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UMAC Sessions in Dubai

Dear colleagues,
 
For those of you seeking information about the UMAC program in Dubai, please find a summary sheet attached that outlines the three collaborative sessions with NATHIST (Natural History), CIMUSET (Science and Technology) and CIPEG (Egyptology) plus a preliminary program for our International Committee’s Day at the American University of Sharjah.
 
Not all authors are listed (some presentations are multi-authored), but titles for each session presentation and main presenter is included. Not all presentations are confirmed.
 
We are currently working to make available the full volume of abstracts for all these sessions as the next issue of the UMAC Journal prior to the commencement of ICOM Dubai 2025.
 
If you wish to respond to this message, please ensure you do not copy in the whole UMAC mailing list (umac-ml) with your response.
 
Just respond directly to me – chair.umac@icom.museum
 
Kind regards
 
Andrew
Andrew Simpson
Chair UMAC (University Museums and Collections)
An International Committee of ICOM
 
 
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Introducing the 2025 – 2028 Election Candidates

Introducing the 2025 – 2028 Election Candidates

 

Further to the UMAC Elections Committee 2025 announcement of the list of candidates for the UMAC Board Election 2025. Please follow the links for each candidate to review the unique experience and knowledge each candidate has to offer the positions they have nominated for.  For more information on the voting please see the announcement from the Election Committee.

 

Chair (1 position)

Left to Right: Andrew Simpson ; Sébastien Soubiran

 

Vice Chair (2 positions)

Left to Right: Giovanna Vitelli ; Zhao Ke

 

Secretary (1 position)

Ana Isabel Diaz-Plaza Varon

 

Treasurer (1 position)

Left to Right: Nathalie Nyst ; Dominick Verschelde

 

Ordinary Member (3 positions)

Left to Right (top):  Mauricio Candido da Silva ; Elisa Montserrat Rull
(bottom):  Wardah Naeem Bukhari ; Rebecca Lush

Left to Right: Ayumi Terada ;  Sian Tiley-Nel ;  Josh Yiu   

 

 

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Message from the UMAC Election Committee: Candidates for the UMAC Board Election 2025

01.11.2025

Dear UMAC Members,

We are pleased to announce the list of candidates for the UMAC Board Election 2025. All eligible nominations have been received and verified in accordance with the election regulations. Detailed profiles and nomination documents for each candidate will be published on the UMAC website in the coming days.

The candidates stand for the positions of Chair, Vice Chairs (2), Secretary, Treasurer, and Ordinary Members (3). Voting will open 24 hours prior to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will close at the commencement of the AGM. The 2025 UMAC Annual General Meeting will take place online on Thursday, 27 November 2025, during which the results of the election will be officially announced.
To cast your vote, please ensure that you are a financial member of ICOM with UMAC selected as your primary International Committee. Individual and Institutional members are allowed one vote each.

Votes will be submitted by email to the dedicated address: umacelection@gmail.com
The subject line for casting your vote must be “UMAC Board Election 2025 Ballot Vote”. Your votes with the subject line indicated above must be sent only to the election address provided and not to any other address or individual.

Ballot papers will be emailed to all addresses linked with the ICOM Secretariat membership data. Each email address will allow one response only with a completed ballot form. We therefore rely on the timely transfer of your 2025 membership fee to ICOM Secretariat – Paris by your National Committee and the updating of the official membership list, as well as on your IT systems not blocking attachments from umacelection@gmail.com (or that you can retrieve such messages from spam).

The ballot form will ask whether you are voting as an Individual or Institutional member; you must answer this to cast a legitimate vote. The Election Committee will remove completed ballot forms from return emails and mark the corresponding email address against the membership list.

The vote will close at the commencement of the AGM, regardless of whether all returned ballot forms have been received by the Committee. This will allow time to finalize the count and to announce the new UMAC Board (2025–2028) before the end of the AGM.

Please note that casting your vote as early as possible is highly important and strongly encouraged, as any delay will significantly slow down the Committee’s counting process.

We thank all candidates for their dedication and enthusiasm in supporting the mission and goals of UMAC.

Warm regards,
Levent Tökün & Kirsten Vincenz
UMAC Elections Committee 2025

 

[Full message attached here: ]

[For more information on each candidate:     ]

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UMAC AGM and Election 2025, a message from the UMAC Elections Committee

Dear UMAC members,

2025 is an election year for the Board of UMAC and we are writing to you with information about the election process for this year. Details about all the candidates for the UMAC 2025 election will be made available via UMAC’s website in early November.

Because the program for ICOM Dubai is full, the UMAC Annual General Meeting for 2025 will be held online on November 27, 2025 (more details to follow separately). Voting for the new Board (Chair, Vice Chairs, Secretary, Treasurer, and Ordinary Members) will commence 24 hours before the AGM and the results of the election will be announced during the AGM.

