Kyoto is reinforcing its position as the “Cultural Capital of Japan” announcing that the city will be hosting the next ICOM (International Council of Museums) General Conference in 2019.
Held from 1-7 September 2019 at the Kyoto International Conference Centre, the city is expecting to receive some 3,000 museum professionals and enthusiasts from 141 countries to enjoy what is the world’s largest museum conference. As part of the conference, participants will attend debates, round table and panels discussions, networking events and numerous cultural activities.
This year’s focus will explore the topic of “Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition”, a theme that resonates well with Kyoto, the imperial capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years, that has managed to preserve its traditions while embracing innovation in art, design, architecture and lifestyle. The city is home to more than 200 public and private museums, as well as numerous Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines which hold various national treasures and cultural assets. Art and culture are threads that connect and bind Kyoto as a community, and the city’s museums provide gathering points of reference not only to learn and preserve, but also interact, participate and create.
“We are excited and honoured to have been chosen by ICOM as the hosting city of what is one of the most prestigious cultural conferences in the world” said Alison Roberts-Brown, Director of Tourism Garden, representative of Kyoto City Tourism Association in Australia.
“This presents the perfect opportunity for us to share our strong commitment to culture and education whilst being able to showcase Kyoto’s incredible myriad of cultural assets with this extremely engaged and culturally aware audience of museum professionals” she added.
Some of Kyoto’s most unique museums include:
- The Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts: This museum showcases 74 different traditional crafts by not only exhibiting the items, but also hosting live demonstrations by the city’s artisans, as well as encouraging visitors to join various workshops.
- Kyoto International Manga Museum: Open since November 2006, this is the first comprehensive cultural centre for manga culture in Japan, with collections of manga related materials consisting of more than 300,000 items. The items feature modern Japanese manga, as well as manga-related historical materials from the Meiji period (1868-1912).
- Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art: the second largest public art museum in Japan, open since 1933, has established itself as the leading art museum and to attract further visitors, the museum is currently doing renovation works and expects to reopen in 2019.
- Kyoto National Museum: one of the oldest art museums of Kyoto, the Kyoto National Museum displays the finest in pre-modern Japanese and Asian art and is also known for its spectacular special exhibitions.
For travellers who want genuine travel experiences, the Kyoto Artisan Concierge is a program that organises visits to the ateliers of artisan crafts people across the city.
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