PROGRAMME

“(RE)OPENING A MUSEUM: SOME DOs AND DON’Ts”

WORKSHOP

5-10 August 2010 Kabul, Afghanistan

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKSHOP, ITS MAIL GOAL

Museums are strong players in promoting a town, a province, or even a macro-region or a

country. While local marketing can not and should not rely only on local cultural heritage

and on its institutions, local museums can definitely strengthen an effective strategy.

Opening a new museum, however – or reopening an existing one after a longer period of

time – presents its own challenges. There definitely are some things one should do – and

others one should avoid – in order to improve quality. Quality surely has many varying

components, but this doesn't make excellence an abstract term: it can be measured,

improved, and fostered by best practices, communication and documentation.

Next to risk analysis (for collections, for the site that hosts them, for the people involved

as actors in management and promotion, as visitors, or as other stakeholders), next to

preventive conservation issues, we should also focus on the questions: what, who, where,

when, why... and how.

Going through these questions will lead us to better understanding the role of planning

our actions, and of interaction and participation. In opening a new museum, or organizing

to let people visit a new site, these issues will be of strategic relevance, and contribute in

letting us successfully reach our intended goals.

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THURSDAY, 5 AUGUST

09:30-09:40 Registration of the participants at the National Museum of Afghanistan

Session I Opening Ceremony

09:40-10:00

Welcome speeches by:

Mr. Brendan Cassar, UNESCO office in Kabul

Dr. Omara Khan Massudi, General Director, National Museums of Afghanistan

Dr. Alessandro Califano, Senior Curator, CRDAV

Session II Introduction

10:00-10:15 Introduction of the participants

10:15-10:45 Introduction to objectives of the training: description of issues at stake (who,

what, where, when, why… and how!)

10:45-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-12:00 A provocative question: "Why do we open a museum?" – brain storming and

discussion

FRIDAY, 6 AUGUST

Excursion Babur’s Garden

09:30-11:30 Visit to Babur’s Garden, its museum and its exhibition hall

SATURDAY, 7 AUGUST

Session III The National Museum of Afghanistan – An Overview

09:30-12:00 "What is new? What has changed? What are the tomorrow’s plans?” – a guided

tour of the museum’s departments and exhibition rooms

12:00-13:00 Lunch

Session IV Risk Assessment

13:00-13:30 “Environment and equipment” – a risk assessment tool (handout)

13:30-15:00 “What and where?” – a risk assessment discussion (Echoes from the excursion

& the NMA guided tour)

SUNDAY, 8 AUGUST

Session V Risk Assessment – A Case Study

09:30-11:00 “What and where?” – a risk assessment discussion (The Ghazni Context: maps

and sites)

11:00-12:00 “When?” Specific issues concerning the Ghazni Museum – facts and discussion

12:00-13:00 Lunch

Session VII People and Story-telling

13:00-14:30 The Fifth Question: “Who?” – public, stakeholders, actors

14:30-15:00 “Who”, an answer to the question: “Why?” – different publics, different stories

MONDAY, 9 AUGUST

Session VIII How-to

09:30-10:30 Documentation – an artefact’s life-cycle

10:30-12:00 “To touch or not to touch?” – physical interaction with artefacts

12:00-13:00 Lunch

Session IX How-to (continued)

13:00-14:30 Artefacts’s materials and connected risks

14:30-15:00 Questions and discussion

TUESDAY, 10 AUGUST

Session X “Wrapping it up”

09:30-11:00 “5W + H” : Lessons learned

Session XI Closing Ceremony

11:00-12:00 Closing ceremony, with UNESCO’s and other official representatives