CIMAM 2025 Annual Conference in Turin. Photo: Alberto Nidola
Activity
Friday, 18 September 2026
Rethinking Collection Governance: Ethics, Stewardship and Institutional Responsibility
coming soon
Organized by CIMAM (the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art) in collaboration with MACBA, this panel will explore what ethical principles should guide the management of a museum collection today.
Museum collections are among the most important cultural assets entrusted to museums. Yet recent international cases have revealed how vulnerable they can become when governance structures change, ownership shifts, or political and economic interests take precedence over their long-term stewardship.
As museums navigate increasingly complex questions around acquisition, stewardship, provenance, restitution, access, sustainability, and accountability, collection management is being redefined as a fundamentally ethical practice rather than solely a technical or administrative one.
Recent developments, including the newly adopted ICOM Code of Ethics, highlight the growing importance of public trust, cultural rights, community participation, transparency, and responsible stewardship in shaping decisions about collections.
In this conversation, Doryun Chong, Chair of CIMAM’s Museum Watch Committee and Artistic Director and Chief Curator of M+, Hong Kong; Amanda de la Garza, President of CIMAM and Deputy Artistic Director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, and Claudia Segura, Head of Collection at MACBA, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, will explore the particular challenges faced by modern and contemporary art museum collections.
Moderated by Montse Badia, art historian, critic, curator, and cultural researcher based in Barcelona, this panel will also consider how museums can respond to increasingly complex political, economic, and institutional contexts while protecting collections as bodies of knowledge and ensuring their long-term public value.
These are the same questions that have prompted CIMAM to launch a new international research initiative to develop a Glossary on Ethical Principles for Collection Management.
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participants
Montse Badia 
Doryun Chong 
Amanda de la Garza 
Claudia Segura Campins
artists
4 artists
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