International curatorial training programme

The British Museum runs a training programme for curators from outside Europe every year.

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

Curators from China, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, India and South Africa have already participated. The interaction between curators from different countries has proved particularly fruitful.

Training sessions include the conservation and science laboratories, exhibitions planning and delivery, collections documentation, school and lifelong learning. Each curator also spends time with a specialist collections department, which offer individual training and research time.

For the final part of the programme the curators spend time at another UK museum, as part of the Partnership UK 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 have participated in the scheme:

• Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
• Tyne & Wear Museums
• Lincoln: The Collection
• National Museums of Wales
• The Manchester Museum
• Glasgow Museums
• Bowes Museum

2008 programme report (pdf 303Kb)

The programme would not be possible without the generous support
of several institutions and individuals:

• The Altajir Trust
• Bank of Uganda
• The Barakat Trust
• The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (Gertrude Bell Memorial)
• Allen & Co, ‘Recognising the work of Niall FitzGerald’
• Mr and Mrs Russell L. Carson
• Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust
• Linda Noe Laine
• Mr and Mrs Benjamin M Rosen
• National Museum of China
• The Wallace Trust
• The World Collections Programme
• Mrs Charles Wrightsman

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 the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff,
a touring exhibition from the British Museum