TheMuseumsLab program, launched in May 2021, will enter its second round next year. Interested individuals have until 23 January 2022 to apply. TheMuseumsLab is a platform for shared learning, exchange and education on the future of museums in Africa and Europe. The program aims to build close and lasting networks between future designers of museum concepts on both sides.
"We are delighted that the globally unique project TheMuseumsLab can now be established as a platform for an international, practice-oriented community of museum professionals," says Johannes Vogel, Director General of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. One goal of MuseumsLab is not only to transform museums, but also to promote social change by addressing pressing issues such as social justice and climate change.
The project was developed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN), the Master Program in Museum Management and Communication at the University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Berlin and the African consultancy group The Advisors. In 2022, the program will be implemented in close cooperation with the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the Goethe Institut South Africa.
TheMuseumsLab is funded by the Federal Foreign Office (AA) and supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The program promotes professional exchange between curators, researchers and managers in museums, galleries and cultural institutions in African and European countries and enables participants to share knowledge, skills and practices. In 2022, 50 staff members from African and European museums can participate in the program. More than 100 lecturers, speakers and mentors will accompany the program through thematic inputs and discussions.
The program will begin in May with a digital module on "Entangled Histories and the Future of Cultural Memories", followed in June by the second module "Collections and Research", which will be held in Berlin. Afterwards, the participants have the opportunity of a two-week residency at one of the 30 European partner museums; in the following year, this will also be extended to African partner museums. The program will be concluded by the third module "Communication and Strategic Management" followed by a one-week co-creation phase in Cape Town in September 2022.