Following an evolution in the aims of museums, innovative methods and approaches as well as the public's changing expectations and perception of what culture has to offer in the media society, changes are taking place within museum communication.

From this point of view museums and cultural heritage nowadays are not only regarded as places of collective memory, but they also have to fulfil the complex functions of cultural production and communication.

The growth in range and variety of aims and methods of communication in the field of museums and heritage implies relevant changes in the skills and professional profiles required to satisfy a wide range of needs related to the supply of communication and education services in museums and cultural heritage.

Once again Regione Piemonte underlines its leading role in the debate about museums and cultural heritage enhancement, exploitation and management by organising together with Fondazione Fitzcarraldo and Holden Art an international conference 'Story telling in museum contexts:innovative ways of enhancing professional competence.'. The conference aims to outlining current trends and offer a productive platform for museum operators to exchange views and experiences.

The project is co-funded by the European Commission - Directorate General for Education and Culture within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme.

ENCATC, The European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres is co-operating in the initiative by promoting it and disseminating its outcomes internationally.

The two-day conference includes plenary sessions, parallel thematic workshops and narrative and illustrative 'performance' visits to museums.

The focuses of attention are the various means and models of communication applied within the context of museums and cultural heritage, as well as training programmes for professionals working as interpreters of cultural heritage in museum: guides, educators and performers. Discussion is furthermore intended to cast light on the necessary job profiles and skills throughout the process of development from conception to production of multi-media communication supports and/or systems.

The conference's purpose is to foster the development of innovative ways and methods of interpreting cultural heritage and of visiting museums, on one hand by outlining new job profiles and requirements, and on the other by the exchange of views and experience by operators, project managers, experts and directors of bodies from all over Europe involved in this field of research and development.

The main aims of the conference are to:

• Illustrate different methods of communication and visiting museums and cultural heritage, by presenting the scenario of changes which are taking place within what is currently made available to the public, as a result of new expectations and changing habits of cultural consumption
• Analyse in depth the potential for story telling and understand its value as a method of communication applied to museums and cultural heritage
• Explore several training and skills-building techniques for professionals working as interpreters of cultural heritage in museums
• Share and disseminate the most successful experiences and case studies

The conference is organised in three sections:

Plenary sessions

Presentations will be delivered by some of the most respected European experts in communication models, technologies and training programmes for museum personnel. The titles of the four sessions are:

• Communicating the cultural heritage: theoretical and methodological approaches from the past and present
• The professional skills required for interpreting cultural heritage and museum collections: some European examples
• Training professionals as interpreters of cultural heritage in the museum context: guides, educators, performers
• Communicating through technology: new models of communication, recruitment, team building and developing professional competences

Workshops

Workshops will provide a platform for exchanging experiences and ideas, and the opportunity to focus the attention on tools and techniques designed to enhance museum visits, both individual and guided, by referring to relevant case studies.

Four issues will be debated:

• workshop A: Creative use of guided visits through story telling
• workshop B: Live performance as a mean of interpreting cultural heritage
• workshop C: The design of multimedia interpretation and displays in museum and heritage settings
• workshop D: Ways and means of enhancing individual museum and heritage visits

A chairperson will introduce the cases histories and moderate the discussion, and a rapporteur will report back the main outcomes of the discussion in the plenary session.

Narrative and illustrative 'performed' museum visits

The scheduled events are:

• Visit to the National Museum of Cinema, at the Mole Antonelliana, performed by CAST.The visit will allow the participants directly to experience this particular method of cultural heritage presentation which can increase the value of museum visits.Following the visit, a 'happy hour' drink will be offered.
• A non-conventional narrative visit to the Savoy Residence in Racconigi, set up by Holden Art. This visit is scheduled only for participants taking advantage of the partial or full reimbursement. After the visit a buffet dinner will be served.

Translation will be provided into Italian, English and French in the plenary session and in workshop a).
Workshops b) and d) will be simultaneously translated into Italian and English, while the official language in workshop c) will be English.

Download the conference programme

The conference, organised in plenary sessions, workshops and museum visits, is open to the operators to a maximum of 150.

Moreover, 100 additional seats are available exclusively to attend the plenary sessions held on Friday, 4February 2005 from 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. and on Saturday, 5 February 2005 from 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

Conference participation is free.

According to the guidelines of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme of the European Commission - Directorate General for Education and Culture, in support of training actions to promote the communication among European professionals and in particular in order to favour the participation of the Eastern Europeans, full or partial reimbursement of travel or subsistence expenses is planned, as follows:

• 20 participants coming from organisations located/working in Central, Eastern or South East Europe (Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Czech  Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, FYR Macedonia, Albania, Moldavia, Byelorussia, Ukraine) will be reimbursed for travel and subsistence costs
• 30 participants coming fromorganisations located/working in European countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Island, Norway, Switzerland) will be reimbursed for subsistence costs

The conference is promoted under the aegis of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme for promoting initiatives of life-long and vocational training for operators.

Priority will therefore be given to the following categories of applicants: managers, operators and project managers active in museums (especially those involved in exhibition activities and in developing programmes for the public), training centres, associations, institutions, public administrations, as well as researchers, professionals and consultants working in the field of museum and cultural heritage all over Europe.

Under the same rules, the date of receipt of applications will be taken into consideration.

Applicants for partial or full reimbursement will need to conform to one of the above mentioned categories.

A geographically equitable distribution of participants will be also taken into account for selecting those applicants to receive reimbursement.

The remaining public will exclusively have access to the plenary sessions held on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, by returning the registration form to the Fitzcarraldo Secretariat at the e-mail address leonardo@fitzcarraldo.it , indicating name, address and institution. Priority will be given to the operators from the professional field.

Regione Piemonte - Assessorato alla Cultura - Direzione Beni culturali - Settore Musei e Patrimonio Culturale (Piedmont Region - Directorate of Culture - Museums and Cultural Heritage Dep.)

The Piedmont Region, through its departments, carries out a wide range of activities in the field of museums: grant-giving in support of museum sites restoration, displays, cataloguing and collections valorisation as well as initiatives supporting the implementation of cultural integrated projects aimed at promoting the local development. In addition the Piedmont Region has started a wide training programme for professionals working in museums and in the field of cultural heritage.

http://www.regione.piemonte.it

Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

The Foundation is an independent centre for planning, research, training and documentation on cultural, arts and media management, economics and policies. The Foundation carries out research and postgraduate and continuous training activities, in partnership with Universities and Training Centres, in the field of arts and heritage at regional, national and international level. Since 2000 the Foundation has developed a training programme addressed to regional operators of the cultural heritage under a multi-year framework agreementwith the Regione Piemonte.

http://www.fitzcarraldo.it

Holden Art

HoldenArt-formule di narrazione (story telling techniques) plays the role of scientific consultant for the didactics in the project. Holden Art trains museums guides and develops narrative itineraries, thanks to the ten-year didactic experience of Scuola Holden in the field of narrative techniques.

http://www.holdenlab.it

ENCATC

The European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres is an independent umbrella organisation, and the only European Network of training institutions and individuals professionally involved in arts management and cultural administration training and related sectors. The Network gathers leading European experts, lecturers and consultants in cultural management and administration, cultural policies and funding. Currently it is formed by 111 members from 33 countries.

http://www.encatc.org

Annalisa Regis
Fondazione Fitzcarraldo
Corso Mediterraneo, 94
10129 Torino
tel. + 39 011 5683365
fax + 39 011 503361
e-mail: annalisa.regis@fitzcarraldo.it