charlotte.cuny, Author at WFFM

UPCOMING EVENT, WFFM, YOUNG FRIENDS

15 May 2026

World Day 2026

The first edition of the World Day of Friends of Museums will take place this year on the second Sunday of October to celebrate the community of 2 millions enthusiasts worldwide, under the theme “Your museums, our passion!”

It follows on from the European Day of Friends of Museums celebrated since 2023.

150 associations of 14 countries participated in 2025.
We hope more this year to showcase to the public in their museum the actions they carry out throughout the year to share their passion and contribution to their museums’ influence.

LOGOS 2026

You can find below our logos to download in English, Spanish and French.

If you want to edit it in your own language, read our guidelines.

logo LANGUAGE GUIDELINEs

World day logos

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5 November 2025

WFFM General Assembly 2026 in Athens: registrations and program

WFFM will hold its 2026 General assembly in Athens from April 23 to 26.

Members registration is now open at:

https://forms.gle/iS9pPrrfR7Z6QtzX9

We’ll start on Thursday 23 at the War Museum with a colloquium organized by the Hellenic Federation of Friends of Museums, ΕΟΣΦΙΜ, on the challenges the museums are facing today with the participation of representatives from Greek and international museum institutions. We will continue in the afternoon with our usual Academic session, which will allow each country to discuss the actions carried out by its Friends of Museums over the past year. A welcome cocktail will conclude this first day.

On Friday and Saturday mornings, the Council and the Young Council will prepare the groundwork for the future while the other WFFM members and accompanying people will visit iconic places in Athens.

We will meet up in the afternoons to visit he city’s outstanding museums such as the Acropolis Museum, the Benaki Museum, and the Museum of Modern Greek Culture.

On Saturday evening, we’ll celebrate the 50^th anniversary of WFFM and the 40^th anniversary of ΕΟΣΦΙΜ.

Then, we’ll hold the WFFM General Assembly on Sunday morning at the Historical Museum of Athens in the place where the Greek Parliament used to sit, before meeting up for a farewell lunch in the gardens of the Numismatic Museum, weather permitting.

Provisional Program:

Thursday, April 23, all participants

War Museum Amphitheater

09:00-09:30 Welcome and WFFM participants registration
10:00-14:00 Colloquium “Friends and Museums: Challenges and perspectives in an ever-changing world” organized by ΕΟΣΦΙΜ, the Hellenic Federation of Friends of Museums
14:00-15:00 Light lunch in the premises
15:00-17:30 Academic session: WFFM members achievements in 2025
19:00 Reception and cultural entertainment

Friday, April 24

Council meetings, Royal Olympic Hotel rooms

09:30-12:30 Council and Young Council meeting: Following the colloquium, how could Friends of Museums respond to the new challenges museums are facing? Then separate Council and Young Council sessions

Other members and accompanying people

09:30 Museum of Modern Greek Culture (MNEP) visit followed by the Herakleidon Museum of Ancient Greek Technology visit

All participants

13:00 Acropolis hill and Parthenon visit
14:30-15:30 Free time for lunch
15:30-17:00 Guided tour of the Acropolis Museum
18:00-19:00 Athens Town Hall visit: guiding and refreshments

Saturday, April 25

Council’s meetings, Royal Olympic Hotel rooms

9:30-12:30 Council and Young Council sessions then Council and Young Council gather for conclusions

Other members and accompanying people

09:30-12:30 Archeological Museum visit, then move to the Byzantine and Christian Museum

All participants

13:00-14:00 Byzantine and Christian Museum visit
14:00-15:00 Free time for lunch
15:30 -17:00 Visit to the Greek Parliament, old Royal Palace of Greece, and its exhibitions
19:00: Benaki museum visit
20:00 Official dinner in the Benaki museum to celebrate WFFM’s 50^th Anniversary and ΕΟΣΦΙΜ 40^th anniversary

Sunday, April 26, all participants

● 09:30-12-00 General Assembly in the Athens Historical Museum, first location of the Greek Parliament

● 14:00-14:30 Farewell lunch in the gardens of the Numismatic Museum

PAST EVENT, WFFM, YOUNG FRIENDS

10 November 2025

National Meeting of the Federação de Amigos dos Museus de Portugal, October 26th-28th

In September 26th, 27th and 28th, the National Meeting of the Federação de Amigos dos Museus de Portugal (FAMP) was held at the Douro Museum in Peso da Régua.

