Report of the ICOMON 29th Annual Conference in Kuala Lumpur

Wednesday November 15, 2023

The opening day started with a visit at the Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery. The multi-floored Bank Negara Malaysia Museum consists of a Children’s Gallery, Islamic Finance Gallery, Numismatics Gallery, Bank Negara Malaysia Gallery, Art Gallery, and Economics Gallery. Interactive displays form an important component of the experience at the museum and support their education efforts. Later in the day, one of the roundtables was led by Cho Chun Loong, an Executive Committee Member for the Malaysia Numismatic Society, with a focus on Malaysian numismatics and collection management.

Thursday November 16, 2023

The first day of the official conference started with an opening by Dr. Asma Ibrahim, Chair of ICOMON, followed by Dr Kaja Širok, Member of the Executive Board for ICOM, and then Marzunisham Omar, the Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia. After the opening of the conference, papers commenced at 10am and continued until 12:30pm for lunch (with a short coffee break in between). The day was capped by a visit to the Islamic Art Museum Malaysia, including a behind the scenes visit to their conservation lab. The evening was marked by a Gala dinner at Rumah Tansi Kuala Lumpur, with traditional dancing and performances.

Friday November 17, 2023

The second day had papers from 930am until 1pm with a short coffee break in the middle. After lunch, a visit to MyMint, Bank Negara Malaysia – the newly opened (just in October 2023) coin mint for the central bank. The ICOMON attendees were the first outside visitors to this brand new facility which is one of the most modern in the world.

Saturday November 18, 2023

The final day was devoted to an excursion three hours outside Kuala Lumpur to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Melaka. Here the attendees were treated to tours highlighting the mixing of history and Dutch, English, Portuguese, and Malay culture all in one small city. After a visit to the Red Square and Stadthuys, the group was brought in twos, to the Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum in a colorful bicycle rickshaw ride. After lunch, the tour groups had the chance to visit the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum before a festive closing dinner, where the ICOMON board expressed their gratitude to the organizing committee at Bank Negara Malaysia. As a final farewell, the participants were treated to an evening river boat ride through the beautiful lit Melaka before making the long drive back to Kuala Lumpur.

The ICOMON board expresses its immense gratitude and appreciation to Bank Negara Malaysia for hosting the event, and especially to Marzunisham Omar, the Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia; Alnizah Shamsudeen, Deputy Director at Bank Negara Museum and Art Gallery; Mohammad Fakhrullah Jamlus, Senior Executive of Curatorial at Bank Negara Museum and Art Gallery; Izzul Hidayat Jalaluddin, Assistant Curator at Bank Negara Museum and Art Gallery; as well as the rest of the Bank Negara team that made this conference an absolute success.

Talks and Presentations

Wednesday

• Roundtable discussion I (Conservation and Collection Management) – Presenter: Mr. Cho Chun Loong, Malaysia Numismatic Society. Moderator: Rasdiana Syazwani binti Adnan, Bank Negara Malaysia
• Roundtable discussion II (Education Management) – Moderator: Mohd Faiz Naim bin Hassan, Bank Negara Malaysia

Thursday

• Keynote Speech by Asma Ibrahim
• Keynote Speech by Kaja Širok
• Opening Speech and Launching of 29th Annual Conference of ICOMON by Deputy Governor Bank Negara Malaysia, Marzunisham Omar
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: One Year Retrospective from Yale – Presenters: Benjamin Healing and Emily Pearce Seigerman, Yale University Art Gallery, United States of America
• Use of Generative AI in the Development of Museum Practices: Reviving the Past for a Sustainable Now and Future – Presenters: Singh, N., Ramakrishna S. A. and Nasir, M.A., E Factor Experiences India, New Delhi, India
• Opening the Vaults – Presenter: Paul Beliën, National Numismatic Collection, Dutch Central Bank, Netherlands
• Triggering Curiosity at the Digital Treasury of the Dutch Central Bank – Presenter: Pim Möhring, National Numismatic Collection, Dutch Central Bank, Netherlands
• Digitizing Exhibitions in Money Museums: Cambodia’s Experience – Presenter: Blaise Kilian, Museum of Economy and Money, Cambodia
• Innovative Displays for Intangible Concepts. A Sustainable Approach – Presenter: Anareli Acosta Villegas, Museo Banco de Mexico, Mexico
• Money Museums: What Relevance and How Sustainable? – Presenter: Dr Winani Thebele, National Museum of Bostwana, Botswana
• Sustainability in Money Museums – Presenter: Ketevan Chitashvili, National Bank of Georgia, Georgia

Friday

• Museum Reinvention in the Digital Age: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Sustainable Reinvention – Presenter: Alnizah Shamsudeen, Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery, Malaysia
• Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Serving Coins and Medals in the Digital Age – Presenter: Majed Alotaibi, Ministry of Culture, Saudi Arabia
• Keeping Digital Track: Applying QR Codes or RFID Tags to a Large Museum Collection – Presenter: Jesse Kraft, The American Numismatic Society, United States of America
• One Too Many: Sustainable Collecting and Management – Presenter: Benjamin Hellings, Yale University Art Gallery, United States of America
• The Pedagogical Side of the Coin – Presenter: Emily Pearce Seigerman, Yale University Art Gallery, United States of America
• Rebuilding: Tradition and Innovation in the Museum – Presenter: Asma Ibrahim, State Bank of Pakistan Museum, Archives and Art Gallery
• The Evolution of the Malaysian Ringgit – Presenter: Wan Muhammad Danial Wan Omar, Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery, Malaysia
• Digitalization and Social Responsibility Challenges in Regional and International Context: The Case of the Bank Al-Maghrib Museum – Presenter: Rochdi Bernoussi, The Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco

The report was first published on the ICOMON website.