International Training Programme

Participating curators

Every summer, the British Museum runs a training programme for museum professionals from around the world, with up to 28 participants spending six weeks
in the UK.

The summer programme seeks to expose curators, exhibition designers, archaeologists and education specialists to various aspects of museum work, develop skills, and to create a global network of colleagues around the world.

Museum professionals from Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Palestine, South Africa, Sudan, Turkey, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates have already participated. The interaction between participants from different countries has proved particularly fruitful.Egyptian and Sudanese curators

Training sessions include exhibition planning and delivery, object conservation, scientific research, collections research and storage, education, outreach and interpretation.  Each curator also spends time with a specialist collections department, which offers individual training and research time tailored to their needs.

A key part of the programme is a 10-day period spent at another UK museum, as part of the Partnership UK Iraqi and Chinese curators project. This allows the participants to experience multi-site museums and different types of displays, and helps these museums develop international relationships.

The following UK museums participate, or have participated, in the Programme:

2011 programme report
2010 programme report
2009 programme report
2008 programme report
2007 programme report

A blog provides a forum for past participants to present, and share ideas about, their ongoing work.

For further information, please contact itp@britishmuseum.org

The programme would not be possible without the generous support of many institutions and individuals. A list of the International Training Programme sponsors can be found in the report for each year.

2012 programme

This year’s programme will take place 13 June – 21 July.

Countries participating in the 2012 programme will be: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan and Turkey.

Participants will spend 13 – 24 June at a partner venue in the UK.

Image captions
Participating curators with Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, July 2006
Egyptian and Sudanese curators attending session in the Organics Conservation Laboratory
Iraqi and Chinese curators supervising the unpacking of the Emperor’s Terrapin at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales
a touring exhibition from the British Museum