At a more theoretical level, the session will ask how far you can go as a museum and by what sort of 'extra muros' culture is served, and not commerce (to the detriment of culture).

read more

click here to close X

click here to close X

Debate 5: State indemnity and non-insurance agreements

Referent 1: Harald Hartung (European Commission, Education and Culture General-Directorate, Head of Culture Unit, Bruxelles)
Referent 2: Luc Derepas (Deputy administrator general, Reunion des Musées de France)
Referent 3: Rolandas Kvietkauskas
(Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania, Vilnius)
Referent 4: Jan Willem Sieburgh (managing director of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

At the request of the European Commission, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) in France and the State Museums of Berlin have investigated national systems of indemnity in 31 European nations. During this debate, the results of their research will be presented and discussed. Particular attention will be paid to non-insurance or self-insurance agreements.

Should opportunities in this respect be extended? An important objective of this expert meeting is to generate recommendations for the European Coucil in respect of the further development of state indemnity and other museum insurance systems in Europe.

read more

click here to close X

click here to close X

Debate 6: Collection mobility - the back office


Referent 1: David McNeff (Loans Manager, National Portrait Gallery, London)
Referent 2: Isabel Cordeiro
(Vice Director of the Portuguese Institute of Museums)
Referent 3: Margriet de Jong, (Staff Member International Affairs, Netherlands Museum Association, Amsterdam)



An increase in collection mobility places greater demands upon museum organisations' administrative and conservation departments. Are they ready to deal with this? Moreover, loan arrangements are based upon mutual trust that the items concerned will be treated properly. How can that trust be enhanced within the countries of the European Union?

Standardisation of loan conditions, guidelines, protocols and facility reports is one possible way, and it also saves time and money. At the moment most museums apply their own models, protocols, procedures, guidelines and standards to the administrative, logistical and security aspects of loan arrangements. Even where national guidelines do exist, which is the exception rather than the rule, their status is unclear. This session will assess what the documents in various EU member states contain. It will also examine whether national and international guidelines are needed or useful and, if so, what activities are required at the European level.

NB: this debate is not about museum registration.

read more

click here to close X

click here to close X

Debate 3: Satellites and decentralisation


Referent 1: York Langenstein (Head of the Bavarian Institute for Non-National Museums, Munich).
Referent 2: Paul Huvenne (Director of the Royal Museum for Fine Arts Antwerp)


Satellite museums and decentralisation - the distribution of collections on a national basis - are two forms of long-term collection mobility. Various examples are being presented at the 'Inspirations' session on 28 October.This debate will examine the aims served by satellites and decentralisation, how participants view them and weigh the advantages and drawbacks of their various forms. In this workshop we will also look at how these forms of collection mobility can be further developed within Europe or beyond it.

read more

click here to close X