RE-ORG News

The two-week training workshop was part of the project "Preventive conservation and enhancement of the collections of the Manjakamiadana Palace at the Palace of Andafiavaratra" conducted by UNESCO at the request of the Ministry of Communication and Culture of Madagascar and funded by a generous contribution from the Government of Japan.

The National Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana has hosted RE-ORG Slovenia, organized by ICOM Slovenia. The first part of the training programme took place from 22-24 May 2019.

The 18th edition of RE-ORG began on 25 November in Kuwait, after the successful experiences of RE-ORG Chile in September, RE-ORG International Portugal in October, and RE-ORG Albania in November. Twenty participants from Kuwait and Oman are receiving training through this course, which will continue until 7 December.

Last month ICCROM organized the 17th RE-ORG workshop at the Museum of Lisbon in Portugal. The two-week event (from 15-26 October) took place thanks to the generous support of the Empresa de Gestão de Equipamentos e Animação Cultural, E.M. Lisboa (EGEAC), the Museum of Lisbon and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

ICCROM, CCI and the Ibermuseums Program are pleased to offer a new RE-ORG resource kit for free download in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
More than 55 000 museums exist in the world, and typically 90% of their objects are in storage rooms. As collections grow, financial resources continue to dwindle, leaving museums struggling to ensure that their treasures in storage are adequately looked after and accessible.

In November 2011, the delegates of the 27th General Assembly of ICCROM supported a resolution underlining the “worldwide problem of conservation and access in museum storage.” They suggested that ICCROM engage with countries to improve the present situation. Since then, ICCROM has assisted with storage facility reorganization projects in Algeria, China, Croatia, Greece, India, New Caledonia, and Serbia. Furthermore, four countries have launched national strategies: these include Belgium, Canada, Chile and Nigeria.

Where do heritage professionals look for when they are in need of advice on preventive conservation? How do they update their knowledge?

The royal collections of Madagascar are back in the spotlight, thanks to a preventive conservation project financed by the Government of Japan. Eighty percent of Madagascar’s royal palace collections were destroyed by a devastating fire at the Rova of Antananarivo museum complex in 1995.

On 6 November the Director of the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb, Dr Goranka Horjan, welcomed 26 museum professionals for a two-week RE-ORG workshop in the National Museum’s storage areas.

The first RE-ORG workshop ever held in Africa took place at the Jos National Museum, Nigeria in May 2017. After its conclusion, participants from 12 museums from every corner of