International Network of Museums for Peace


The International Network of Museums for Peace was established following a conference in Bradford in 1992. At this conference, for the first time, directors and curators of peace and anti-war museums worldwide came together. The loose network which emerged aimed to promote cooperation between peace museums and to stimulate the creation of new peace museums across the world.

Background

Early years

Between 1992 and 2009, the network was very informal, sustained by occasional newsletters between international conferences. As the number of peace museums worldwide increased, however, the network needed to formalise its structures. Steps towards addressing this were taken at the Gernika conference of 2005, including changing the name of the organisation to the International Network of Museums for Peace.

2009-2018

In 2009 the INMP was established as a foundation in The Hague and, with the support of the municipality, opened its secretariat and archive in the Bertha von Suttner Building near the Peace Palace in 2010. Since 2014 the INMP, as an international NGO, has been granted special Consultative Status from the UN ECOSOC, and gained ANBI-status in the Netherlands. The foundation consists of a General Coordinator, ten international Executive Board members and twelve international members in the Advisory Committee. In 2018, the INMP Office in the Hague was closed, and moved to the Kyoto Museum for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.

Museums for Peace

The definition of Museums for Peace according to the INMP is non-profit educational institutions that promote a culture of peace through interpreting, collecting and displaying peace related material. They inform the public about peace and nonviolence using illustrations from the lives of individuals, the work of organizations, campaigns and historical events. Included are also peace related sites, centers and institutions which are involved in peace education through exhibitions, documentation and other related activities.

Aims

Since 1992 the aims of the INMP have been
  1. to promote cooperation between peace museums and
  2. to stimulate the creation of new peace museums across the world. However, with the establishment of the INMP as a foundation, five more aims have been added.
  3. To the secretariat, to make a mainstay in the daily operation and development of the INMP and
  4. to recruit an extensive database of Museums for Peace. As well as
  5. organizing international conferences
  6. educational projects and
  7. travelling exhibitions on the promotion and stimulation of peace.

    Conferences of the network

1992: Bradford

1995: Stadtschlaining

1998: Osaka & Kyoto

2003: Ostend

2005: Gernika-Lumo

2008: Kyoto & Hiroshima

2010: Barcelona

2014: No Gun Ri

2017: Belfast

Projects

Discover Peace in Europe

Three year European project with six European partners, funded by the European Commission - Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013. It is a project about peace trails in Berlin, Budapest, Manchester, Paris, The Hague, Torino and Vienna to make people aware of the importance of peace. The INMP is the organiser of Peace Trail The Hague.

Peace Philanthropy - Then and Now. In the Footsteps of Andrew Carnegie

An international travelling exhibition to celebrate the centenary of the Peace Palace in The Hague.

A Picture for Peace

An international travelling exhibition based on the 2012 International Day of Peace youth photo competition by the United Network of Young Peacebuilders.

Other publications by the network

1995: Peace Museums Worldwide

1998: Peace Museums Worldwide

2008: Museums for Peace Worldwide

1993 - 2002: International Network of Peace Museums Newsletter

2010 - current: International Network of Museums for Peace Newsletter
2017: Conference Report from Belfast: https://sites.google.com/site/inmpconference/