Letter from Alberto Garlandini, ICOM President

Dear Participants of Prague 2022 General Conference,

ICOM has just celebrated its 75 Year Anniversary. Facing the disasters and ruins of World War Two, on 16 November 1946 Chauncey Jerome Hamlin, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Buffalo Museum of Science and George Salles, Directeur des Musées de France, convened the Constitutive Assembly of ICOM at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, with the participation of eminent museum directors from fifteen countries and the support of many others from all over the world.

ICOM’s anniversary comes at a time of both great challenges and opportunities for museums. Facing the difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, museums all over the world have found a spirit of innovation and creativity that has made them as relevant as ever.

Yesterday as today, culture, heritage and museums have proved to be the best way to build bridges between peoples and promote a better, peaceful and sustainable world.

ICOM is calling museums to face the challenge and lead the change.

ICOM Prague 2022 will discuss the “Power of Museums”. It will be a unique occasion to take stock of the present situation, look back at the history of ICOM and experiment the value of an international network of knowledge and experience exchange.

As ICOM founding fathers stated in 1946, only together will we be able to move forward.

Prague, the Czech museums and ICOM are waiting for you!

Alberto Garlandini
President of the International Council of Museums