stanbul will host members of museum community, urban planners, architects and historians from all over the world during the 2009 CAMOC Conference between 28 and 30 September.

Having held its first conference in Moscow 2005 in compliance with the decision made by the International Council of Museums, CAMOC (International Committee for the Collections and Activities of Museums of Cities) will hold 2009 conference in Istanbul with theme ‘Collecting Urban History in The Electronic Age’

Istanbul 2010 Director of Cultural Heritage and Museums Ms.Suay Aksoy defines the fundamental purpose of the conference as “to exchange ideas and experience and to develop partnerships between delegates and between delegates, city museums and other organizations and individuals, from city mayors to architects, urban planners and all those who are involved in the city and its future.” Ms. Aksoy also states that although practical examples of partnerships and cooperation are the main focus of the conference, there will be other original themes to be discussed such as:

What and how do we collect for the future?

How do we create collections that capture the personality of the city and reflect the interaction between national and urban histories and rival ambitions for the future?

Much of our working lives is dominated by the world-wide web. The web suggests impermanence; it lacks the solidity of the artifact. What is the impact of the web on how we record the city.

Cities, where most of us now live, have never been so diverse, so mixed in population. How do we best involve the city's different cultural groups, and newcomers to the city, in collecting for the future?

Ms. Aksoy explains that this conference will also be an environment for sharing important data needed for the Istanbul City Museum Project; and says: “Local history museums are sprouting up all over Istanbul, doing a great job in collecting social memory. Yet we are looking forward to creating a City Museum of Istanbul which will expose a consolidated history of the city that served as capital to the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, a city 90% of which was built in the last 40 years and a city that bursts with creative energy and wants to use it to resolve its problems. So we are especially excited about Collecting Urban History in the Electronic Age, our conference theme. Indeed, for relevance and practicality the theme could not be any better.

Pera Müzesi will host the conference of which the gala reception will take place in the courtyard of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art on 28 September 2009; and the Farewell Dinner will be given in the garden of Feriye Restaurant (old Ottoman precinct) on the Bosphorus