2025 membership is now open!
ICOM membership runs on the calendar year (1 Jan – 31 Dec)
To renew your membership, please log into your ICOM UK account. Please carefully check all of your work and personal information is correct and up to date. Please update any information that is not correct before submitting your renewal and making the payment for your membership.
If you have any membership questions, please contact Katie Hardgrave, ICOM UK Membership and Administration Manager at membership@icomuk.org
Museums have no borders, they have a network.
Join the only global organisation in the museum field. With more than 40,000 members in over 141 countries and territories, ICOM (International Council of Museums) is a unique global network of institutions and museum professionals that will open up new opportunities for you.
ICOM is the voice of museum professionals on an international stage and raises public cultural awareness through global networks and co-operation programmes. Whether you are an individual or institutional member, your ICOM membership will grant you a number of advantages for your professional development and contribute to the future of the international museum community.
By becoming an ICOM member, you can access a range of professional membership benefits, including:
- Membership of up to four of ICOM’s International Committees (subject specialist groups), and three for Institutional membership.
- Demonstrating support for the international museum community and supporting museum professionals in developing nations.*
- Access to ICOM online publications, tools, learning, and professional standards.
- Access to ICOM conferences and discounts on partner events
- Discounted tickets for the 2025 ICOM UK Conference on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 May 2025 in Liverpool.
- Receiving ICOM News, ICOM’s monthly digital magazine.
- Regular email bulletins from ICOM UK with the latest news and opportunities for working internationally.
- Discounted or free entry to many museums, galleries and exhibitions in the UK and across the world with the ICOM membership card.
- Involvement in ICOM’s international missions to shape the museum profession, advocate for standards, support the fight against illicit traffic in cultural goods, and cooperate in emergency preparedness and response actions.
- Subscribe to Museum International magazine (online or in print).
- Access to the ICOM UK Bursary Fund.
* A proportion of your Membership Fee goes to subsidise the cost of ICOM membership for museum professionals in developing nations.
If you have any questions about renewing your membership or joining ICOM, please contact us at membership@icomuk.org
Individual Membership (Voting)
Regular: £93
Retired: £49
Regular Individual membership is open to working museums professionals and consultants providing services, knowledge and expertise to museums as their main professional activity.
Retired Individual membership is open to individuals who have retired from professional museum work (in an institution or as a consultant), are no longer working in a paid capacity and do not intend to return to paid work.
Active museum volunteers may join as Regular Individual Members depending on their CV and a letter of recommendation from the museum(s) at which they volunteer.
Who is not eligible to join?
- Retired museum volunteers.
- Members of museum friends organisations who are not museum professionals, retired museum professionals, or students on a relevant course.
- Any organisations or individuals participating directly or indirectly in dealing (buying or selling for profit, including commercial galleries) in art, cultural artefacts, natural or cultural heritage.
Institutional Membership (Voting)
Institution I (3 x cards) < £30,000 operating budget: £323
Institution II (4 x cards) £30,000 – £100,000 operating budget: £431
Institution III (5 x cards) £100,000 – £1,000,000 operating budget: £647
Institution IV (6 x cards) £1 – £5 million operating budget: £755
Institution V (7 x cards) £5 – £10 million operating budget: £863
Institution VI (8 x cards) > £10 million operating budget: £1,079
Institutional membership is open to museums and institutions in the UK and British Overseas Territories that comply with the definition of a museum as defined in Article 3.1 of ICOM’s Internal Rules ICOM Statutes 2023_EN
It is a great way for your museum to invest in your staff, to benefit from international collaboration and to show your support for the wider museum sector.
Student Membership (non-voting)
Student: £49
Student membership is open to undergraduate, master and PhD students enrolled in a museum-related academic programme – museology, museum studies, museum education, museum management, conservation, art history, or equivalent museum-related subject course.
Supporting Membership (non-voting)
Individual: £356
Institutional (8 x cards): £2,400
Supporting membership is open to individuals and organisations providing substantial assistance to ICOM both financially and otherwise, due to an interest in museums and the international co-operation between museums.
Examples of supporting members include museum trustees and museum board members/board of directors, members of museum friends organisations, legal professionals representing museums, media (book and magazine publishers), architects and designers (and companies) providing services to museums but not as their main activity.
Who is not eligible to join?
- Retired museum volunteers.
- Members of museum friends organisations who are not museum professionals, retired museum professionals, or students on a relevant course.
- Any organisations or individuals participating directly or indirectly in dealing (buying or selling for profit, including commercial galleries) in art, cultural artefacts, natural or cultural heritage.
The ICOM Card
As an ICOM member, you will receive an ICOM membership card which gives you free access to many museums and exhibitions all over the world. The ICOM card is one of the most widely-recognised membership programmes for museums in the world and is accepted at thousands of venues. If you visit museums regularly, the ICOM Card will quickly save you the cost of your membership fee.
Acceptance of the ICOM card is discretionary. If you plan to visit a specific museum or exhibition in the UK or abroad (especially popular museums and blockbuster exhibitions), we always recommend you contact the museum ahead of your visit to check if the ICOM card is accepted and if there is a booking procedure.
In addition:
- Institutions joining ICOM UK receive multiple membership cards that can be used by staff, as well as access to an international museum community where potential partnerships and programmes can be developed.
- ICOM UK is a conduit for conversations and action on international issues such as material cultural heritage at risk in zones of conflict, intangible cultural heritage, professional development and ethical standards to guide practice in a changing world.
- Priority booking and discounted tickets for the annual Working Internationally Conference, the only UK museums conference with a dedicated international focus.
- Regular ICOM UK news bringing you the latest news and opportunities for working internationally.
- Networking opportunities with other UK museum professionals interested in working internationally.
