The research trip “Open perspectives: Future-Oriented Museum Management in Brazil and Germany – Transformation, Governance, and Public Engagement“ brings together museum professionals from Germany and Brazil to exchange perspectives on new approaches to museum management.

The programme takes place in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Belo Horizonte – three major cultural centres with distinct institutional models. Participants will engage with museums that combine science, the arts, and culture communications with future-oriented narratives, and work at the intersection of art, nature, and landscape.

The trip also examines how institutions develop sustainable funding structures, public-private partnerships, and income-generating activities. Through site visits, workshops, and discussions with local professionals, the research trip explores how Brazilian museums address social inequality, cultural diversity, environmental change, and urban transformation, and how these approaches can inform collaborative museum practice.

Who can apply:

• You are currently employed at a museum or exhibition venue based in Germany and are part of the leadership level (e.g. director, managing director, head of administration, or head of department)

• Your work relates to institutional strategy, development, governance, or programming

Applications can be submitted online via our application platform until 11 May 2026, 10 a.m..

This research trip is part of the museum agency’s programme Open perspectives. One of the programme’s goals is to initiate cooperation through the organisation of research trips to regions with dynamic museum landscapes and the facilitation of initial in-person meetings amongst international museum professionals.

Partners: Instituto Inhotim, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Museu de Arte do Rio – MAR 

Participating institutions:

• Bienal das Amazônias Cultural Center, Belém, Brazil
• Brücke-Museum, Berlin, Germany
• Casa Fiat de Cultura, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro (CCBB), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Circuito Liberdade, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
• Fundação Clóvis Salgado, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany
• Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho, Brazil
• Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil
• K20K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
• Memorial Minas Gerais Vale, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araujo, São Paulo, Brazil
• Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), São Paulo, Brazil
• Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio (MAM), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Museu de Artes e Ofícios, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Museu do Amanhã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Museu do Futebol, São Paulo, Brazil
• Museu Lasar Segall, São Paulo, Brazil
• Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi Belém, Belém, Brazil
• Museum Fünf Kontinente, Munich, Germany
• Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
• Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo, Brazil
• Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, Görlitz, Germany
• SESC Pompeia, São Paulo, Brazil
• Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany
• Württemberg State Museum, Stuttgart, Germany