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\n\tFor the first time in over 20 years, the International Council of Museums has revised its code of ethics to address new and pressing issues facing institutions, including \u201cthe rise of digital technologies, the climate crisis, and the ongoing need to address the legacies of colonialism through responsible and ethical museum practice,\u201d per a press release.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe revised code was officially adopted in late June at the organization\u2019s 41st Ordinary General Assembly in Paris, following a years-long development process spearheaded by its Ethics Committee and overseen by the executive board. ICOM first adopted a code of ethics in 1986 and last revised it in 2004. The new code\u2014approved by more than 85 percent of participants and developed between 2019 and this year\u2014puts front and center the \u201cglobal challenge of the climate crisis,\u201d calling on members to achieve carbon neutrality and arguing they \u201cmust address the role museums have played during the colonising process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe new code also formally incorporates ICOM\u2019s revised museum definition, controversially adopted in 2022, which holds that a museum is \u201ca not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets, and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSeveral new provisions read as pointed responses to recent controversies. On digital technology, ICOM states that anyone working in or with museums who uses such tools\u2014AI presumably among them\u2014\u201cshould help minimize risk by taking into account their ethical implications and potential environmental impact, as well as their capacity for spreading inaccurate or false information.\u201d The code continues: \u201cThey should proceed cautiously, mindful of the impact of these technologies on intellectual property rights, Indigenous rights and data sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tOn the question of political interference, a timely concern as the Trump administration moves to reshape the Smithsonian Institution over claims of \u201cideological capture,\u201d ICOM calls on museums to \u201cresist financial or political influence.\u201d \u201cRegardless of funding sources or governance models,\u201d it reads, \u201cmuseums should maintain control of the content and integrity of their activities, exhibitions and publications.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tPerhaps most pointed, given Ukraine\u2019s calls last year for Russia\u2019s expulsion from ICOM over allegations that Russian forces looted artworks and cultural patrimony during the ongoing war, is a provision explicitly stating that museums \u201cshould refrain from acquiring objects from occupied territories.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe code covers much more ground, but its animating spirit is clear throughout. \u201cMuseums are facing major geopolitical, social, economic and climatic challenges, while some long-accepted societal practices and attitudes are being questioned,\u201d it reads. That may be an understatement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1513209218.jpg?w=1024″] For the first time in over 20 years, the International Council of Museums has revised its code of ethics to address new and pressing issues facing institutions, including \u201cthe rise of digital technologies, the climate crisis, and the ongoing need to address the legacies of colonialism through responsible and ethical museum practice,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2037312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2037312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2037312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2037312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2037312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}