What political role do museums play in the current context of crisis? Could museums be understood as actors of diplomacy? How do explicit and implicit cultural policies cultivate or hinder museum alliances for cultural diversity and pluralism? Which types of museum policies are needed to foster museum diplomacy? And how do museums engage with value- and resource-related conflicts in respectful and inclusive ways?

The project Agonistic Museum Diplomacy (AMUDI), funded by the German Research Foundation, explores how museums function as diplomatic actors alongside state structures and regulations. The AMUDI project consists of four researchers – Joachim Baur (TU Dortmund University, Germany), Friederike Landau-Donnelly (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany), Sascha Priewe (Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada), and Sarah E. K. Smith (Western University, London, Canada) – from the fields of cultural studies, cultural geography, media and information studies, and museum practice, and investigates what a conflict-oriented diplomatic practice of museums could look like. The underlying hypothesis is that agonistic conflict –a democratically moderated encounter between different political or epistemic positions – can foster democratic dialogue as well as a diverse and open cultural landscape.

The first workshop was hosted at Aga Khan Museum in Toronto in July 2025. Here, the German-Canadian project team invited a group of academic and practical stakeholders from the areas of cultural policy and museums to engage in exchanges about everyday experiences and practices of conflict-oriented museum diplomacy and its value.

On 11 February 2026, in cooperation with the Agency for International Museum Cooperation, the AMUDI research team brings together scholars and museum practitioners to engage in a debate about agonistic museum diplomacy as both concept and practice. The Museum Agency will also reflect on its own role in this field. In an introductory contribution, it will provide insights into the founding process of the Museum Agency, its positioning on the concept of museum diplomacy, and the programmes and projects it develops and supports.

Cooperation Partners: Aga Khan Museum, TU Dortmund University, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Western University

More information about AMUDI can be found here. 

On 11 February 2026, the AMUDI workshop and research team will be hosted by the museum agency as a pilot project for the programme Engage in dialogues. This programme facilitates exchange among museum professionals, enabling them to jointly address the many contemporary challenges in cross-border cultural work.

This workshop takes place in cooperation with the Agency for International Museum Cooperation. The overall research project “AMUDI – Agonistic Museum Diplomacy” (project number: 564218981) is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation).