On 7 November 2025, Bologna will host a day of reflection, training and exchange on the inclusion of queer communities in museums and cultural organisations, with a particular focus on the challenges and the difficulties that institutions may encounter, such as negative political reactions or other forms of resistance. The event aims to provide a space for discussion to reflect together on recommendations and solutions to address these obstacles.
The “Queering the Museum” event is held under the patronage of ICOM Italia and is the result of collaboration between BAM! Strategie Culturali, the European network NEMO – Network of European Museum Organisations, the ICOM Italia Working Group on Gender and LGBTQ+ Rights, the Civic Museums Sector of the Municipality of Bologna and Attitudes_spazio alle Arti aps
The goal is to provide tools and methodologies to facilitate dialogue between museum institutions and LGBTQIA+ communities, questioning the traditional mechanisms that underpin this relationship. At the same time, it aims to offer practical ideas for integrating a queer perspective into museum design and heritage promotion, promoting participatory approaches and strategies useful for dealing with complex scenarios.
The event, which will take place in the Sala Farnese of Palazzo d’Accursio and the Medieval Civic Museum, is part of the Gender Bender Festival programme, produced by the Cassero LGBTQIA+ Centre, which will be held in Bologna from 30 October to 8 November 2025.
An educational and exchange opportunity for the cultural sector
The event will host national and international professionals who are experts on gender and LGBTQIA+ inclusion and rights, who will share practical tools, guidelines and methods to help those working in museums and the cultural sector strive towards increased participation and representation of LGBTQIA+ communities and other identity groups that are still under-represented in cultural venues.
The programme is aimed at professionals in the museum and cultural sector, students and scholars in the fields of heritage and gender studies, local LGBTQIA+ associations, but also queer people who want to approach the world of heritage from a new perspective.
Plenary sessions, round tables and workshops
The morning will begin with a plenary session in the Sala Farnese, during which important European resources will be presented, including the guidelines ‘LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in European Museums’ produced by NEMO and the guidelines ‘Museums and Gender’ by the Working Group ‘Gender and LGBTQ+ Rights’ of ICOM Italy, the Italian translation and adaptation of the University of Leicester’s ‘Trans Inclusive Culture Guidance’.
The second part of the morning will be dedicated to the involvement and co-design of identity and queer communities in cultural heritage sites and processes. The session will be based on contributions collected through an open call, open until 24 October, inviting museums and professionals to share experiences and projects – already completed or still in progress – related to the theme. It will be a moment of collective feedback and open discussion, in which guests and participants will talk together about the challenges, opportunities and questions that remain.
During this second panel, Scuola Nazionale del Patrimonio e delle Attività Culturali (the National School of Heritage and Cultural Activities) is expected to give a presentation linking the theme of community participation to that of accessibility and illustrating the training opportunities on these topics offered by the “Personeper programme. Accessibility in cultural sites“.
In the afternoon, the programme will continue with three thematic workshops at the Medieval Civic Museum, designed to offer a practical space for exploring different methodological approaches related to queer and identity participation and inclusion in cultural institutions.
The day will conclude with a wrap-up session to share reflections and chart future directions.
Open call
Until 24 October, it was possible to submit experiences, ongoing projects, areas of work, challenges and open questions on these topics. The focus is on involvement, participation and co-design with queer or identity communities in cultural heritage sites and processes.
Among the projects, questions and challenges collected, case studies were identified to form the second panel of the morning, which aims to be an open forum for discussion on how museums and cultural institutions can welcome and co-create with queer and identity communities.
The programme
Where: Bologna, Palazzo d’Accursio and Medieval Civic Museum
When: Friday, 7 November 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Languages: Italian and English (with simultaneous translation)
Free in-person participation upon registration, registration is now closed, but it is possible to follow the conference via Zoom by clicking here.
