Museum Guides Now!

What qualities does a great museum guide possess? And what makes for a great museum tour? Guided tours have been around for as long as museums themselves and even at a time where technological innovations are making museums more accessible than ever, nothing can hold a candle to a museum guide when it comes to interactivity and flexibility. 

This two-day symposium will centre on the museum guide’s profession and the professionalization of their work in art and history museums. It marks the completion of the four-year research project ‘Rondleiden is een vak’ (Museum guide: a profession in its own right), a joint initiative by the University of Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Van Gogh Museum. The project has defined a number of key competencies and developed working methods which will greatly benefit the evaluation and professionalization of museum guides. 

Museum experts and scholars will present and discuss a number of innovative professional approaches, as well as methods to further the professionalization of museum guides. The programme will include keynote addresses by Dr. Viv Golding (lecturer at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester) and Sandra Jackson-Dumont (Chairman of Education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), workshops, short presentations and – of course – tours of the three museums co-hosting the symposium. There will be plenty of opportunity to exchange ideas on urgent themes such as peer evaluations, accessibility, the role of volunteers and the part played by new media. 

Dates:                Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 November 2017

Location:            the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Van Gogh Museum

For whom: Museum educators and museum guides from all over the world

Hosted by: the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum, LKCA (the National Centre of Expertise for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts) and the University of Amsterdam research team (co-funded by Fonds 21 and the Mondriaan Fund)  

Fees 

Early Bird:               €125, register before 1 August 2017 
Standard:                €150, register after 1 August 2017
Student:                  €100  

Included in your registration fee are two lunches, two drinks receptions, coffee/tea breaks and access to all three museums on both days.  

Advisory committee: Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam,  LKCA, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Reinwardt Academy.

Click here for more info about the program.