Plenary Speakers

The International Conference on the Inclusive Museum will feature plenary sessions by some of the world’s leading thinkers and innovators in the field, as well as numerous parallel presentations by researchers and practitioners.

Mohammad Zia Afshar
Nurhan Atasoy
Zahava D. Doering
Omarakhan Massoudi
Arev Samuelyan

Garden Conversations Sessions

Plenary Speakers will make formal 30-minute presentations. They will also participate in 60-minute Garden Conversations - unstructured sessions that allow delegates a chance to meet the speakers and talk with them informally about the issues arising from their presentation.

Please return to this page for regular updates.

The Speakers

Mohammad Zia Afshar
Mohammad Zia Afshar became Deputy Minister for Culture in 2008 after holding the post of Director of the Department for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. He has worked for many years in cultural heritage management in both the non-governmental sector and for the government of Afghanistan. He is deeply concerned about the development process in Afghanistan and seeks to promote culture as a central pillar or underpinning for the reconstruction process in his country.
Nurhan Atasoy
Apart from teaching Art History, Prof. Dr. Nurhan Atasoy was the head of many departments and the Dean of the Faculty of Letters of Istanbul University. She has organized, attended and lectured at many international congresses and symposia on Turkish and Islamic art throughout the World. She was also the curator of several national and international exhibitions. She has received many awards, such as: a medal of Pro Merito by the Council of Europe, Strasbourg 1984; TURSAB (Union of Turkish Tourism Agencies), 1989; Memphis Municipality (U.S.A.) Honorary Citizenship, 1989; a medallion of ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization award for the year 1992 in recognition of outstanding performance in the field of Fine Arts); the award for the outstanding performance in the Turkish Museum Studies and Archaeology, Ministry of Culture of Republic of Turkey, 1993; German Archaeological Institute “Institutum Archaeologicum Germanicum Award”, 1994; Ataturk Kultur Merkezi (Ataturk Cultural Centre) Honorary membership, 1999; the “Doctor Honoris Causa in Humane Letters” by Bilkent University, 2004; and the State Award for Superior Achievement, 2006. In addition to these honors, she has also published over 100 articles and 21 books.
Zahava D. Doering
Zahava D. Doering, a University of Chicago trained sociologist, has had many years experience in social science research and studies in museums and educational institutions.  In 1987, she was the founding director of the Institutional Studies Office (ISO), now part of the Office of Policy and Analysis at the Smithsonian Institution (SI). Doering’s museum activities include serving as Editor of Curator: The Museum Journal, past co-chair of AAM’s Committee on Audience Research and Evaluation (CARE), active participation in the Visitor Studies Association (VSA) and pro bono Research and Evaluation consultant to the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) and its member museums.

Omarakhan Massoudi
Omarakhan Massoudi is the Director of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul since 2002. He graduated from the Kabul University in 1973 and trained as a conservator at the National Research Laboratories for Conservation in Lucknow, India, in 1991-1992. He has worked hard to re-establish the Kabul Museum. He has been responsible for the ICOM Red List of Afghanistan Antiquities at Risk, a project that is resulting in several stolen artifacts being returned to the National Museum in Kabul. A strong advocate for museums and intercultural dialogue, he was awarded the Prince Claus Fellowship in 2004.
Arev Samuelyan
Ms. Arev Samuelyan was appointed the Republic of Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Culture in July 2009. The Ministry of Culture is a republican body of executive authority, which elaborates and implements the policies of the Republic of Armenia Government in the culture sector. Ms. Arev is an architect with a strong interest in the promotion of inclusion and reconciliation through museums and heritage partnerships.