The eighth edition of “Meet, See, Do,” the annual conference of the Balkan Museum Network, gathered over 70 participants from 17 European countries in Tivat, Montenegro, this year. The conference saw a significant delegation from Macedonia, comprising professionals from the museum, civil, and business sectors.
The conference was organized in collaboration with the hosts, the Museum and Gallery of Tivat, and with generous support from the municipality of Tivat, aiming to strengthen regional cooperation and encourage the formation of partnerships among experts dedicated to preserving cultural heritage. The string board of the Balkan Museum Network as organizer of the conference, is probably most deserving of credit for all of this. According to them, these conferences represent an excellent opportunity for meetings, inspiration, and new partnerships, while also providing support to professionals fighting for the preservation of cultural heritage by showing that they are not alone but supported by a network of colleagues worldwide, not just in the Balkan region.
During the conference, presentations of successful museum practices, interactive workshops, and panel discussions were held to address important questions within the museum profession. Vasilka Dimitrovska, creative director of HAEMUS conducted a workshop that, in addition to a brief presentation, that was designed as a dynamic exercise for creating gamified experiences applying interpretation tools, gamification, and, of course, storytelling.
Two European projects in which the Balkan Museum Network is a partner were presented during this international meeting, funded by the European Horizon program: the SHIFT project, which utilizes new technologies to improve accessibility to cultural heritage for blind and visually impaired individuals, and the AURORA Project, which explores innovative approaches to protecting artifacts from illegal excavation and theft, using chemical marking, miniaturized devices, and deep scanning techniques (HRF) in a digital platform where all this data will be stored.
A significant moment at the conference was the announcement of the launch of the new cultural heritage program, the Southeast European Cultural Heritage Fund, Headley Trust 2024-2026, which will be available to institutions and organizations for cultural heritage in the Southeast European region. The Fund’s goals are aimed at improving engagement and management of cultural heritage in Southeast Europe. This includes building the capacities of youth, communities, heritage professionals, and civil society organizations, as well as enhancing regional cooperation and understanding.
The conference also declared the winner of the first “Curator for Peace” award, presented to a museum professional from the Western Balkans who has made a significant contribution to the peace-building process. The first award went to Merima Razanica from the Museum of Military Childhood in Sarajevo.
The “Meet, See, Do” conference in Tivat was funded by The Headley Trust UK and co-financed by the European Union through the AURORA and SHIFT programs.
After the conference, representatives from Macedonia visited the historical part of Kotor, which is inscribed on the UNESCO list as a World Cultural Heritage site.
