Meeting in Paris, the Advisory Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) chose Milan for its 24th General Conference, which every three years gathers over 4,000 museum and culture professionals from all over the world. Milan, which took 66% of the votes, was short-listed with other finalists Moscow (25%) and Abu Dhabi (9%).
“This accomplishment”, President of ICOM Italia Alberto Garlandini underscored, “is tangible proof of Italy’s increasingly important role in the world of museology and is fundamental to the thousands of people working every day to properly manage the Italian cultural patrimony, which remains something truly extraordinary for the entire world”.
The combined support of public institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Cultural Assets and Activities, the Italian National Commission of UNESCO, the Region of Lombardy, Province of Milan and City of Milan, and the Committee of the University of Lombardy, along with the precious support of Intesa San Paolo and technical commitment of the Milan Trade Fair and Conference Centre, contributed to ensuring our success.
Involvement of the Italian diplomatic-consular network
Particularly effective was the involvement of the Italian diplomatic-consular network abroad, which proved the perfect vehicle for capillary promotion, and this victory of Milan is also confirmation of how important EXPO 2015 is as a platform for the promotion of Italy.
ICOM, founded with UNESCO in 1946, is an international organisation of museum professionals with a membership of more than 30,000 individuals and 3,000 museums in 117 countries.