Press Release (Spanish)
February 26, 2001

MUSEUM DIRECTORS TO MEET IN MEXICO CITY

Museum directors from several countries in the Americas will meet in Mexico City on March 1 to share ideas about how to strengthen and promote the hemisphere’s cultural heritage. The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Museum of the Americas Foundation are sponsoring the roundtable session.

Lucy Duncan, President of the Museum of the Americas Foundation, said one key topic on the agenda will be the Virtual Museum of the Americas, an online cultural resource that will be launched in April in Quebec City, Canada, on the eve of the Summit of the Americas. The Virtual Museum, or MuseAmericas, will have exhibitions, as well as areas devoted to education and e-commerce, and will link together more than 1,000 museums throughout the hemisphere.

Participants at the Mexico City meeting will also discuss the planned brick-and-mortar Museum of the Americas, which is proposed to be built at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C. Duncan said she will consult with the museum directors on guidelines to use in selecting a director who will shape the future of these ventures.

"This meeting will help us get a truly hemispheric perspective on what direction we should take as we get these ambitious projects off the ground," Duncan said. "By finding out from museum directors what they would like to see, we can target our efforts to meet particular needs and complement the rich cultural resources that already exist in the Americas."

Such consultations invariably produce a more creative, inclusive project, according to Yani Herreman of Mexico, Vice President of the Paris- based International Council of Museums. "It is so important that museums from different countries share ideas and learn from each other, because we all want the same thing – to enhance the value that our societies place on culture," said Herreman, who plans to attend the Mexico City meeting.

Some 40 participants from nine countries of the Americas, ranging from Canada to Uruguay, are expected to attend the session. One special guest will be former Costa Rican First Lady Gloria Bejarano de Calderón, who founded the Museo del Niño in her country.