You must be a financial member of ICOM who has selected UMAC as your primary International Committee to vote. Votes will be cast by email to an email address established specifically for the election. Individual and Institutional members are allowed one vote each.

The UMAC elections email address: umacelection@gmail.com

The ballot papers will be emailed to all email addresses linked with the ICOM Secretariat membership data. Each email address will be allowed one response (only) with a completed ballot form. We are therefore relying on the fact that your national committee has transferred your membership fee to Paris for 2025 and ICOM have updated the membership list, and that your IT system doesn’t strip attachments from umacelection@gmail.com messages and / or you can recover such from spam filters.

The ballot form will ask if you are voting as an Individual or Institutional member. You will be required to answer this to cast a legitimate vote. The election committee will remove completed ballot forms from return email messages and mark the returning email address from the membership list.

The subject line for casting your vote will be “UMAC Board Election 2025 Ballot Vote”.

The vote will close at the commencement of the AGM regardless of whether all returned ballot forms have been received by the election committee. This will give us time to finalise the count and allow us to announce the membership of the new UMAC Board for 2025 to 2028 before the end of the 2025 AGM.

We also take this opportunity to remind you that all nominations must be submitted by 24 October 2025 to both our email addresses.

Levent Tökün & Kirsten Vincenz
UMAC Elections Committee 2025
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Announcement: UMAC Award 2025 Nominees

Congratulations, UMAC Award 2025 Nominees

 
Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to announce the three nominees of the UMAC AWARD 2025.
Congratulations to the finalists!

  • Jagiellonian University Museum: “Ladies, what do you need that for? Women at the Jagiellonian University”
  • University of Canterbury Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities: Accessibility Project
  • University of Navarra Museum (MUN): Arts and Life
The Award will be announced during ICOM Dubai, on UMAC’s ICs Day on November 15, at the American University of Sharjah.
 
Akiko Fukuno,
Chair, UMAC Award Committee
 
Director, National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
13-9 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-8712
 
Curator

International Christian University Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum　
10–2 Osawa, 3–chome, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181–8585 JAPAN

TEL 0422-33-3340 FAX 0422-33-3485
URL: https://subsites.icu.ac.jp/yuasa_museum/index_e.htm

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Two Horizons: multi-knowledge system explorations through university museums and collections

Two Horizons

UMAC JOURNAL – CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Two Horizons: multi-knowledge system explorations through university museums and collections

In this call for proposals, we are seeking case studies where different forms of knowledge are used in the work of university museums and collections. It has long been known that material engagements with objects provide cross-disciplinary bridges in pedagogy. In this thematic issue of the journal, we extend this concept to explore how different forms of knowledge can be embedded into the materiality of objects and how different knowledge systems can be represented in the diversity of museum work.

This project builds on the publication of our special issue of the University Museums and Collections Journal (UMACJ 17.1) where repatriation and restitution stories involving university museums and collections have been collaboratively documented as case studies involving at least two perspectives. This project aligns with the ICOM strategic focus area of decolonisation and is viewed as an important step forward in the evolution of museums from being points of cultural authority to being a network of cultural agency.

University museums and collections are uniquely positioned at the intersection of academic research, teaching, and public engagement. Increasingly, they are engaging with diverse knowledge systems—Indigenous, local, community-based, artistic, spiritual, and more—to rethink and reshape museum practice. These engagements open possibilities for new approaches, challenge established methods, and foster collaborative ways of working that respond to broader questions of equity, sustainability, and relevance.

We invite proposals for case studies that explore how university museums and collections are engaging with different epistemologies to undertake new work. Contributions may examine specific projects, partnerships, or innovations that demonstrate how museums are navigating, negotiating, and integrating multiple knowledge systems.

Case studies that have fostered new forms of collaboration with communities, artists, researchers, and students are sought, those that have:-

  • Reshaped exhibition-making, interpretation, and public programming
  • Reimagined education and engagement strategies
  • Informed conservation, storage, and care practices
  • Reconsidered archival and research methodologies
  • Challenged or expanded institutional frameworks, policies, and values

 

We welcome co-written contributions by parties who have worked together that highlight both opportunities and challenges, including reflections on process, relationships, and lessons learned. Case studies may come from any disciplinary context or geographical region and may address practice at any scale—from small, experimental projects to long-term institutional change.

Submission Guidelines

Summary outline of proposed article: 300–500 words

Deadline for proposals: November 29, 2025

Notification of acceptance: January 1, 2026

Final case study length: 3,000–8,000 words (including references and images)

Submission of full article May, 2026 with provisional publication date in August, 2026.

Please email proposal to: umacjeditor@gmail.com  

Also email if you wish to discuss a possible contribution to the volume.

