17th International Congress of Maritime Museums'Connects'Worldwide Maritime Experts at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum

Hong Kong, January 4, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM) was honoured to host the 17th International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM 2015) from 1 to 6 November 2015 held at the Museum, the first of its kind in Asia.

ICMM is a biennial conference started in the early 1970s where delegates network, share expertise, and learn about international best practices in the operation of maritime museums.

The congress theme this year was Connections. The President of ICMM, Mr. Stephen White, said “The ICMM Congress offers unrivalled access for delegates to meet colleagues from near and far and discuss shared opportunities and issues in the capacity of maritime.  This year’s conference theme – Connections – was chosen in order to maximise the opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue and exchange of ideas among worldwide museums.”  

More than 100 participants from 20 countries joined ICMM 2015. Renowned speakers presented and shared during the conference including Mr. Frederick Kenney, Director, Legal Affairs and External Relations Division, International Maritime Organization; Mr. Lincoln Paine, Trustee, Maine Maritime Museum, USA and Dr. Zhou Qunhua, Chief of Academic Research Department, China Maritime Museum.

The six-day conference included an array of networking and social programmes such as a welcome reception at Government House welcomed by Mr. CY Leung, the Chief Executive of HKSAR and patron of HKMM, a celebratory gala dinner, cultural visits to Tai O, and tours to several local museums in Hong Kong and Macau. A number of delegates joined post-conference overseas tours to Guangdong and Shanghai visiting the popular Maritime Silk Road Museum of Guangdong and the China Maritime Museum, two of China’s largest maritime museums.

As the host of the ICMM 2015, Richard Wesley, the Museum Director of HKMM, sincerely expressed his heartfelt gratitude and thanked all sponsors, long-term patrons and partners for supporting this Congress, the Macao Maritime Museum for hosting an excursion to Macau for delegates and Swire Travel, our Conference Secretariat. “The local Organising Committee did an outstanding job and the Museum looks forward to hosting similar professional and cultural tourism events in the future.”

For further details about the Congress, please visit the conference website which will be accessible through 28 November, 2016.

About International Congress of Maritime Museums

The International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM) is the world’s peak body for maritime museums. Affiliated with the International Council of Museums (ICOM), ICMM has members drawn from the maritime museum community around the world.

ICMM focuses on the business operations and best practice of maritime museums. ICMM's biennial congresses share knowledge and experience from maritime museums large and small, but above all they enable people to meet, to socialise, to network and to establish relationships between museums which can result in shared exhibitions and staff exchanges, among other benefits.

ICMM administers the International Historic & Traditional Ships panel (IHTS) and provides and generally supports the exchange of ideas associated with the management of maritime museums.

ICMM has full institutional and associate members and membership fees are set on a sliding scale according to the size of museum. 

About Hong Kong Maritime Museum

The Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM), an independent, non-profit registered charity supported by the shipping industry, the business community, private individuals and the Hong Kong SAR Government, is a vibrant cultural institution dedicated to preserving, collecting and displaying objects that tell the story about trade and maritime in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta, and the vital roles that ships and the sea play in our past, present and future.  The Museum opened its door to the public at Murray House in Stanley in 2005 and then relocated to the Central Pier No. 8 in the heart of the Central Harbour Waterfront since 2013. Today the Museum displays more than 1,200 objects in 15 galleries on three levels and attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually.

HKMM also houses various event spaces, resource centre, roof-top social enterprise café, and gift shop that contribute to visitor’s experiences, and the community of Hong Kong actively engages in education and public programming offered for schools, adults, community groups and families. 

For media enquiries, please contact Polly Wan, Head of Marketing, Hong Kong Maritime Museum at +852 3713-2508 or pollywan@hkmaritimemuseum.org