Connecting Ideas, People, and Museums.

International cooperation offers ways to address current challenges in the museum sector. Cross-border partnerships can make museums more visible and better equipped for the future. However, such partnerships can also bring challenges of their own.

This is where we come in. Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, we are a central point of contact for international museum cooperation and foster exchange between German museums and their partners worldwide. To do this, we bring together and support museum professionals who are interested in international projects or are already working on one. We find tailored solutions – from developing an idea together to sharing expertise and putting projects into practice.

We work with German and international museums, and with museum professionals who want to build cross-border collaborations. Other organisations and individuals working on international cooperation in the museum field are also welcome to contact us with their questions and draw on our support. You can find the right person to contact on our Contact page.

Our free services and international programmes focus on exhibition projects, museum services, dialogue and networking, and museum infrastructure. We also support and design professional development activities and create opportunities for museum colleagues around the world to meet and share their knowledge. This includes taking part in and hosting workshops, conferences, and other forums for exchange.

Yes. You can find our current funding programmes for international museum cooperation, along with details on how to apply, in the International Programmes section of our website.

Yes, our services are free of charge. After an initial consultation, we work with you to find and develop solutions tailored to your project. This could be a workshop for your team, for example, or hands-on support for your exhibition project. You can find more information in the Services section of our website.

The Agency for International Museum Cooperation was founded on 25 October 2023 by the German Federal Government as a non-profit, federally owned limited company (gGmbH). Once formally established, the museum agency began building its team and infrastructure in mid-2024 and used pilot projects to lay the foundations for the services it offers today. Since June 2025, the museum agency has offered its services to museum professionals and continues to develop them. Since autumn 2025, the three international programmes Set anchor points, Engage in dialogues, and Open perspectives have issued regular calls for applications. In summer 2026, a fourth programme, Find constellations, was added to support international exhibition collaborations involving German collections.

Under Current, you can take a look at past and upcoming projects, events, and funding opportunities.

The museum agency’s sole shareholder is the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the German Federal Foreign Office. Its Supervisory Board is made up of representatives of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Germany’s federal states. From November 2026, an Academic Committee will advise and support museum agency in its work.