2013 Exponatec Cologne gives stronger focus on cultural heritage

The Exponatec Cologne, Europe’s most important trade fair for the museum, conservation and restoration sectors, will take place on 20-22 November in Cologne, Germany. Europa Nostra, The Best in Heritage and the German Museums Association are the main partners of this event. Culture heritage will be given a stronger focus in this year’s fair.

On 21 November, Europa Nostra Deutschland, the German Foundation for Monument Protection (Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz) and the German Castles Association (Deutsche Burgenvereinigung) will organise a colloquium about the limits of public monuments protection against private initiatives. The aim of this conference is to reflect upon the “influencing factors” on monuments protection in Germany and demonstrate the necessary adjustments. The colloquium will take place at the Congress Center East, Offenbach-Saal (10.00am-3.00pm).

On 20 November, the symposium ‘The Best in Heritage Excellence Club’ includes a presentation about Europa Nostra and its Awards Scheme run in partnership with the European Commission. Dragodid.Org – Preserving dry-stone masonry techniques of the Eastern Adriatic (Croatia), winner of a European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards 2011 and voted as the Best formal presentation at The Best in Heritage 2012, is one of the four award-winning projects presented this year. On 21-22 November, The Best in Heritage will once again offer free expert advice on all issues related to the topics of cultural heritage and technology in ‘Meet the expert’ rounds. What’s more, visitors can watch videos of some 200 presentations of award-winning projects from the fields of museums, cultural heritage and conservation from the past twelve years. A visit to The Best in Heritage stand in hall 3.2 is therefore a must.

Around 190 international companies, associations and institutions will showcase their product innovations and advancements. Exponatec Cologne covers all of the sector’s central topics and offers visitors from all over the world an extensive and high-quality overview of the state-of-the-art museum. Besides the main topics, including visitor orientation, security, lighting, preventive conservation and cultural heritage, this year subjects such as 3D presentation and the use of multimedia in museums will play a greater role. With a special area entirely dedicated to Art Framing, Exponatec Cologne is expanding its portfolio and thereby strengthening its position as Europe’s most important meeting place for the industry.

In November 2011, the event welcomed some 4,000 trade visitors from Germany and abroad. A total of 247 organisations from 17 countries participated in the fair.

For detailed information on the programme, please visit the Exponatec Cologne website.