Day 2: Saturday, 21 November 2026

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DAY 2 - Saturday, 21 November 2026 at Harare International School (HIS)

Tools of Transformation

Museums are not only custodians of the past; they are laboratories for social and ecological transformation. This session foregrounds the tools, technologies, and strategies that enable museums to act as catalysts for change. From digital innovation to participatory co-creation, from new material practices to curatorial activism, we ask: how can museums operate transformation rather than simply represent it? By centering African and Global South methodologies of making, storytelling, and adaptation, this day explores transformation as both process and practice, rooted in the local but resonant across the globe.

Building on the day’s central theme, the morning program will explore three key subthemes:

- Subtheme 1: Ethics of Machine Knowledge and Cultural Memory: Whose Data Shapes Our Heritage?

- Subtheme 2: Museum Partnerships, Community and Pedagogies

- Subtheme 3: Designing for Tomorrow’s Audiences: New Languages for the Future

Morning Program (8:30 – 13:45 hrs.) 

* Times and order may be subject to change.

  • 8:00 hrs. Pick-up from all Hotels
  • 8:30 – 9:00 hrs. Arrival and Welcome Coffee
  • 9:00 – 9:20 hrs. Performance
  • 9:20 – 9:30 hrs. Welcome Remarks by day host + Introduction to the Day: Fadzai Muchemwa & Stephanie Rosenthal, members of the 2026 Content Steering Committee
  • 9:30 – 10:10 hrs. Keynote Speech: "Redundancy and the Museum" by David Teh, Associate Professor, National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • 10:15 – 11:45 hrs. Conference delegates will take part in Breakout Sessions exploring the three key subthemes of the day:

- Subtheme 1: Ethics of Machine Knowledge and Cultural Memory: Whose Data Shapes Our Heritage?

- Subtheme 2: Museum Partnerships, Community and Pedagogies

- Subtheme 3: Designing for Tomorrow’s Audiences: New Languages for the Future

  • 11:45 – 12:10 hrs. Musical Interlude & Coffee Break
  • 12:10 – 13:00 hrs. Presentations by Invited Speakers: The three subthemes explored during the breakout sessions will be further addressed by the invited guests:

- "Afropresentism.OS: Embodied Eco Logics and Sourealism" by Neema Githere, Writer, Artist, Relational Architect, Studio Nkisi, Nairobi, Kenya, who will address Subtheme 1

- "From Qonaqtar to Community: Building Publics Through Art in Central Asia" by Inga Lāce, Curator, Almaty Museum of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan, who will address Subtheme 2

- "Exhibitions and Pre-conditions for Healing" by Hamza Walker, Director, The Brick, Los Angeles, USA, who will address Subtheme 3

  • 13:00 – 13:30 hrs. Q&A Panel Discussion moderated by Fadzai Muchemwa & Stephanie Rosenthal, members of the 2026 Content Steering Committee
  • 13:30 – 13:45 hrs. Chronist: Esther Chipashu, Curator of Ethnography, National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

The Chronist will offer an interpretative reading of the day’s key discussions and insights, weaving together reflections from the keynote lectures, breakout sessions, and panel discussions.

  • 13:45 – 14:45 hrs. Lunch break onsite

Afternoon Program (15:00 – 18:30 hrs.)

* Exact timings for this day will be announced shortly.

  • 15:00 – 18:30 hrs. Transportation to Curated Studio Visits and Cultural Encounters (exact timings and venues for this day will be announced shortly).

- First Floor Gallery

- Village Unhu

- Dzimbanhete Art interactions

→ Explore the full list and learn more about each venue here.

Evening Program (19:00 – 22:00 hrs.)

  • 19:00 – 22:00 hrs. Dinner at the National Gallery Sculpture Garden
  • 22:00 hrs. Transportation back to Conference Hotels

Useful links: