ICOM Australia expresses shock and concern at recent decisions and assertions by the United States Government about the practice of history, the role of their premier museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the placement of the entire staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on administrative leave, thus effectively defunding instantly huge numbers of these organisations and communities across the country.

ICOM Australia endorses the Australian Historical Association’s statement that the US administration “represents a threat to historians’ freedom to produce ethical, excellent, evidence-based research”.

ICOM Australia strongly supports the museum community in the United States in their efforts to educate the current administration on the important social and economic role and impact of well-resourced and ethical cultural institutions. Museums and the interrogation of history are an essential element in the functioning of any civil society in the modern world.

Read the statement in full here: ICOM Australia_Statement in support of history and museums