The Planning Authority has agreed to be the main sponsor of an international biennial conference to be held here in Malta next October to debate museum futures.

The Muże.X - Shaping Museum Futures conference being organised by the Department of Arts, Open Communities and Adult Education at the University of Malta seeks to present the latest thinking, actions and initiatives that modestly or radically depart from the traditional museum idea, to rethink the museum of the future. The conference is being convened by Dr Sandro Debono and Prof. Carmel Borg with the close to 50 submissions reviewed by an international scientific committee including Maltese, Italian and UK academics.

Perit Vincent Cassar, chairperson of the Planning Board said: "We are proud to support this upcoming conference which will seek to address the future of museums in a more holistic manner. Planning is also about being futuristic - anticipating how our human needs and most challenging issues can be addressed and answered. As with so many other institutions and organisations, museums are navigating through uncertain times but there are opportunities in every crisis. We augur that this conference will serve as a showcase for other institutions to proactively explore ways on how to transit into a new mode of relevance."

The conference will feature notable keynote speakers who are both thinkers and doers within their field. The list includes Riel Miller, one of the world's leading authorities on the theory and practice of using the future to change what people see and do; Diane Drubay, founder and brains behind We Are Museums, the international online community spearheading discussion about museum futures; Fabio Viola an award-winning digital entertainment producer and founder of TuoMuseo, an international collective of artists working to break the boundaries between culture and interactive media; Mike Murawski, a change-maker, museum thinker, independent museum advisor and author living in the US and Jette Sandahl whose career is committed to the formation of new paradigms and platforms for individual and collective empowerment, for cultural participation and social justice. Speakers presenting at the conference come from all over Europe, the United States and South America.

One of the conference co-convenors, Dr Debono said: "We are keen on showcasing the latest developments in the museum landscape, be they reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic, conceptual initiatives that have been in the pipeline for a while or tangible projects happening and evolving now, and which may well inform, influence and define the museum of the future. We are particularly keen on showcasing the lessons learnt over the past year and the ways and means how these have been overcome. Yet, we are also eager to create spaces for critical reflections that can help shape museums' futures."

More details are available on https://www.museumfutures.net/