Oct 12: Conference Schedule UPDATED! See the conference schedule below

ICFA Annual Conference 2026
“Fine Arts as Cross-Cultural Dialogue”
Aga Khan Museum Toronto OT, Canada
24–26 November 2026

Fine arts exist with diverse meanings and values across different regions. At the same time, they can function as a shared language through which people from different cultural backgrounds engage in dialogue. However, artistic practices—as well as their historical framings—are deeply embedded in specific linguistic and political contexts, requiring a certain level of shared understanding and frameworks for meaningful exchange.

ICFA has sought to serve as a platform for such engagement. Yet it is not our intention to remain at the level of fleeting encounters with unfamiliar cultures. This conference aims to move beyond simply “learning about” different perspectives, and instead to explore how these perspectives can deepen specialized knowledge and generate new forms of research and practice. Creating momentum toward concrete next actions is essential.

In particular, our areas of expertise—grounded in museums and collections—carry significant responsibility in today’s increasingly uncertain world, including the preservation, interpretation, and recontextualization of what constitutes fine arts. From this perspective, this conference seeks to share concrete, practice-based approaches to bridging cultural divides.

With the Aga Khan Museum as a point of reference, and drawing on the rich cultural diversity of Toronto, Canada, the conference will offer a valuable opportunity for critical engagement and exchange. We invite presentations that not only introduce diverse perspectives, but also articulate how such perspectives can lead to tangible next steps in research, practice, and collaboration. Participants are expected to leave with new insights and a renewed sense of direction for future action.

Conference Themes

1. What constitutes (Fine) Arts in Canada?

People in Canada do not necessarily mean exactly the same thing when they talk about “Arts” or “Fine Arts.” And Canada is actually a very good example of why this is neither surprising nor necessarily a problem. The term “Fine Arts” historically comes from a European tradition: painting, sculpture, classical music, theater, literature, and so on. Through colonial history and institutions — museums, universities, academies — this framework spread globally. But in a country like Canada, that model encounters many very different understandings of what art is in the first place. Many Indigenous cultures in Canada do not necessarily separate art sharply from ritual, community life, craftsmanship, spirituality, or everyday use. A carved object may simultaneously be an artwork, a spiritual object, a carrier of history, and a functional item. ICFA would like to learn about the unique Canadian approach to (Fine) Arts and its many aspects.  We would like to gather different Canadian approaches and – if so – understand the „Canadian way“.

2. The Language of Display: How to create Context for which audience?

The presentation of any kind of (Fine) Arts is related to the audience. Do museum professionals offer an aesthetic based approach without further look-and-feel, is the white cube still alive? Do we have to create context like in old-fashioned ethnographical museums? What do museums have to explaine in order to build low-threshold service and access to a very diverse audiances? ICFA welcomes both theoretical approaches as well as practical examples.

3. Museums and Community Engagement in Multicultural Societies.

Museums play a vital role in multicultural societies by preserving cultural heritage, promoting intercultural understanding, and creating spaces where diverse communities can share their stories. Traditionally viewed as institutions that collect and display objects, modern museums increasingly see themselves as active participants in community life. In multicultural societies, communities often differ in language, ethnicity, religion, history, and social experiences. Effective community engagement helps museums: represent diverse perspectives and histories, build trust with underrepresented groups, encourage social inclusion and cultural dialogue. But how to make exhibitions more relevant to divers local audiences?

In multicultural societies, museums are more than repositories of artifacts; they are spaces for dialogue, learning, and social connection. Through inclusive practices and genuine collaboration with communities, museums can help build more equitable, informed, and culturally vibrant societies.

 

World Café Discussion

The (Fine) Arts – contributions from across the globe. An intermedial result and new steps. Can we create a global definition of (Fine) Arts? Do we actually need one?

When ICFA was founded in 1980 „Museums and Collections of Fine Arts“ were  – as a matter of fact – related to traditional western (European, North American) museums and collections of Fine Arts. Neither Modern Art (CIMAM) was included nor Applied Arts (ICDAD, now: ICOM DESIGN).  ICFA has made much effort in the recent years to get rid of this post-colonial attitude with focussing on the Arts of East Asia, India and the Islamic world. ICFA wants to represent the (Fine) Arts within ICOM globally and worldwide. So we are in the need of a globally valid definition.  But on the other side “Fine Arts” is not a culturally neutral universal category. It belongs to a particular intellectual and historical tradition. How much shared understanding of art does a global society actually need? Maybe a pluralistic society does not need a single universally binding concept of  (Fine) Arts. What it needs instead are ways of dealing productively with multiple and sometimes competing understandings of art. ICFA invites to contribute to this discussion in the most open way. Ideas, examples …. What is the „FA“ in ICFA  supposed to stand for?

What counts as art?
What deserves funding?
What should be collected?
Who defines quality?

