The International Council of Museums (ICOM) split amid fierce debate over the core concept of its existence - what is a museum? After hours of controversy at the 25th General Conference of the International Council of Museums in Kyoto, 70% of delegates refused to vote on the new definition of the museum, theartnewspaper writes..

The postponement was a blow for ICOM President Suay Aksoy, a specialist from Turkey who initiated the project to develop a new definition, and for Danish curator Ette Sandal, who chaired the committee that developed the text.. In particular, it described museums as " Those who disagree with the definition noted its excessive politicization, the substitution of " The new definition is nothing more than a vague jumble of politically correct slogans and fashionable posturing, they summed up.

After the conference, Aksoy commissioned a revision of the text of the same commission, adding several new members to its composition, including Juliet Raoul-Duval, who heads ICOM in France, who was one of the first to oppose the " The Commission did not manage to hold a meeting. On March 10, the French branch, with the support of the European and German branches, invited all ICOM representatives to a meeting in Paris. It was attended by representatives of 41 committees, mostly from Europe, but Sandal refused to attend..

After the meeting, the chairman of ICOM Ireland, Hugh Maguire, expressed the general opinion that " After that, the participants demanded to make the "

Despite this, Sandal, with the support of Aksoy, proposed a new vote in June 2021, but the executive board did not support her.. After that Sandal resigned from the committee. Her example was followed by five more of its members, as well as two members of the executive board and Aksoy herself..

One of the departing members, American curator Rick West, told The New York Times that the current conflict reflects a fundamental debate over whether museums should serve as just a " Meanwhile, ICOM African delegates reproach the Europeans for opposing the movement towards "

New ICOM President Alberto Garlandini told The Art Newspaper that he would like everyone to embrace the diversity of opinion and put ideological positions aside.. He is confident that he will be able to create an atmosphere that will allow voting on the new definition already at the next General Conference, which is to be held in 2022 in Prague..