Olympic Museums Network
Founded on 7 September 2006 in Lausanne under the leadership of IOC Presidents Rogge and Samaranch and at the initiative of The Olympic Museum, the Olympic Museums Network (OMN) was established with 11 founding members, with the aim of finding ways of working together on useful synergies and joint projects to develop in order to improve quality and to share costs.
The idea is not to take the place of existing associations such as the ICOM (International Council of Museums), but rather to make a group of institutions with the same subject matter, the ultimate goal being to grow together and get united where possible in order to be stronger and more efficient, to create a unique platform for the global Olympic Movement.
Over the past 7 years, the network has helped in the acquisition market and in dealing with collections, exchanges, co-productions, educational programmes, publications and programmes for business development and attracts more than one million visitors a year, figure which could rise significantly however with big projects for new Olympic Museums and the potential creation of a “global platform” to reach not only physical visitors but also virtual visitors.
Mission
The Olympic Museums Network’s main objective is to increase the promotion of the values of Sport and the Olympism by:
1. Sharing information and best practices
2. Encouraging cooperation on common issues encountered by the members
3. Working on common projects, in particular in relation to exhibitions, educational programmes, events, collections management, communication and commercial development
4. Finding ways to work in common in order to improve the efficiency and achieve economies of scales to the benefit of the members of the network
Members of The Olympic Museums Network:
1. The Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland
2. Sportimonium, Hofstade-Zemst, Belgium
3. Brazilian Olympic Museum, Rio, Brazil
4. China Sports Museum, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
5. Tianjin Dagon Olympic Museum, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China
6. Xiamen Olympic Museum, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China
7. Samaranch Memorial, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China
8. Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch, Barcelona, Spain
9. Estonian Sports Museum, Tartu, Estonia
10. The Sports Museum Foundation of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
11. Deutsches Sport Olympia Museum, Köln, Germany
12. Thessaloniki Olympic Museum, Thessaloniki, Greece
13. Seoul Olympic Museum, Seoul, Republic of Korea
14. Olympic Stadium Amsterdam / Olympic Experience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
15. Museum of Sports and Tourism in Warsaw, Poland
16. Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, Doha, Qatar
17. The Olympic Experience, Tel Aviv, Israel
18. New Zealand Olympic Museum, Wellington, New Zealand
19. Richmond’s Olympic Experience, Richmond, Canada
20. Norwegian Olympic Museum, Lillehammer, Norway
21. Gothenburg Sports Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
22. Singapore Youth Olympic Museum, Singapore, Singapore
General conditions to become a member of the Olympic Museums Network :
1. Compliance with ICOM / ACOM regulations and code of ethics
2. NOC Support
3. The Museum must be open to the public and operational
4. 25 % of the Museum must be dedicated to the Olympic Movement