Over three days, the idyllic landscape of the Douro Valley provided a stunning backdrop to an event filled with engaging and enriching experiences, including an exclusive visit to the museum and a peaceful boat trip along the river. These moments allowed for reflection and conviviality in a truly special setting.

The programme was designed by FAMP to encourage meaningful discussion on the role of friends of museums, and featured several sessions in which associations from across the country – from north to south – shared the work they have been developing. Among the highlights were the contribution of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, as well as the testimonies of the directors of the Lamego Museum, the D. Diogo de Sousa Archaeology Museum, and the National Coach Museum. All emphasised the crucial role played by the friends of museums in promoting and enhancing cultural heritage, underscoring the significance of the event within Portugal’s cultural sphere.

FAMP also gave prominence to its younger voices. Young participants from Lisbon, Coimbra, and Évora looked back on the three previous Youth Meetings and presented the activities carried out throughout 2024, reflecting on the early stages and development of the group. They discussed Portugal’s representation on the Youth Council of the World Federation of Friends of Museums, offering insight into their current project. They also highlighted the strengthening of ties and the fruitful exchange with young friends of museums from other countries – connections that have greatly enriched their experience. The group revisited its participation in several international gatherings, including the WFFM General Assemblies held in Luxembourg and Naples, as well as the special session in Rome with Pope Francis.

The young participants reaffirmed their commitment to bringing new generations closer to museums and expressed genuine enthusiasm for the group’s steady growth, particularly noticeable in recent months. The meeting also provided an opportunity to outline proposals for activities to be developed in 2026 – always with the aim of encouraging young people to take an active role in cultural life – and offered moments of relaxed social interaction, strengthening bonds of friendship and cooperation among participants.

The 2025 National Meeting showcased FAMP’s thoughtful planning and high-standard coordination, which played a key role in making this edition a success. It reaffirmed the vital role of friends of museums in promoting culture and heritage in Portugal, while celebrating both the natural beauty of the Douro region and the collaborative spirit that unites all those committed to this cause.

2. Presentation of the Young Friends of Museums

1. Opening of FAMP’s 2025 National Meeting

2. Participants of the 2025 National Meeting

Non classé

28 October 2025

Report: WE’RE NOT JUST A TREND: ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN QUEER. GUIDED TOURS & EVENTS ON QUEER PERSPECTIVES IN ART AT THE HAMBURGER KUNSTHALLE

Written By Shanice Page
Sep 24, 2024

“WE’RE NOT JUST A TREND: ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN QUEER. GUIDED TOURS & EVENTS ON QUEER PERSPECTIVES IN ART AT THE HAMBURGER KUNSTHALLE”

Change happens very quickly for those, who keep their eyes on the past. This seems to be especially true, if you look at Old Masters in an Art Museum, which show us a world that does not exist anymore – or has never existed?

Last Tuesday, Jenny Saitzek from the Hamburger Kunsthalle introduced us to a series of formats, that present a different perspective on art and that were initiated in 2022 related to an exhibition. “Femme Fatale. Gaze – Power – Gender” at the Hamburger Kunsthalle was the starting point to explore another view on history – a queer feminist perspective. This very successful exhibition gave the necessary courage to explore new topics, in the form of a Salon Fatale. Within the Salon, conversations about diversity, inclusion and queerness were initiated, laying the groundwork for what was to come the following year.

In her half hour talk, Jenny Saitzek laid out the four different formats that were organized by the Kunsthalle, namely:

Queer Collection Tours
Drag – Guided Museum Tours
Queer Salon
Pride Week

Jenny explored the team’s idea of introducing a queer gaze to the museum, and the doubts and difficulties that crossed their path in the process, even though the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. But one major assumption was, that the museum would need a queer collection to carry out such an event. She realized, during her work with the LGBTQ+ Community within the collection, that the museum can reshape its perspectives, by explicitly recognizing queer content and opening up to queer perspectives. This reframing emphasizes the fact that museums do not need to create a separate “queer collection” but rather, that it is possible to integrate and recognize queerness within existing works and collections.

