This article is part of our coverage of ICOM’s 2025 General Conference.
ICOM UK has coordinated a fundraising effort among ICOM Arab, members of ICOM Europe, and the International Committee for Egyptology, to contribute a combined total of almost 9,000 Euros in travel bursaries, including £2,000 of our own funding and private donation. This enabled museum colleagues from places currently, or recently, in armed conflict (Ukraine, Palestine and Sudan) to travel to the 2025 ICOM General Conference in Dubai.
Cultural diplomacy is a field where ICOM UK is very active. It is important that the voices of heritage actively being destroyed are being heard by the global museum community.
To foster friendships and strengthen our connections, ICOM UK’s delegates met with all five colleagues in Dubai; some attended the evening reception hosted by ICOM UK at the UK Consulate, while others met at the Dubai World Trade Centre, where the conference was held.
Without this help, these 5 colleagues would have been unable to travel nor contribute to the conversations in Dubai.
The effort is testament to the power of a close network of organisations that can make things happen which would be beyond the capacity of any one of us individually – a true example of how we tackle large global problems which appear intractable when we are on our own but which we can solve through joint strength.
ICOM UK is indebted to the ICOM National Committees Czech Republic, France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland and Slovenia, as well as ICOM Europe, ICOM Arab, and ICOM CIPEG (International Committee for Egyptology); we are also very grateful to ICOM UAE who assisted with the visa application process for two of the colleagues we supported financially.
Christian Baars, ICOM UK Co-Chair
To watch with subtitles please select captions on the CC icon at the top right corner of the video on mobile, and the bottom right corner on desktop.
Video message from ICOM Palestine Representative Baha Jubeh
Video Message from ICOM Ukraine Representative Anastasiia Cherednychenko
Video message from ICOM Sudan Representative Dr Shadia Abdrabo
