The 27th ICOM General Conference will be held in Dubai in 2025. On November 20, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, tweeted about the world’s largest museum conference.
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) selects the location that will host its annual conference. Since 1948, it has been conducted every three years. Sheikh Mohammed announced on his Twitter account on Saturday that the 2025 ICOM conference in Dubai will bring together 119 countries and 20,000 international museums. This will provide a significant boost to the UAE’s cultural sector. According to him, their beloved emirate’s international museums, as well as national museums across the country, will lead the worldwide debate on the future of museums at this massive international conference.
فوز دبي باستضافة أكبر مؤتمر للمتاحف في العالم آيكوم2025 بحضور 119 دولة تغطي 20 ألف متحف عالمي يعطي دفعة قوية لقطاع الثقافة بالدولة.متاحفنا العالمية في عاصمتنا الحبيبة ومتاحفنا الوطنية على امتداد كافة إمارات الدولة ستقود النقاش العالمي حول مستقبل المتاحف بهذا المؤتمر الدولي الضخم
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) November 20, 2021
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, tweeted on November 20 that Dubai had won the bid to hold ICOM 2025, the world’s largest museum conference. In the city of the future, Dubai, almost 4,000 professionals from 119 countries will assemble to discuss one topic: ‘The Future of Museums.’ He also thanked Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Member of the Dubai Council, Dubai Culture, Dubai Municipality, and Dubai Tourism for their contributions to the worldwide event’s success.
Dubai wins the bid to host the International Council of Museums General Conference in 2025. Over 4,000 experts from 119 countries will meet to discuss the Future of Museums. This achievement was made possible thanks to @LatifaMRM, @DubaiCulture, @DMunicipality & @dubaitourism.
— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) November 20, 2021
Theme With A Focus On The Future
The conference will be held for the first time in the Arab world as a result of this development. The UAE was chosen to host the conference in 2025, and ICOM congratulated them. ‘The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities, concentrating on change, recovery, accessibility, and transparency,’ was the theme of ICOM UAE’s application to organise the conference.
A Winning Bid
Dubai was declared the winner after a voting round on the 18th and 19th of November at ICOM’s executive committee meeting, which drew over 130 members. Dubai’s proposal received 68 votes, beating Stockholm, Sweden (34 votes) and Kazan, Russia (20 votes).