Jenny Saitzek then provided the audience with a series of hard facts and data, that show how well received these events are – in fact, they are so popular, that the maximum capacity of participants is exceeded on a regular basis. She ended her talk with a key sentence for her experiences with her newly developed events: Success begins with courage and ends with luck.

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22 October 2025

WFFM European Mediterranean meeting

Members are gathering in Paris from October 24th to 26th.

They will have 2 workings sessions at the Safeguarding of French Art Foundation around the following topics:

Extended European Day of Friend of Museums
Preparation of the 4^th International Day of Friend of Museums

Past, present and future activities will be presented and discussed including the presentation of new members.

The members will also visit the:

Cartier Foundation for contemporary art
Institut of the Arab World
International Cultural Heritage Fair

They will have dinner at the:

Cercle national des Armées
Brasserie Mollard

PAST EVENT, WFFM

1 October 2025

European Day of Friends of Museums at MUSEC: Museo delle Culture, Lugano

On Sunday 12 October, MUSEC will offer two guided tours open to the public to raise awareness of the activities of the CLUB of CULTURES.

On this occasion, there will be an opportunity to take part in a free guided tour of two temporary exhibitions at MUSEC and, during an aperitif, to discover the activities of the CLUB of CULTURES. In addition, every new member of the CLUB will receive a free MUSEC branded cloth bag as a gift.

PAST EVENT, WFFM, YOUNG FRIENDS

1 October 2025

Visit to the Fortabat Foundation by FADAM Youth Program

On Friday, September 26th, the FADAM Youth Programme visited the Fortabat collection.

Young people from different associations were invited to a guided tour of the foundation led by director Germán Barraza.

Students from the University of San Andrés (@udesa) were also invited to take part in the visit, allowing them to learn about the different programmes offered to young people by the associations that form part of FADAM.

PAST EVENT, WFFM

1 October 2025

Friends of Museums Day is celebrated in the American University of Beirut

PAST EVENT

17 September 2025

Association of Friends of Villa Ocampo, UNESCO Plaque, Argentina

Dear Friends,

On 24 July, a plaque was unveiled at Villa Ocampo by UNESCO to thank the Association of Friends of Villa Ocampo for the comprehensive restoration of Manuel’s Room and the Shop.

The ceremony was attended by Ernesto Polcuch, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office based in Montevideo; Marta Alvarez Molindi, President of the Association of Friends of Villa Ocampo; the Association’s Board of Directors; Ernesto Montequin from the Villa Ocampo Documentation Centre; the restorer, Daniel Suarez; and staff from the House and the Association.

We would like to thank our Friends, whose support made this possible.
Attached are some photos of the event.

We will continue working to preserve Villa Ocampo and the legacy of Victoria Ocampo.
We are counting on you!

PAST EVENT, WFFM

17 September 2025

Canada Friends of Museums Day, October 5, 2025

MediaPost_ 2025 Canada Friends of Museums Day

PAST EVENT, WFFM

12 July 2025

Friends of Museums Day Celebration in Argentina

On June 12, FADAM celebrated Friends of museums Day at the Tigre Art Museum (very
close to Buenos Aires). Most of the country & 39 associations attended. Marta Alvarez Molindi,
president of the Argentine Federation of Friends of Museums (FADAM), opened the event by
commenting on the WFFM meeting and assembly in Naples and Caserta, and the museum
director gave a lecture on the management of art donations. At the end, there was an
exclusive guided tour of the exhibits of works donated by two important collectors, followed
by lunch and a toast. Several Friends Associations donated items from their shops for a
raffle. It was a wonderful day of fellowship and exchange of experiences.

PAST EVENT

12 May 2025

South American day of Friends of Museums

The WFFM is proud that its European Day also takes place further than in Europe! Save the date: June 1st!

Featured, PAST EVENT

28 March 2025

European Day 2025

The third edition of the European Day of Friends of Museums will take place this year on October 12th to celebrate the community of a million enthusiasts across Europe, under the theme “Your museums, our passion!”

150 associations of 10 countries participated in 2024. We hope more this year to showcase to the public in their museum the actions they carry out throughout the year to share their passion and contribution to their museums’ influence.