Los Angels, July 27th , 2026  

Dear Colleagues,  

It has been a while that we haven’t reached you with our newsletter, after the new Board has been in elected in March. Nevertheless we have been working for our network and are proud to update you on some of our activities. We regret that we have not yet had the opportunity to meet you in person and express our sincere appreciation for the trust you placed in us during the Board elections. 

Since then, the Board has met regularly, once per month and commenced its work with great commitment. Most importantly we have been addressing some serious financial issues with our account in Paris, which finally were resolved end of June. 

We were also working on several key matters of both technical and organizational nature. These include the revision of the new bylaws, organizing and updating our member and email distribution list, and preparing for the annual conference to be co-hosted with the National Committees of Ukraine and Germany and the Western Ukrainian Museum Association in Lviv, Ukraine Nov 25-28, 2026. 

Cultural heritage in war is not merely collateral damage, but often a deliberate target aimed at  erasing cultural identity, collective memory, and the sovereignty of an independent nation. The  devastating statistics on cultural heritage losses in Ukraine as a consequence of the Russian  full-scale invasion, as of 15 July 2026, 541 cultural sites have been confirmed as damaged. These include 156 religious sites, 281 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 43 museums, 33 monuments, 22 libraries, 5 archaeological sites, 1 archive, and arts education institutions—places that profoundly shape Ukrainian identity and memory. Clearly, this is a war against Ukrainian identity and nationhood with consequences at the heart of what concerns our mission in IC Security.  

Since my visit to Kiev in March, we have been raising funds to make this conference possible. We are aware, that there are severe security and travel authorization challenges which will be preventing many of our members from coming and joining us in Lviv. We also do not know how the war may further escalate, so we are trying to prepare for a Plan B too, in case Plan A does not work out  

As our IC is serving as a unique platform for professional exchanges on risk management and security challenges, we are inviting museum and security professionals and researchers from ICOM and beyond, to explore in a mutual exchange with Ukrainian colleagues how museums can respond to the following challenges:  

• Museum security aspects in conflict and war
• Specific challenges of illicit traffic in conflict and war 
• Cyber security for museums 
• Challenges in “psychological” or “social” security for museums 
• The “human factor” in times of crisis for museum security 

We hope the conference topics meet with your interest. Please take note of the Call for Papers and the respective deadlines of September 1st for your submissions. We are working with funding agencies and donors to support participants for travel, accommodation and subsistence costs. Special consideration will be given to applications from Emerging Professionals (under 40, according to ICOM Secretariat). Feel free to get in touch with us if you have further questions.  

In recent months, together with the fellow Chairs of the other ICOM ICs we have been working on three letters of solidarity and support, the first addressed to our colleagues in Ukraine, who are increasingly suffering from the Russian full-scale invasion since 2022, then for our colleagues in Lebanon , affected by recent air raids from Israel, and most recently, for our colleagues at the Smithsonian in the U.S., which find themselves under the fire from the White House. 

I had the privilege to represent our IC at the recent Advisory Council and General Assembly, which took place in June in the UNESCO premises in Paris. There, with a majority of almost 86% the new ICOM Code of Ethics was approved. 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a pleasant and restful summer, free of any security-related concerns and look forward to reconnecting with you in the falls with our first online meeting which will include expert presentations and discussions. Further details regarding the date and time will be communicated in due course. and coordinating our upcoming monthly online meetings, 

 

Stefan Simon