The UMAC Journal is a double diamond open access journal published by the International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC), a Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

 

 

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UMAC Board 2025-2028 – Call for submissions open until 24 October 2025, midnight EEST.

Dear UMAC members,

As you know, this year there will be elections to the UMAC Board 2025-2028. The election will take place at the UMAC Annual General Assembly, on a date in November 2025 to be determined.
UMAC members in good standing are now invited to submit candidacies to the positions of:

– UMAC Chair (1 position)

– UMAC Vice-Chair (2 positions)

– UMAC Secretary (1 position)

– UMAC Treasurer (1 position)

– UMAC Ordinary Board Member (3 positions)

Please check eligibility, calendar, and candidate forms on our website.
 
Get in touch if you have any questions. See:

http://umac.icom.museum/governance/elections/

This call is open until 24 October 2025, midnight EEST.
Kind regards,
Levent Tökün
On behalf of the UMAC 2025-2028 Election Committee
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UMAC News January / February 2025

UMAC NEWS

Thank You @TU Dresden & Universeum
 
We would like to express our deep and sincere thanks to our hosts and partners of last year’s conference who worked tirelessly to ensure we had a vibrant and engaging conference in 2024. What an awesome event!
 
Here’s @TU Dresden’s reflections
https://tu-dresden.de/kustodie/umac-universeum2024/about/news/news/der-blick-zurueck-icom-umac-und-universeum-zu-gast-an-der-tu-dresden
And here’s the abstracts volume from the meeting that gives you an indication of just how much “Shaping Transformation” is going on:-
http://umac.icom.museum/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/UMACj-16-2-2024-Abstracts-FINAL.pdf
 

ICOM General Conference, Dubai 2025

From the 10th to the 14th of November 2025, ICOM will hold its 27th General Conference in Dubai with the motto “The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities”.
This year UMAC will partner with three other International Committees to develop programs. We will partner with CIMUSET, ICOM’s International Committee for Museums and Collections of Science and Technology; NATHIST, ICOM’s International Committee for Museums and Collections of Natural History and CIPEG, ICOM’s International Committee for Egyptology.
More information will be available here UMACj 17(3) 2025 Dubai – International Council of Museums Committee for University Museums and Collections

University Museums Director’s Forum, Shanghai

A University Museums Directors Forum was held on December 11 & 12 at the Qian Xuesen Library and Museum at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The Director’s forum was a further development of the collaboration between UMAC and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.  The Director’s Forum was a specialised meeting focused on university museums and university museum leadership and was attended by professional staff, university museum leaders and university leaders from China and elsewhere. It was an opportunity to deeply investigate issues of current relevance to the university museum sector globally. The focus of the forum in 2024 was on best professional practice in leadership. This was the first face to face meeting convened with our Chinese partners (and supported by the Chinese Museums Association since the COVID pandemic.

The International Congress on Culture in Climate Action 2024

The International Congress on Culture in Climate Action 2024 was held virtually on 4, 5 and 6 December. The congress was attended by more than 80 professionals from 20 different countries, including Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, England, Italy, Greece, Morocco, India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries.
UMAC was an official sponsor of the congress and contributor. This event was organized by the Institute for Sustainable Urban and Territorial Development of the City of La Plata Foundation, Sustainable Heritage Forum, Heritage and Climate Change Initiative, Climate Heritage Network.
https://www.even3.com.ar/e/congreso-internacional-de-cultura-en-accion-climatica-2024
Here’s a UMAC contribution to the congress – The Unique Potential of the University Museum in the Anthropocene
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/386538295
We’ve been contacted by the organisers seeking our involvement in the 2025 issue of the congress. Anyone interested in participating get in touch chair.umac@icom.museum

Imaginations – two new interviews

Two new interviews in the Imaginations series have been posted on our YouTube site thanks to Zhao Ke the Chair of our UMAC Futures Working Group. Check them out here.
Imaginations #18 with Nigel Bond, Manager of Cultural Collections Te Tumu Herenga Libraries and Learning Services. Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Aukland, Aotearoa / New Zealand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lko5xRDTECo
Imaginations #19 with Caine Chennat, Curatorial and Cultural Collections, University of Tasmania, Australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFIZoR4xe0w

Call for research participants

Former member of the first UMAC Board, and host of an early UMAC meeting at the Gustavianum, Ing-Marie Munktell is looking for some female colleagues who would be willing to answer some questions about work and career in academic museum settings.
Please contact Ing-Marie directly – ingmariemunktell@gmail.com

Coming very soon!

Is our special UMAC Journal issue entitled “Beyond Provenance Research: Restitution and Return from University Museums (eds. Steph C. Scholten, Andrew Simpson, Gina Hammond).
Being uploaded as we speak!

