After formally accepting the flag from Prague, the city that will host the 2022 iteration of the conference, Dubai has begun its path as the host of the 27th International Council of Museums (ICOM) General Conference in 2025.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chair of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), and Member of the Dubai Council, led a high-level delegation from the UAE at ICOM 2022 in Prague.
“Dubai has officially started its road to host the future ICOM General Conference in 2025,” Sheikha Latifa declared. As the first city in the MENASA area to host ICOM, Dubai is experiencing a momentous period in its history. Without the help of our sage leadership and the effort done by all cultural organizations and our partners in Dubai and the UAE over the years to expand and deepen our cultural offerings as an emirate and as a country, winning the bid to host ICOM would not have been feasible.
During the ICOM General Conference Flag Relay Ceremony conducted at the National Museum in Prague, the ICOM flag, a symbolic baton entrusted to the organizing committee of the following ICOM General Conference, was formally passed on to Dubai.
Dubai will be the first city in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) area to host the famous international conference when it returns for its 27th edition in 2025 with the theme “The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities.” The greatest worldwide gathering of museums will be held in Dubai in 2025, which is expected to further cement the city’s reputation as a global center of creativity and innovation.
The ICOM flag features components from the traditional culture and crafts of the Czech Republic and was created by representatives of ICOM Prague and members of the Czech community. Rashad Bukhash, who represented ICOM UAE, received the flag first, followed by Hala Badri, director-general of Dubai Culture, who accepted it on behalf of ICOM Dubai 2025.
The UAE is home to roughly 115 private museums and 55 government museums, including cultural icons like the Etihad Museum, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Qasr Al Hosn, the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, and the forthcoming Guggenheim Museum. Since ICOM was founded in 1946, bringing the ICOM General Conference to Dubai also marks its introduction to the MENASA region, providing a special chance for museum professionals and specialists to finally convene in this area.