ICOM Portugal

ICOM Portugal is the Portuguese National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the organisation that, on a worldwide scale, brings together museums and professionals connected with cultural and natural heritage. It functions as the national committee of ICOM in Portuguese territory, linking the national museological community to an international network that unites tens of thousands of members in more than a hundred countries. Its headquarters is in the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, in Lisbon.

Origin and international framework

ICOM was founded in 1946, in the aftermath of the Second World War, as a non-governmental organisation dedicated to museology. As an associated agency, it maintains a formal relationship of cooperation with UNESCO and holds consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, which gives its standard-setting work considerable weight in the definition of good practice.

The Portuguese committee has been documented since the early 1950s, ranking among the oldest national committees of the organisation. Its statutes were established in 1975, during a period of profound reorganisation of Portuguese cultural institutions. Its mission is to cooperate with museological institutions and professional organisations in programmes of common interest and to promote the development of museums as instruments of education and culture in the service of the community.

Ethical and museological work

The dimension that best distinguishes ICOM Portugal is the dissemination of professional ethics. The ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums establishes fundamental principles on the management of institutions, the acquisition and treatment of collections, research, the relationship with communities and the conduct of professionals. The Portuguese committee oversaw the translation and dissemination of this code in Portugal, deliberately opting for the term «deontologia» (professional ethics), as it is the most widely used in the Portuguese museological community, in contrast with the designation «code of ethics» adopted in the English version.

ICOM Portugal also follows the debate on the very definition of a museum. At the 26th General Conference, held in Prague, the General Assembly approved on 24 August 2022 a new definition that broadens the concept to the principles of inclusion, accessibility, diversity and sustainability, aligning museums with contemporary challenges. In this respect, the committee organises meetings, working groups and publications that bring these international benchmarks closer to the everyday practice of institutions.

Place in the Portuguese museological system

The work of ICOM Portugal complements that of other structures in the sector. While the Rede Portuguesa de Museus constitutes the public instrument for accreditation and qualification, and the Lei-Quadro dos Museus Portugueses sets the legal framework, ICOM acts as an ethical reference point and as a bridge to the international community. As is the case with ICOMOS Portugal in the field of monuments and sites, it is a professional platform that helps to align national museology with internationally recognised standards, contributing to the scientific and ethical credibility of Portuguese institutions.