Information: qtm@bamstrategieculturali.com
Morning
Location: Sala Cappella Farnese, Palazzo D’Accursio (Piazza Maggiore 6 – 40124 Bologna)
9:00–9:30 a.m. | Registration
9:30–10:00 a.m. | Opening remarks
Daniele Del Pozzo – Councillor for Culture, City of Bologna
Mauro Meneghelli – Artistic Director, Gender Bender Festival
10:00–11:15 a.m. | Panel: guidelines and resources to guide cultural institutions
NEMO’s ‘LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in European Museums – An incomplete guideline’**
Moderator: Margherita Sani – Board Member, ICOM Italy; Project Coordinator, Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO)
Rebecca Thonander – Communications Officer, Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO)
Arent Boon – Writer and researcher of the guidelines
Museums and Genders – Ethics, methods, and approaches to promote a trans-positive and accessible culture within cultural institutions
Nicole Moolhuijsen – University of Leicester; Coordinator of the “Gender and LGBTQ+ Rights” Working Group, ICOM Italy
Dani Martiri – “Gender and LGBTQ+ Rights” Working Group, ICOM Italy
11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Break
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Participatory session: strategies and methods for engaging and co-designing with communities
Moderator: Federico Borreani – BAM! Strategie Culturali
ONGOING PROJECTS AND CURRENT CHALLENGES
Michaela Smidová – National Museum Prague**
Eleonora (Elio) Salvato – Museion (Bolzano)
Clarissa Spoladore – Ocean Space (Venice)
Anahi Mariotti – Casa delle Donne Lucha y Siesta (Rome)
Hannah Lotte Lund – Technische Universität Berlin, Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung/Centre for Research on Antisemitism (Berlin)**
HERITAGE, COMMUNITIES AND IDENTITIES: contributions from the open call
Vanessa Gregorin – BAM! Strategie Culturali
Reflections in dialogue
Daniela Dalla – Head of Educational and Cultural Mediation Services, Civic Museums Sector, City of Bologna
Viviana Gravano – Art historian and contemporary art curator, Attitudes_spazio alle arti aps
Martina De Luca – Head of Training Area, National School for Cultural Heritage and Activities
Space for discussion, questions, and answers
** = presentations in English (simultaneous translation available)
Afternoon
Limited in-person participation (max. 20 participants each). Please note: workshops are sold out.
Location: Medieval Civic Museum, Palazzo Ghisilardi (Via Manzoni, 4, 40121 Bologna BO)
From 14.15 | Welcome
2.30pm – 4.30pm | Workshop 1: What would you do? Working through LGBTQIA+ inclusion dilemmas in museums
with NEMO – Network of European Museum Organisations
Recently, NEMO published LGBTQIA+ inclusion in European museums: An incomplete guideline. The guideline presents scenarios and practical tips for making museums more respectful and welcoming places for LGBTQIA+ people, cultures, and history.
NEMO invites you to a hands-on workshop, where you will reflect on dilemmas from this guideline that you might face in your work. By working with short scenario prompts, such as defending a queer exhibition in a hostile political climate or introducing all-gender bathrooms, you will consider stakeholders, possible outcomes, actions to take, and potential risks.
The aim is that you leave the workshop empowered to advance queer inclusion in all aspects of your work. By practising a decision-making process you can use as a blueprint, we also hope that you will feel more confident when difficult situations arise. Join the workshop for discussion and collaboration that turn values into practice!
Language: English
2.30pm – 4.30pm | Workshop 2: QueeringBO. Things never seen before in Bologna’s Civic Museums – reinterpreting the collections through a queer lens
with the Civic Museums Department of the Municipality of Bologna, Attitudes_spazio alle arti aps, Bologna LGBTQIA+ Collaboration Agreement of the Municipality of Bologna
Participants will be able to explore the queer methodology and approach used in the Queering Museum project and in the creation of the QueeringBO podcast. Things never seen before in Bologna’s civic museums and experience the process of queer reinterpretation of the collections of the Medieval Civic Museum.
Language: Italian
2.30pm – 4.30pm | Workshop 3: Co-design with communities
with BAM! Strategie Culturali
Participants will have the opportunity to: test tools and methodologies that enable the identification of potential communities (not only LGBTQIA+) to engage with or initiate dialogue with; prototype community engagement and participation actions.
Language: Italian
5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Closing session
An open space for reflections, reconnections, and decompression
