In November 2017 Artlab Australia signed a MOU with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) to foster cooperation and arrange training in conservation.

Building on international relationships and a program of knowledge exchange that commenced in 2012, the 2017 Ausheritage international symposium and workshop on Taiwan’s Kinmen Island was the sixth visit by Ausheritage members.

In December 2017, the Australian and NSW Governments joined the President of Australia ICOMOS Ian Travers to announce that Sydney will host 1,200 global heritage experts in 2020, at the next Triennial General Assembly of ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long in Hanoi was built in the 11th century AD and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is from this citadel that the Chinese administrators and later the Vietnamese emperors ruled. It was also the headquarters of the North Vietnamese government and army during the American War from 1954 to 1975.

AusHeritage Chairperson, Vinod Daniel, was recently visiting Gujarat and spoke to the Times of India regarding the museum in that city. Mr Daniel felt that Gujarat ‘should take the initiative to develop at least one world class museum, to set an example for others.’

AusHeritage Chairperson Vinod Daniel, has been interviewed by Indian newspapers, the Hindustan Times and The Times of India (and the Hindu, refer to ‘The Hindu ‘Each State in India can house 1000 musuems’ 16 March 2017), to discuss the need for Indian museums to be updated and reinvented to engage youth and local communities in their museums and history.

* Extract from the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong is home to some 70 museums, and their treasures combined make for a respectable collection of cultural artefacts. Still, Hong Kong cannot yet be considered among the world’s great museum cities.

Now, the recently concluded Museum Summit has certainly put the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) firmly on the world’s museum map.

Australia-based museum conservator Vinod Daniel on how museums can be more than exhibition sites.