Keynote speakers

Jette Sandahl has been the founding director for two pioneering new museums, the Women’s Museum of Denmark and the Museum of World Cultures in Sweden. She has served as Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the National Museum of Denmark, and as Director Experience at National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Most recently, she was director of the Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark.

She has held a number of elected and appointed posts in the international museum world, including chairing the European Museum Forum and the ICOM standing committee Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials. She has been part of the formation of new paradigms for museums as platforms for empowerment, cultural participation and social justice, and publishes widely within the museological field.

Benedek Varga (1962) Historian and curator

Director of the Semmelweis Museum, Library and Archives of the History of Medicine

Senior part time lecturer in museum studies at the University ELTE in Budapest

Former chair of ICOM Hungary

Former director general of the Hungarian National Museum

Chair of the ICOM Ukraine

Historian and museologist with experience in Ukrainian cultural heritage with a focus on the history of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, museums, and monument protection system under the Soviet regime. Author of over 30 publications dedicated to the history of museums, and the scientific community of USSR 1920–1930.