EVENTS

Museums Today: Activating Art Collections for University Science Curricula | The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum | The George Washington University
Some of the contributors to STEM in the Art Museum (UMACJ 16 -3) are participating in a webinar in the Museums Today series this Wednesday, 26th February at 18:00 EST (US), to talk about the volume and the intersection of art and science in teaching at the university level. Please tune in if you are available and please help us spread the word about this program. Here is the link to the page where you can learn more and register.
Info and registration
https://museum.gwu.edu/museums-today-activating-art-collections-university-science-curricula
Here’s the relevant thematic issue of the University Museums and Collections Journal:-
http://umac.icom.museum/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/UMAC_2024-16_3-FINAL.pdf
‘Ways of Working’: How university museums and collections collaborate within their institutions
Date: Wednesday 12 March 2025
Time: 12.30-2.30pm (AEDT)
Location: Education Room, Chau Chak Wing Museum / Online
Presented by CAUMAC in collaboration with the Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney.
Exploring “Ways of Working” and examining the relationship between Australia’s university museums and collections and the tertiary education institutions that host them.
The event will consist of a series of lightning talks by colleagues from a range of Australian universities exploring case studies of projects and programs of collaboration. This will be followed by a panel featuring representatives of Australian university museums and collections and university administrators who will explore the role of museums and collections within the broader landscape of 21st century Australian higher education.
Further information and registration
(https://www.sydney.edu.au/museum/whats-on/talks-and-events/caumac-ways-of-working.html)
What we’re reading
Art as a Bridge to the Past (from Miami)
https://news.miami.edu/stories/2025/02/art-as-a-bridge-to-the-past.html
UNE’s Museum of Antiquities reopens to the public (from Armidale)
https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2025/02/unes-museum-of-antiquities-reopens-to-the-public
Museos y colecciones universitarios: algunas experiencias globales en relación con el patrimonio académico
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384807279
Have our universities lost their social licence?
https://graemeturner.org/2025/02/12/have-our-universities-lost-their-social-licence/
More than Museums: Care for Natural and Cultural Heritage in Australia
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/386573952
How the SDGs are redefining internationalisation in HE, via @uniworldnews
 
 
 
Andrew Simpson
Chair UMAC (University Museums and Collections)
An International Committee of ICOM
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Release of UMACj 16(3): STEM in the Art Museum: Innovative Pedagogies for the 21st-Century University

Dear UMAC community,
 
I am writing to announce the release of a special, guest-edited issue of the University Museums and Collections Journal; issue 16 (3) with the title of STEM in the Art Museum: Innovative Pedagogies for the 21st-Century University.
 
This issue is edited by Liliana Milkova from Yale University Art Gallery and Jodi Kovach from The Gund, Kenyon College, USA. This is the first issue of the journal that has been entirely guest edited.  Liliana and Jodi have put together an excellent compilation of interesting articles that break new ground in understanding the pedagogy of the university art museum.
 
Contributors include:- Liliana Milkova, Jodi Kovach, Jennifer McMahon, Danielle Raad, Gina Marie Hurley, Jim Harris, Ashley Moyse, Gina Hadley, Rachel Lane, Sally Frampton, Ariel Dempsey, Joshua Hordern, Kate Saunders, Gabriele C. De Luca, Bahram Moasser, Sarah C. Petersen, Hannah Wirta Kinney, Cynthia Taylor, Joey Orr, Daniel Tapia Takaki, Jennifer T. Cholnoky, Meg Urry, Sydney Skelton Simon, Spencer Smith, Ellen M. Alvord and Roksana Filipowska.
 
The volume will be a useful resource for museum educators both within and outside of the higher education setting. It includes case studies where the art museum has been used for pedagogy in biology, computer science, neuroscience, geology, chemistry, physics and medicine.
 
As with all issues of the UMAC Journal it is available freely online and published under a Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
 
STEM in the Art Museum can be accessed here:
http://umac.icom.museum/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/UMAC_2024-16_3-FINAL.pdf
 
Kind regards,
 
Andrew
Andrew Simpson
Chair Editorial Board, UMAC Journal, and
Chair UMAC (University Museums and Collections)
An International Committee of ICOM
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Announcing the 2024 UMAC Award Winner

The 2024 UMAC Award was won by the The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, for their project, Curating Discomfort.

The Award was accepted by Esraa Husain and Steph Scholten, Director of the Hunterian, at the UMAC AGM, held on 26 September at the Dresden University of Technology.

 

The ceremony was attended by the representatives of the UMAC Award 2024 finalists and UMAC members at the UMAC-Universeum 2024 Conference.

 

Find out more about the winner and finalists of the Award on YouTube!

 

We promote every promising aspect of the university museums worldwide, and we look forward to seeing and receiving more projects you could share with us!

 

Best regards,

 

Akiko Fukuno
Chair of UMAC Award Committee

Curator, International Christian University Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum