Wednesday, May 17, 6:30 pm at Aga Khan Museum, Toronto

Join us for the next installment of Global Conversations — a series of hybrid panel discussions with arts and culture leaders from around the world addressing the big questions and challenging global issues of the day.

Diaspora communities speak to belonging across multiple generations and locations, encompassing a range of experiences from forced migration to skilled immigration. In the last three decades, these communities have been represented by a range of museums. Marking International Museum Day, this panel discussion explores how museums engage diaspora and immigrant communities and represent their stories, speaking to local and global issues and networks.

This conversation brings together leaders from diaspora and immigration museums across North America to address the aims, approaches, and concerns of these institutions and their constituencies in the 21st century. Panelists include:

• Diana Abouali, Director of the Arab American National Museum;
• Marie Chapman, CEO of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21;
• Palina Louangketh, Founder and Executive Director of the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora;
• Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis, Director and CEO of the Aga Khan Museum

The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Sascha Priewe and Dr. Sarah E.K. Smith.

This discussion builds on research into the diplomacy of diaspora and immigration museums that is being undertaken in the Faculty of Information & Media Studies at Western University, in partnership with the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora and the Aga Khan Museum.

Diana Abouali is the director of the Arab American National Museum, located in Dearborn, Michigan. Previously, she was an assistant professor at Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, USA); head of research and collections at the Palestinian Museum (Birzeit, Palestine), and director of education, outreach and awareness at the Petra National Trust (Amman, Jordan).

Marie Chapman is CEO of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, located at the National Historic Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The museum is Canada’s sixth national museum, the second to be established outside the National Capital Region and the only one in Atlantic Canada. 

Dr. Palina Louangketh is an entrepreneur in the museum sector. As the Founder and Executive Director of the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora (IMID), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, she is passionate about connecting the community to the cultures of the world through cultural art, music, literature, film, food, and other creative platforms.

Dr. Ulrike Al- Khamis, CEO and Director of the Aga Khan Museum, is a recognized leader in the field of Islamic art and museology.

Sarah E.K. Smith is Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations. She is based in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University in London, Ontario, where she runs the Practitioner Media Lab.

This event is supported in part by funding from the Canada Research Chairs program and sponsored by ICOM Canada and the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative.