Founded in 2008, the Inclusive Museum Research Network emerged from a shared concern for the future role of museums and the practical ways they can widen access, representation, and voice. It asks how collections, spaces, and narratives are shaped—with whom, and for whom—and how museums can act as equitable civic spaces rather than neutral containers of heritage. The Network brings together museum professionals, scholars, and community partners to explore how visitors, collections, and knowledge practices intersect with questions of diversity, engagement, and digital transformation, building strategies for inclusive change across different institutional and cultural contexts.
The International Conference on the Inclusive Museum travels annually in partnership with leading institutions, bringing together established and emerging voices for dialogue, collaboration, and field-building. Past and upcoming hosts include the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden; University of Queensland, Brisbane; Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; University of the West Indies, Barbados; National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen; the Autry Museum, Los Angeles; the National Science Museum, New Delhi; the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati; Manchester Museum, UK; University of Granada, Spain; MUNTREF—Museum of Immigration, Buenos Aires; Museum of Lisbon; Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia; UBC Robson Square, Vancouver; MuseumsQuartier, Vienna; and University of San Jorge, Zaragoza. Each edition engages a Special Focus that responds to urgent questions in inclusion, heritage, and community engagement, inviting established and emerging voices to share research, case studies, and practice-based projects.
The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum is a peer-reviewed, hybrid open access journal that publishes research at the leading edge of inclusive museology. Articles examine curatorship, collections and interpretation, community partnerships, cultural policy, museum education, and digital access—addressing both historical legacies and contemporary transformations. All submissions undergo double-anonymous, rubric-guided peer review with constructive editorial feedback, supporting methodological transparency and practice relevance for scholars, museum professionals, and policymakers. The journal is indexed in major international databases and offers flexible open access pathways.
The Inclusive Museum Book Imprint publishes monographs and edited collections that extend research into practical and conceptual frameworks for inclusive museum work. Volumes document case studies, methods, and collaborative projects that address representation, governance, interpretation, and community participation across different museum types and contexts. The imprint welcomes diverse authorship and both broad and niche topics, offering open access options that increase visibility for global practitioners.
The Inclusive Museum Research Network’s Member Knowledge Community on CGScholar provides a year-round space for members to share profiles, papers, project documentation, exhibition research, and reflections on practice. Designed for collaboration, it offers a multimodal authoring environment with light, community-guided review that strengthens purpose and reader context before circulation. Conference presentations, journal articles, and book projects flow together in this integrated environment, supporting ongoing engagement across curatorship, heritage, community partnerships, and inclusive museum practice.
Our Founding and Current Network Chair is Dr. Amareswar Galla, whose international career bridges UNESCO initiatives, higher education, and museum innovation. His stewardship affirms the Network’s commitment to inclusive, cross-cultural, and practice-informed scholarship.
Partnerships extend the Network’s scholar-led mission, linking museums, universities, cultural councils, and international bodies to reimagine the role of the museum. Collaborations have included:
Hyderabad, India & Sydney, Australia
Zaragoza, España
Sydney, Australia
Granada, Spain
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Lisbon, Portugal
Granada, Spain
Paris, France
Philadelphia, USA
Gujarat, India
Vienna, Austria