11-17 November 2025

Join us in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for CAMOC Conference activities as part of the 27th ICOM General Conference: The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities.

Registration is open now! Click here to visit the General Conference website

Urban heritage: people and (re)presentation in rapidly changing cities

In a world of cities in constant transformation, how is urban heritage being researched, interpreted and deployed? Who holds the power to decide what is worth preserving and how it should be represented? How do city museums grapple with tensions generated by generational differences and technological change?

As part of the ICOM Dubai Triennial 2025 Conference, CAMOC will explore how city museums or other organizations interested in urban life and heritage can be active agents in shaping future communities in diverse urban contexts around the world – with particular interest in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region.

We will explore how museums can contribute to inclusive and just representations of urban heritage, reflecting the voices of different communities who have contributed to their cities’ histories and who continue to shape their evolution.

Preliminary Programme

12 November – Dubai World Trade Center

Urban Heritage in Contested Landscapes

“From Pilgrimage to Performance: Remaking a Sacred Space on Beijing’s Urban Periphery” – Yumeng Gao (China)

“Post-Conflict Cities and the Layers of Heritage: Memory, Use, and Representation in Syria” – Hellen Almoustafa (United Arab Emirates)

“Wadi Salib Reconstructed: Immersive Technologies for Tangible and Intangible Urban Preservation” – Irit Carmon Popper (Israel)

Living Archives: Oral Narratives and City Memory                                                                   

“Where the City Speaks: People, Memory, and the Intangible Heritage of Al-Muizz Street, Cairo” – Nagwa Bakr (Egypt)

“Reframing Urban Memory: Emotional Mapping of Istanbul’s Changing Historical Neighborhoods” – Fatma Sezin Dogruer (Turkey)

“Memory in Transition: Oral Histories as Anchors for Community-Centered Museum Practices in Qatar” – Marie-Pierre Lissoir (Qatar)

Workshop: Your City Next! Researching and Curating Cycling Histories

Bicycles, once novel, then old-fashioned, are back again. Professor Ruth Oldenziel (Technical University Eindhoven) and Annemarie de Wildt (emeritus curator Amsterdam Museum) present lessons from the Cycling Cities international network and insights from Bicycles Forever exhibitions from Ghana to the Netherlands. 

13 November – Dubai World Trade Center

Urban Heritage in Contested Landscapes – Joint Session with ICFA Fine Arts

“The Museum as an Urban Storyteller: Narrating Agadir’s Transformation through Art” – Id Tnaine Omar (Morocco)

“Narrating the Nation: Public Art and Urban Identity in the Gulf” – Hiba Farhat (United Arab Emirates)

“The Expansive Role of Museum Education in Shaping Creative and Civic Life in Arab Cities” – Eman Abdulla (Qatar)

“Qatari Soft Power: Global Museum Brands, Transregional Cultural Diplomacy, and the Shifting Multipolar World Order” – Annette Loeseke (Germany)

“Artist as Teacher, Teacher as Artist” – Ranya Nasser (United Arab Emirates)

15 November – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU)

Overview presentation: Beyond Museumification

“Cultural Districts and Heritage Performance: Practices from the UAE” – Ayman Kassem, University of Ajman (United Arab Emirates)

Bridging Generations: Dialogue in Cities and Museums

“Reading the City Together: Co-Learning Bangkok’s Past Through Maps, Photos, and Place-Based Exploration” – Chewasit Boonyakiet (Thailand)*

“Youth Memory, Shared Futures: MLEADS in Palembang as a Catalyst for Intergenerational Dialogue and Inclusive Urban Identity” – Nofa Lestari (Indonesia)

“Jaipur: The City Museum and the Chowkri Pop up Museums” – Shikha Jain (India)

“Revitalizing Community Engagement with Thematic Interpretation Structure at Toronto History Museums” – Hillary Walker (Canada)

Introduction to CAMOC & General Meeting

Urban Voices and Urban Spaces: Rethinking the Margins

“Gendered Memory and Urban Heritage: Rethinking Female Heroism in Southeast Asian Museums” – Myra Mentari Abubakar (Singapore)

“A Mexican Experience in Becoming a Socio-Ecologically Community-Pertinent Urban Museum” – Eduardo Santana-Castellon (Mexico)

“The Multi-Frequency Museum as Urban Catalyst: Geneva’s MAH and the Reimagining of City Museums” – Marc-Olivier Wahler (Switzerland)

“Holes in the Network: Absences, Frictions and Possibilities at the Barcelona History Museum” – Elena Pérez Rubiales (Spain)

Cultural Activities with the SMCCU

More details coming soon. Learn more about the Centre here.