The ICFA meeting in Toronto would like to see a multitude of different participants with a great variety of backgrounds and ideas in order to press ahead our discussions and enrich the debate of „Fine Arts“ in an actual modern and progressive way.

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

The Meeting will be held in person, with online participation available for registered participants who are unable to attend Toronto. Speakers are expected to participate in person. Participation is free of charge and there is no registration fee.

Registration deadlines:
Speakers: 10 September 2026
All other participants: 30 September 2026
*Please note: Onsite registration is already closed, but online registration will be open again soon!

We warmly invite colleagues and participants from around the world to join us for three days of exchange, discussion and international collaboration.

Registration:
https://forms.gle/CJzXorf4H8PJFqgr8

Membership requirements 

Please note that all participants must be individual members or representatives of institutional members of ICOM at the time of the conference.

Find more information about how to become a member of ICOM and ICOM-ICFA at: https://icom.museum/en/get-involved

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Conference Schedule (as of Oct 12)

Tue., Nov. 24: Aga Khan Museum

9:00–10:00 Registration

10:00–10:40 Opening Session

10:40–12:00 Session A: What Constitutes (Fine) Arts in Canada?

• 10:40–11:00 Elka Weinstein, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Beam and Kent Monkman: Fine Art by Indigenous artists in Canada
• 11:00–11:20 Renee van der Avoird, Canadian Women Artists at the Art Gallery of Ontario: A Focused Approach
• 11:20–11:40 R. Stuart Keeler, Beyond the Vault: Decolonizing a Corporate Art Collection through Relationships, not by Acquisition Alone
• 11:40–11:50 Break
• 11:50–12:10 Heidi Weber, Labels, Visitors, and Meaning-Making: How Museum Labels Shape Visitor Engagement in a Montreal Case Study
• 12:10–12:30 Josh Heuman, From Open Space to Community; Multilingual and Accessible Programmes at Koffler Arts
• 12:30–12:50 Mengge Cao, From Fine Art to Situated Experience: Digital Curation of Chinese Temple Art at the Royal Ontario Museum
• 12:50–13:20 Discussion

13:20–14:30 Lunch Break

14:30–15:30 Guided tour at the Aga Khan Museum

15:40– Session B: The Language of Display: How to create context for which audience?

• 15:40–16:00 Sabah Mahmoud, From Display to Dialogue: Reinterpreting Islamic Art for Multicultural Audiences
• 16:00–16:20 Paola do Amaral Montenegro, The Exhibition Never Ends: Extending Tarsila do Amaral’s Legacy Across Museums, Digital Media Education, and Everyday Life
• 16:20–16:40 Josephine Nielsen-Bergqvist, The Art of Creating Context for an Art Collection and Its Audiences
• 16:40–17:00 Ahmed Mohamed, Digital Heritage and Museum Narratives: Using Artificial Intelligence to Foster Cross-Cultural Dialogue at World Heritage Site
• 17:00–17:20 Wan Wan, Heritage in Motion: The Dynamic Cultural Memory Construction in China’s Digital Museums
• 17:20–17:45 Discussion

18:00– Reception

Wed., Nov. 25: Aga Khan Museum

10:00–11:00 ICFA Member meeting/Other participants can visit AKM

11:10–13:00 Session C: The (Fine) Arts – contributions from across the globe

• 11:10–11:30 Kajal Sharma, Layered Interpretation: Rethinking Fine Arts through Museum Objects
• 11:30–11:50 Benjamin Ouedraogo, Redefining Fine Arts through African Museum Practices: The Experience of Burkina Faso
• 11:50–12:10 Soledad Obeid, An Institutional Perspective on the Art Collection of the Ancient Andean Peoples
• 12:10–12:30 Isabella Valentina Cabello Hamana, Lost and Found in Translation: Fine Arts in the Eyes of Venezuelan Contemporary Art Practices as the Concept of “Bellas Artes”
• 12:30–13:00 Discussion

13:00–14:00 Lunch Break

14:00–16:00 World Café: A contribution to the (Fine) Arts discussion within ICFA

16:30–17:30 Museum Visit (TBD)

Thu., Nov. 26: Aga Khan Museum

10:00–11:30 Session D: Dialogue and Community Engagement in Multicultural Societies

• 10:00–10:20 Weiqi Wang, From Open Space to the Museum as an Opener Space
• 10:20–10:40 Meerim Emil Kyzy, Reimagining Community Engagement in a Post-Soviet Art Museum, the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts Case Study
• 10:40–11:00 Sakshi Jain, From the Parpia Collection to the Community: Reimagining Museum Engagement through Indian Textiles in Multicultural Houston
• 11:00–11:30 Discussion

11:30– Closing Remarks

Afternoon–  Guided Tour in Toronto Museums

Fri., Nov. 27: Museum Visit (Optional)

Guided Tour in Toronto Museums