Keynote speech

Staying true to our values

We have recently seen large and prestigious US museum organizations dismantling their DEIA departments (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access) and even removing these terms from their websites, where they were once prominently displayed as core values. This shift was prompted by a presidential executive order, which federal organizations were required to comply with. One might think, “This happened in America,” but recent reports by NEMO and PEN America indicate a growing trend of political (and often partisan) interference in museum operations.

Can museums stay true to their values? Can they maintain a relationship of trust with the people they serve—both visitors and their own teams?

Building on last year’s discussion about the mission of museums, this workshop proposes dividing participants into three groups to analyze and discuss three real-life case studies in the context of organizational missions and values. We aim to address two of the themes highlighted by BMN: Heritage Interpretation and the Independence of Museums.

Maria Vlachou

Access Culture

Maria Vlachou is a founding member and the executive director of Acesso Cultura (Access Culture). Author of the books “What have we got to do with it? The political role of cultural organisations” (2022, in Portuguese) and “Musing on Culture: Management, Communication and our Relationship with People” (2013, in English). Author of the bilingual (pt/en) blog Musing on Culture. She is the manager of the Facebook group Museum texts / Textos em museus and co-manager of the blog Museums and Migration. She participated in the European project RESHAPE – Reflect, Share, Practice, Experiment, having joined the trajectory on “Arts and Citizenship”. She is also a member of the Board of the international museum professionals network Solidarity in Action. In the past, she was Communications Director of São Luiz Municipal Theatre and Head of Communication of Pavilion of Knowledge – Ciência Viva (Lisbon). Board member of ICOM Portugal (2005-2014) and editor of its bulletin. She has collaborated with different programmes of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Fellow of ISPA – International Society for the Performing Arts (2018, 2020); Alumna of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center in Washington (2011-2013); she has a M.A. in Museum Studies (University College London, 1994) and a B.A. in History and Archaeology (University of Ioannina, Greece, 1992).