OBMIN was founded in Warsaw in the summer of 2022 by Małgorzata Ławrowska-von Thadden as a platform for supporting and connecting Ukrainian museums. “Obmin” is Ukrainian for “exchange”. The organisation’s active members include 143 museums from all regions of Ukraine, and it is supported in part by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and other civic partner organisations.

OBMIN held its third conference, titled “Filling Blind Spots 2.0: New Narratives and the Role of Museums in the Reconstruction of Ukraine”, in Warsaw in November 2024. Against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conference focussed on the question of how Ukrainian museums can develop new narratives and decolonise their structures and exhibitions. In addition to Ukrainian museum professionals, experts from other countries also participated and helped to facilitate broader discussions.

The conference was under the patronage of the Federal Council and minister-president of the German Federal State of the Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, the president of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanczuk, Marshal of the Polish Senate, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine and the mayor of the city of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski.

The Agency for International Museum Cooperation is a partner of the OBMIN Conference and supports it as part of the programme International Dialogues. This programme helps foster dialogical and networking models, among other initiatives.