Museum Connections 2026

Show program

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The trade show continues... at your own pace! Watch replays & explore essential takeaways!

Replay the sessions that resonated with you, share the ones that inspired you, or catch up on those you might have missed. 
Explore the highlights and uncover the key takeaways through replays, summaries, and reports.
Watch the replays
Watch the replays

Full event &  conference program

This program brings together all the highlights of the show: 
• Inspiration Conferences,
• Innovation TV,
• Culture Business Talks,
as well as many other events. 

The program also includes the visits organized as part of Open Museum, which will take place the day after the show. 

To easily find the conferences and events that interest you, you can refine your search using the filters available below.
Jan 13Jan 14
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Meeting Room
Jan 14, 2026
9:30 AM5:00 PM

"Evolution or revolution": using AI in your daily professional life?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is still often perceived as a recent technology; yet its foundations date back to the famous Dartmouth Conference in 1956, where the basics of this discipline were established. From the earliest developments, museums recognized the value of exploring AI for collection management. Today, AI has made its way—more or less openly—into nearly every department of cultural institutions. The challenge now is to develop a genuine strategic reflection on AI, in line with non-negotiable corporate social responsibility (CSR), to gain agility and resilience in the face of new economic systems that are reinventing web practices and disrupting established norms. In this context, how are cultural and museum institutions integrating artificial intelligence? If they are, how are they supporting their teams? How should they approach the arrival of automation and agency in daily operations, communication, and mediation? What questions need to be addressed to get started and understand the potential benefits or obstacles? This workshop, organised by Ocim as part of its partnership with Museum Connections, will allow participants to explore the challenges of artificial intelligence, understand the importance of usage guidelines, and discover concrete, operational cases. Within the friendly, exchange-oriented framework characteristic of Ocim and its partners, this session will provide an opportunity to collectively reflect on a medium-term vision for AI in museums and for their professionals.
Ewa MACZEK
OCIM
Elisabeth Gravil
MUSEOVATION
Inspiration Conferences
Jan 14, 2026
10:00 AM10:55 AM

Museums & Health: scaling up cultural prescriptions

Building on the 2019 WHO study highlighting the positive impact of culture on health, and inspired by pioneering initiatives such as those of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, numerous innovative projects linking museum experiences with health and well-being have emerged worldwide in recent years. These initiatives complement earlier efforts by museums within healthcare and social care settings. Following previous Inspiration Conferences dedicated to this theme — which reflected the rise of numerous initiatives within cultural venues — this session will take stock of a significant shift: the scaling up of museum prescriptions and their gradual integration into certain public policies. The discussion will map current museum-based prescription practices and examine their impact — on both participants and the museums themselves, in terms of audience strategies and local relevance. French, European, and international perspectives will be brought together to explore the long-term outlook for museum prescriptions, their conditions for wider adoption, potential funding models, and their contribution to the resilience of both cultural institutions and societies.
Nathalie BONDIL
INSTITUT DU MONDE ARABE
Inga SURGUNTE
LATVIAN ACADEMY OF CULTURE
Annabelle TÜRKIS
FREELANCE CONFERENCE CURATOR MUSEUM CONNECTIONS
Isabelle VANHOONACKER
ROYAL MUSEUMS OF FINE ARTS OF BELGIUM
Resilience: anchored in societal needs
Inspiration Conferences
Jan 14, 2026
12:00 PM12:55 PM

Evolving Families: Inclusion and Representation

A core audience for cultural venues, “families” today encompass a wide range of configurations alongside the traditional nuclear model: single-parent and blended families, same-sex and LGBTQ+ families, among others. These sociological shifts - in France, one in four families is now single-parent - generate specific needs, expectations, and constraints, both economic and organisational, as well as important questions of representation. The scale and nature of these changes invite cultural institutions to reflect on their societal responsibility, their messaging, and the ways in which their missions are embodied for all audiences. Faced with increasingly diverse contexts and needs, what images should cultural venues project, and how can they represent what “family” means today without reinforcing stereotypes or exclusion? How can institutions design and promote activities that genuinely address this plurality of lived experiences? This panel discussion will explore these questions through inspiring initiatives that propose renewed, inclusive approaches to today’s family realities - offering responses to the needs of a rapidly evolving society while strengthening institutional resilience. We thank the Deutscher Museumsbund and Kids in Museums for their collaboration.
Moa Strand
ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH
Grit KELLER
STIFTUNG HUMBOLDT FORUM BERLIN
Sylvia GIREL
AIX-MARSEILLE UNIVERSITÉ
Selma TOPRAK-DENIS
CENTRE POMPIDOU
Resilience: anchored in societal needs
Innovation TV
Jan 14, 2026
1:30 PM2:30 PM

Museums facing climate change, digital projects facing sustainability challenges

The acceleration of today's climate change poses major challenges for cultural institutions, both in terms of preserving their collections and integrating new forms of mediation and awareness-raising. This report of studies is organized around two complementary axes: an examination of the conditions for developing more sustainable in-situ digital mediation offerings, and an analysis of the effects of climate change on museums and the institutional responses being implemented. The first part focuses on the study conducted by the Observatoire des patrimoines de l’Université de la Sorbonne (OPUS Source) and {Correspondances Digitales}, on the sustainability of in-situ digital mediation devices. In a context where digital and environmental transitions require efficiency, funding, adaptability, and monitoring of usage, this reflection explores how to design sustainable digital offerings while enhancing the visitor experience and the societal value of institutions. The study highlights existing practices, from collaborative approaches to resource-sharing strategies, emphasizing the importance of reusable tools, innovative collaboration models, and attention to the environmental impact of technologies. The second part draws on the study conducted by Les Augures, which provides an overview of the impacts of climate change on museums and the adaptation strategies implemented. Based on the analysis of over 1,200 institutions labeled “Musée de France” and enriched with professional testimonies, it highlights climate risks and their effects on infrastructure, collections, staff, and audiences. The study underlines the urgency of strengthening institutional resilience by integrating climate adaptation into strategies, conservation practices, and space management, while exploring how museums can contribute to a more sustainable culture through their transformation. Discover how the sustainability of digital devices and the climate resilience of museums offer new perspectives...
Antoine ROLAND
{CORRESPONDANCES DIGITALES]
Camille PÈNE
LES AUGURES
CSRStudies
Innovation TV
Jan 14, 2026
2:30 PM3:45 PM

Touring Exhibitions: New Experiences, Innovation and Trends (Session 2)

Two sessions fully dedicated to Touring Exhibitions will showcase the most inspiring projects from around the world. Institutions, producers, and specialists from France, Canada, England, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, the United States, Scotland and beyond will share their latest creations and innovations across art, science, design, history, cultures, technology and popular culture, designed for museums and cultural institutions, heritage and leisure venues, tourism boards, parks, and outdoor and public spaces. These presentations will offer an exclusive overview of current trends: immersive experiences, sensory and interactive installations, sustainable design and the travelling of collections… Approaches that are reshaping the circulation of exhibitions and enriching visitor experiences. Each session will be followed by a networking opportunity with the speakers at the Touring Exhibitions Pavilion (booth D69), a unique chance to meet project leaders and explore new collaboration opportunities. The sessions will be hosted by Teo, the international resource for touring exhibitions.
Jean VERGÈS
CITÉS IMMERSIVES
Jole MARTINENGHI
CONTEMPORANEA PROGETTI
Quentin OUGIER
Philharmonie de Paris
Amin Sandoval-Abundez
Universcience
Alexa FEDYNSKY
National Geographic Society
Alison Jackson
Alison Jackson Studios
Matthew ADAMS
THE WALT DISNEY ARCHIVES
Gautam CHANDNA
EXHIBITION HUB
Manon DELAURY
TEO EXHIBITIONS
Laurent DONDEY
GRAND PALAIS IMMERSIF
Agnès RUIZ
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Olga Alekseeva
LAYERS OF REALITY
Laurent COSSENET
CITE DE L'ESPACE
Marie DUMONTIER
LOOM PROD / RENCONTRES AUDIOVISUELLES
Corinne MICHELLET-BOUNGO
UNIVERSCIENCE - CITÉ DES SCIENCES ET DE L'INDUSTRIE
Russell RONAT
PROJECT HOLOCENE LLC
Valentine BALDACCHINO
CAP SCIENCES
Debbie DONOHUE
IMAGINE
Isabella Fernandes
Natural History Museum, London
Touring Exhibitions
Inspiration Conferences
Jan 14, 2026
3:00 PM3:55 PM

Intangible Cultural Heritage: Opportunity and Catalyst for All Museums

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) encompasses the practices and knowledge that communities inherit, sustain, recreate, and transmit. It offers meaningful opportunities for museums of all types—an idea this panel aims to explore. Since the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills have been formally recognised as part of cultural heritage. More recently, the new ICOM museum definition and updates to the Code of Ethics for museum professionals have further affirmed ICH as a core concern for all museums. Yet ICH is still often seen as the domain of ethnographic or folklore institutions, or associated primarily with educational programming. At a time when museums are seeking to strengthen their local relevance and renew their relationship with audiences, ICH can serve as a major strategic lever. It places human practices at the heart of museum narratives, stimulates scenographic innovation, enriches digital museum interpretation, and opens the door to ambitious participatory approaches. By fostering transmission, co-creation, and intergenerational dialogue, ICH enables museums of all kinds to rethink their missions and develop new forms of collaboration.
Valérie PERLÈS
FEMS / MUSÉE D’ART ET D’HISTOIRE PAUL-ELUARD DE SAINT DENIS
Thomas MOUZARD
MINISTÈRE DE LA CULTURE
Kia TSAKIRIDIS
WORKSHOP INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
Sergio SERVELLÓN
FELIX ART & ECO MUSEUM
Marie POTTECHER
FEMS / MUSÉE ALSACIEN
Resilience: anchored in societal needs
64 sessions
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