Nicholas Yeo Business Times 23 Jul 11;
THE National Heritage Board (NHB) Academy marked its official launch yesterday with partnerships with the internationally acclaimed Smithsonian Institution (SI) and the Tourism Management Institute of Singapore (TMIS).
Under a memorandum of agreement with SI, NHB Academy and the renowned Washington institution will co-develop training curriculum and workshops for museum professionals, as NHB Academy moves towards making Singapore a regional hub for museum scholarship.
The collaboration will run for two years, with the first workshops beginning in November.
The NHB Academy's memorandum of understanding with TMIS will include collaborations to strengthen training curriculum and deliver heritage-based workshops for tourist guides.
NHB chairman Tommy Koh, NHB CEO Michael Koh, SI director of international museum professional education programmes Elizabeth Duggal and TMIS CEO Loi Hai Poh signed the agreements yesterday.
'The NHB Academy will continue to invest in capability development partnerships to develop our local museum and heritage professionals to create more world-class home-grown exhibitions, programmes and tours to fuel the growth of Singapore's heritage scene,' said Alvin Tan, director (heritage institutions and industry development).
The NHB Academy was set up in June 2010 to serve as a specialist in professional museum training and to promote Singapore as a regional hub for museum scholarship. 'It was the brainchild of Prof Tommy Koh,' said NHB's Mr Koh.
The Smithsonian Institution is one of the world's most renowned museum institutions, and it is the world's largest museum and research complex consisting of 19 museums.
Workshops on best practices in the museum and heritage sector
Today Online 23 Jul 11;
SINGAPORE - Plans are afoot to enhance the skills of professionals in Singapore's museum and heritage sector, with the National Heritage Board (NHB) Academy inking agreements with the Smithsonian Institution (SI) and Tourism Management Institute of Singapore (TMIS) to raise the standards of Singapore's museum and heritage industry.
The NHB Academy and the SI will co-develop the training curriculum and organise workshops for museum professionals over a period of two years.
The workshops, to begin in November, will aim to equip local museum professionals with the knowledge of international best practices as well as core skills in the areas of curation, exhibition management, collections management and conservation.
The academy will also collaborate with TMIS to strengthen the training curriculum and deliver heritage-based workshops for tourist guides, with funding support from the Singapore Workforce Development Agency. The workshops will familiarise tourist guides with local cultures, museums and heritage centres, and the history and heritage of our heartlands.
The series of workshops kicked off yesterday with a lecture on Peranakan culture.
