CIMAM 2019 Annual Report, now available!
The 2019 Annual Report highlights the achievements, activities, programs, and finances of CIMAM in the preceding year. We are pleased to share with you the key figures:
633 members: 385 Individual and 242 Institutional
+18,98% percentage increase over 2018
70% women – 30% men
86 countries represented
+4.500 followers and newsletter subscribers
15 volunteer board members
2 staff of the executive team
Letter from Mami Kataoka, President of CIMAM
Dear CIMAM friends,
It is my great pleasure to write this message as the new President of CIMAM, a position to which I was elected by the members of the board this past November at the CIMAM Annual Conference in Sydney.
Looking back on 2019, so many projects serve as reminders of the important challenges the contemporary art museum sector faces today, as well as the significant role that CIMAM has as a collective force to bring together professionals from around the world and contribute positively on the future of the profession. In 2019, CIMAM reached an all-time record with over 600 members from 86 countries!
I would like to highlight the actions undertaken by the Museum Watch Program in supporting colleagues around the world who are dealing with increasingly complex situations. For example, the case of the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw where the then current director was replaced without any open competition; the cancellation of the exhibition After “Freedom of Expression?” at the Aichi Triennale in Japan; and the systematic harassment of leading cultural professionals by the government in Turkey.
Strengthening our relationship with ICOM will continue to be one of our goals. In September 2019, from then Board, Suhanya Raffel, Eugene Tan, Sunjung Kim and myself attended ICOM’s 25th General Conference in Kyoto and had a productive conversation with Ms. Suay Aksoy, President of ICOM, which confirmed CIMAM’s commitment with ICOM. And Suhanya presented the Contribution of Modern and Contemporary Art Museums in a Global 21st Century.
The full presence at CIMAM’s 2019 Annual Conference in Sydney of Ms. Suay Aksoy was especially significant in emphasizing our positive and collaborative relationship, while reinforcing the common values and objectives that should be discussed globally among all the museum sectors. Attended by 200 participants, The 21st Century Art Museum: Is Context Everything? was a very successful edition with remarkable speakers that addressed the evolving discussions between core museological practices and values, and the necessary responsiveness of museums to context in their drive to remain relevant, innovative, and accessible.
Augmenting existing CIMAM initiatives, in 2019 we announced the creation of a new award to acknowledge visionary practice within the museum sector –“CIMAM Outstanding Museum Practice Award”– and the new Working Group –“Sustainability and Ecology in Museum Practice”– with the aim of responding collectively with CIMAM members to the question How can museums respond to the climate emergency?
As the first non-European President in the history of CIMAM, I am committed to making CIMAM a truly global organization. The members of the board and I are all very much looking forward to developing further CIMAM’s network and leadership role in promoting good practices in the modern and contemporary art museum profession.
I hope we can count on our members’ involvement to continue building a strong CIMAM that can lead the discussions and provide answers to the challenges that museums are and will be facing in the years to come.
I hope you find the enclosed information of interest and I look forward to seeing you soon!
Warm regards,
Mami Kataoka
President of CIMAM
Director, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan