ICOM's programme for
Africa, known as AFRICOM, was born as an outcome
of a series of meetings "What Museums for
Africa? Heritage in the Future" organised
by the International
Council of Museums (ICOM) in Benin, Ghana
and Togo in 1991. The aim of the meetings
was to address the role and the relevance
of museums for the African continent. Subsequently,
African professionals drew up a programme
that addressed the needs of the museums and
the museum profession in Africa.
| Four
areas of focus were defined: |
|
The
autonomy of African museums |
|
Regional
collaboration between museums through
joint activities |
|
Specialised
training for museum curators, technicians
and teachers |
|
Protecting heritage
and fighting against the illicit traffic
in cultural property |
|
The programme was
implemented by museums in Africa, run by ICOM,
and supervised by a Coordinating Committee
made up of African museum professionals. In
its two phases, 1993-1995 (AFRICOM I) and
1996-1998 (AFRICOM II), AFRICOM initiated
a whole range of projects to fulfill its objectives.
At the same time, the programme management
evolved towards greater autonomy and greater
responsibility of the African professionals
involved, thus creating the conditions for
transforming AFRICOM into a non-governmental
professional organisation.
After eight years
of projects and activities relating to all
fields of museology, African museum professionals
and ICOM's General Assembly decided that the
coordination of the AFRICOM Programme could
be transferred to Africa, and that the programme
could become a fully-fledged organisation:
the International Council of African Museums.
A Constituent Assembly
of AFRICOM convened in Lusaka, Zambia from
3rd to 9th of October 1999 and developed the
organisation's constitution and a detailed
programme for the next three years. The Assembly
elected also the Board of Directors, the President
and the Treasurer, and decided that the organisation's
headquarters shall be established in Nairobi,
Kenya.
Constituent Assembly Participants
The 1993-1999 period
saw the initiation and pioneering of AFRICOM
as a pan-African NGO bringing together diverse
members across the continent. The consolidation
period of 1999-2002 resulted in the establishment
of the organisation as fully constituted body
within Africa.
Background
