ICOM LAC strengthens its regional network with new members for its 2026–2028

Working Groups Thirty-four professionals from fifteen countries and territories across Latin America and the Caribbean around the world join the Working Groups and the Institutional Affairs Committee of the Regional Alliance, reaffirming their collective commitment to a diverse, collaborative museology dedicated to present-day challenges.

Building a regional museology does not happen solely within museums. It is also woven in spaces of encounter, dialogue, and cooperation where professionals from different territories share experiences, reflect on common challenges, and design collective actions to strengthen the social role of museums.

In this spirit, the Regional Alliance of the International Council of Museums for Latin America and the Caribbean (ICOM LAC) announces the results of the 2026 Call for Applications to integrate new members into its Working Groups, an initiative that will consolidate the strategic lines of the organization during the 2026–2028 period.

The call, open between March 31 and April 26 of this year, received applications from professionals representing diverse cultural and linguistic contexts across the region. The selection process was guided by criteria of regional diversity, professional background, alignment with proposed work topics, and a balance between established experience and new perspectives, seeking to form teams representative of the richness and plurality that characterize Latin America and the Caribbean.

As a result of this process, 34 professionals from 15 countries and territories were selected to join ICOM LAC’s five Working Groups—Governance, Sustainability, Regional Integration, Community Participation, and Ethics-Focused Museological Training—in addition to the Institutional Affairs Committee.

Over the next two years, the Regional Alliance, together with these individuals, will contribute to the development of initiatives aimed at strengthening regional cooperation, promoting spaces for training and exchange, driving research, generating recommendations, and building tools to address contemporary challenges faced by museums and communities in the region.

More than working platforms, the Working Groups and the Committee serve as spaces for collective construction where different views, experiences, and knowledge converge. They will address fundamental topics such as ethical museum governance, sustainability, community participation, regional integration, and museological training, all aligned with the roadmap set by Re-connections and ICOM LAC’s strategic priorities.

Members of ICOM LAC Working Groups 2026–2028

Governance Working Group

Coordination:

• Gabriela Gil (Mexico)

ICOM LAC Liaison:

• Edgar González (Venezuela)

Members:

• Ana Paula Miranda Saavedra (Guatemala)

• Rafael Alas Vásquez (El Salvador)

• Ana Elizabeth González (Panama)

• Jude De Wolff-Finies (Netherlands/Bonaire)

• Soledad Obeid (Argentina)

• Tarim Susana Gois Cárdenas (Venezuela)

Sustainability Working Group

Coordination:

• María del Carmen Maza (Argentina)

ICOM LAC Liaison:

• Melissa Campos (El Salvador)

Members:

• Gabriella Siccardi (Uruguay)

• Kaye Hall (Barbados)

• Juliane Nicolle Câmara (Brazil)

• Cristian Salazar (Costa Rica)

• Maria Paula Correia de Souza (Brazil)

• Francisco Javier Perpuli Zertuche (Mexico)

• Josefina Pichardo (Dominican Republic)

• Carlos Arturo Soto Lombana (Colombia) – Chaski Magazine

Regional Integration Working Group

Coordination:

• Karin Weil (Chile)

ICOM LAC Liaison:

• Luciana M. Carvalho (Brazil)

Members:

• Cinthia Giménez Arce (Bolivia)

• Natalie McGuire (Barbados)

• Valentina Alarcón Molina (Chile)

• Waseem Syed (Guatemala)

• Stefanie Voß (Netherlands/Bonaire)

• Marcela Ristol (Argentina)

• María Elena Masís (Costa Rica)

Community Participation Working Group

Coordination:

• Diego Bevilaqua (Brazil)

ICOM LAC Liaison:

• Lauran Bonilla-Merchav (Costa Rica)

Members:

• Antonieta Sibaja Hidalgo (Costa Rica)

• Rommel Ángeles Falcón (Peru)

• Esteban Torres Hormazábal (Chile)

• Paola Araiza Bolaños (Mexico)

• Erik Post (Netherlands/Bonaire)

• Iliana Olalde Cázares (Mexico)

• Ruth Rodríguez (Paraguay)

• Eduardo Santana Castellón (Mexico)

Ethics-Focused Museological Training Working Group

Coordination:

• Armando Gagliardi (Venezuela)

ICOM LAC Liaison:

• Hugo Calle (Ecuador)

Members:

• Soraya Pérez Gautier (Dominican Republic)

• Ruth Linton (Barbados), Indira Álvarez (Cuba)

• Juan Carlos Fernández-Catalán (Ecuador)

• Rosa Lucia Mata Ortiz (Mexico)

• María Amalia Brítez Rodríguez (Paraguay)

• Rafael Venegas (Costa Rica)

Institutional Affairs Committee

Coordination:

• Vacant (to be appointed)

ICOM LAC Liaison:

• Lauran Bonilla-Merchav (Costa Rica)

Members:

• Eunice Báez (Costa Rica)

• Luisa de Peña (Dominican Republic)

• Sonia María Merizalde Aguirre (Ecuador)

• Oscar Gaona (Colombia)

• Anisah Wood (Barbados)

• Maya Narvaes (Netherlands/Bonaire)

• Silvia Beatriz Manzini (Argentina)

• Patricia Elsa Brignole (Argentina)

The Executive Board of ICOM LAC expresses its deepest gratitude to everyone who responded to this call. Each application demonstrated the vitality of the Latin American and Caribbean museological field and the growing interest in building shared answers to the challenges facing our museums through collaboration.

The selected professionals will undertake this commitment on a voluntary basis, contributing their expertise and knowledge to strengthen the collective work of the Regional Alliance. At the same time, they will become part of an exchange network that promotes mutual learning, cross-country cooperation, and initiatives with a regional impact.

At a time when museums are called upon to respond to profound social, cultural, and environmental transformations, ICOM LAC reaffirms through this call its conviction that the future of museology in Latin America and the Caribbean is built on diversity, dialogue, and collaborative work. The new Working Groups represent another step toward a regional museum landscape that is increasingly connected, participatory, and committed to the communities it serves.