We are publishing openly and transparently the letter formally submitted as a “suggestion” to the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge of the Republic of Colombia on 22 October 2026 (Translated to english language with AI help):

LETTER No. ICOM LAC 041-2026

22 October 2026

Abangares, Costa Rica

 

To:

Ms Paola Andrea Holguín Moreno

Minister

Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge

Republic of Colombia

 

Dear Minister,

The Board of the ICOM Regional Alliance for Latin America and the Caribbean (ICOM LAC) respectfully wishes to submit to you the Technical Statement on the Ethical Principles of Museum Management and Heritage Preservation in Response to the Events at the National Museum of Colombia, prepared on the basis of our organisation’s monitoring of the situation that has recently arisen at this institution.

Through this letter, we respectfully request that the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge take this statement into consideration as a technical and professional contribution from the ICOM LAC Regional Alliance to the institutional dialogue that we consider necessary to address this situation.

Technical Statement on the Ethical Principles of Museum Management and Heritage Preservation in Response to the Events at the National Museum of Colombia

The ICOM LAC Regional Alliance, in keeping with its institutional objectives of promoting good practice in collections management, is closely monitoring the removal of exhibition content that took place at the National Museum of Colombia on 15 October 2026. This involved the dismantling of works and material testimonies documenting fundamental aspects of the history of the Colombian armed conflict, political violence, and the struggles of women’s social movements, LGBTIQ+ groups and other actors in the country’s history.

The recently approved ICOM Code of Ethics highlights museums’ responsibility to respect and represent cultural diversity. It also emphasises their responsibility to acknowledge and help redress past injustices, support the cultural rights of communities and facilitate their reconnection with their history, while fostering the exchange of knowledge and dialogue.

From a strictly technical and professional perspective, changes to curatorial narratives and the management of exhibited collections go beyond purely administrative matters. Decisions concerning content, collections and their forms of public representation entail professional, institutional and ethical responsibilities. Public trust in museums is sustainably strengthened when such decisions are made through methodologies that ensure institutional consultation, technical rigour and a verifiable curatorial rationale. These safeguards help ensure that museums can fulfil their museological functions to the highest possible standard.

In this regard, UNESCO’s 2015 Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society recognises the importance of museums as spaces for dialogue, learning and debate. It also highlights the need to promote codes of ethics and good practice, as well as appropriate conditions for the work of museum professionals.

As a leading public institution responsible for preserving, researching and communicating the history of Colombia, the National Museum of Colombia has a responsibility to represent the country’s historical and social diversity. The memories of victims of the armed conflict, experiences of political violence and struggles for the recognition of rights form part of a history whose complexity is enriched when it is addressed according to criteria grounded in technical consensus and professional rigour.

In this context, the ICOM LAC Regional Alliance offers its technical assistance and respectfully submits the following recommendations to the Government of Colombia and its Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge.

 

1. Publish a complete inventory of the materials removed and their current whereabouts.

We recommend informing the Colombian public of the list of works, photographs, documents, posters and other items that were dismantled, together with their current location and condition. This information should be accompanied by the relevant records and reports concerning their dismantling, transfer, custody and conservation.

Publication is essential to ensure the traceability and accessibility of collections, verify compliance with professional procedures, and prevent a lack of information from fuelling misinformation and public distrust.

Transparency is a fundamental requirement of public accountability in museums, and the public has the right to know what happened to materials removed from an institution that safeguards and communicates a fundamental part of Colombia’s history.

 

2. Guarantee professional autonomy and museum governance in accordance with Colombian law and the ICOM Code of Ethics.

We invite the Government of Colombia and the Ministry to ensure that decisions concerning museum exhibitions, curatorial content and collections management are based on technical, scientific and professional criteria, through transparent procedures that respect institutional responsibilities and areas of competence.

It is essential that museum professionals be able to carry out their duties with independent judgement, intellectual freedom and ethical rigour, without pressure that compromises their professional responsibilities.

Public policy guidelines must be developed within the legal framework and respect the specialised responsibilities of museum teams. Public trust in museums depends on responsible governance, respect for professional ethics and the protection of the conditions required to research, preserve, interpret and communicate cultural heritage independently of considerations unrelated to the public interest and technical rigour.

It is also essential that the Ministry ensure that acts of censorship or the removal of content from museums across the country do not continue to occur for reasons unrelated to duly substantiated technical, scientific, curatorial or conservation criteria.

 

3. Convene a pluralistic working group to develop a dialogue-based, transparent and democratic way forward from the crisis.

We propose that measures be considered to prevent further escalation and create a space for dialogue among the stakeholders involved. We invite the establishment of a working group, supported by the ICOM LAC Regional Alliance, Colombian academia and museum professionals from across the country, to examine what happened, hear different perspectives and agree on a course of action, with a clear timetable, to overcome the crisis.

This process should guarantee participation, respect for differences, transparency in decision-making and a commitment to the public interest. Resolving this situation requires institutional dialogue and specialised knowledge.

 

4. Reinstate the removed materials and implement a museum mediation strategy.

While dialogue among the stakeholders concerning the National Museum of Colombia is underway, we consider it appropriate to reinstate the removed materials in their exhibition spaces, provided there are no duly documented technical conservation reasons preventing this.

In addition, we propose implementing a museum mediation strategy to inform the public about the historical context of the objects, their place within the curatorial and exhibition narrative, and the circumstances that have given rise to the current situation.

This strategy should provide verifiable information, encourage listening and the exchange of perspectives, and recognise that controversies concerning the representation of the past must be addressed through knowledge, public deliberation and professional responsibility.

Dialogue should not entail the indefinite suspension of public access to the galleries or to the historical testimonies under dispute. Rather, it should create the conditions for understanding and discussing them in an informed manner.

 

5. Guarantee the wellbeing and safety of museum workers.

We ask the Ministry to pay particular attention to the safety, integrity and wellbeing of people working in museums across the country. Given the concern and sense of risk that this situation has generated among sector professionals and workers, it is essential that they be able to carry out their duties in an environment that protects their safety, independent judgement and the responsible exercise of their professional competencies.

Protecting those who research, preserve, interpret and communicate cultural heritage is also essential to ensuring the continuity and quality of museums’ work.

The ICOM LAC Regional Alliance reaffirms that museums are public service institutions whose legitimacy rests on public trust, professional integrity, responsible collections management and respect for the plurality of historical experiences.

Differences in the interpretation of the past are a legitimate part of democratic life. Addressing them requires transparency, rigour and procedures that protect both cultural heritage and the professional independence of those responsible for its research, preservation and interpretation.

We therefore respectfully call on the Government of Colombia and the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge to review their actions and act with the utmost institutional responsibility, ensure that the facts are clarified, prevent further instances of censorship that undermine the ethical principles guiding museum practice, and establish a path for dialogue that will enable this situation to be resolved.

Historical memory requires institutions capable of researching, listening, explaining and deliberating freely. Protecting these conditions is a shared responsibility with the public and a fundamental commitment of museums to democracy.

We remain available to assist in resolving this crisis.

 

Board

ICOM Regional Alliance for Latin America and the Caribbean