CFPs: Organizing Capacity-Building Activities for Ethnological Exhibitions for the Lao National Museum

Within the framework of the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation on Museums, and the 1970 Convention, the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok will provide technical assistance to the National Museum in Lao PDR to strengthen the capacity of museum professionals.

Specifically, the technical assistance will identify and mobilize expertise to support the Lao National Museum to research and curate an exhibition on languages of ethnic groups in Lao PDR. The objective is to increase the museums technical capacity on ethno-museology, as well as developing skills on exhibition research methodologies, collection development, object handling, and exhibition design and interpretation. It is anticipated that the activities under this contract will forge long lasting connections and thus lead to ongoing research and knowledge exchange and sharing between museums in Lao PDR and with overseas.

In this regard, UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok is seeking an organization or company to design the workshop agenda and facilitate capacity-building workshops on ethno-museology for staff and researchers of Lao National Museum, based on the museum’s upcoming exhibition on languages of 50 ethnic groups in Lao PDR as the key hands-on exercise of the workshop, while providing exemplar case studies as learning resources.

Assignment

• The contractor is requested to carry out the following tasks, in consultation with UNESCO and Lao National Museum:
  • Design agenda of two workshops and prepare learning resources for a maximum of 10 Lao-national museum staff, using the Lao National Museum’s upcoming exhibition on ethnic languages as a key exercise and providing relevant real case studies from elsewhere:
    • The first workshop (3 days in May-June 2025, tentatively), including the following topics:
      • Conducting ethnological research for exhibition content,
      • Refreshing existing collections for displays (collection development);
    • The second workshop (2-3 days in August-September 2025, tentatively), including the following topics:
      • Object handling,
      • Composing and designing exhibition interpretation and communication materials,
      • Curating ethnological exhibitions, etc.;
  • Prior the first workshop, set up focus-group discussions with the museum director and concerned staff to get to know the vision and objectives of the museum and its planned exhibition;
  • Facilitate both capacity-building workshops at Lao National Museum;
  • Provide, via online, mentoring session(s) and advice to the trained museum staff for them to complete the following outputs:
    • A set of researched information for exhibition displays, and
    • A preliminary design of the exhibition on ethnic languages in Lao PDR;
  • Develop and consolidate from this capacity-building experience a brief practical guide on how to set up ethnological exhibitions in Lao PDR that could be adapted for use in other museums.

Deliverables and Timeframe

• By 30 April 2025, the workplan of activities concerned;
• By 15 May 2025, the agendas of the capacity-building workshops (under 1.a and 1.b) ;
• By 31 August 2025, an ethnological research report completed by workshop participants (under 1.a);
• By 1 November 2025, the preliminary design of the exhibition on languages of ethnic groups in Lao PDR and a brief practical guide on how to develop ethnological exhibitions in Lao PDR.

Duty Station

• Vientiane, Lao PDR (for on-site workshops), Remote (for online interventions)

Eligibility Criteria

• Required qualification, experience and competencies:
  • Over 5 years of professional experience in professional development trainings for museum staff, particularly on topics related to ethnological research and/or museum curation;
  • Have a roster of allied professionals in fields related to ethno-museology, museum exhibition design and curation and/or museum research, who can be called upon to lead or contribute to the planned activities.
• Desirable qualification, experience and competencies
  • Experience in manual or toolkit development for museum professionals;
  • Familiarity with UNESCO’s work related to museum capacity, the 2015 Recommendation and the 1970 Convention;
  • Can communicate (speaking and listening skill at minimum) in Thai or Lao language, in addition to English.

Application Package

• Interested organizations are invited to submit to UNESCO Bangkok the application package including:
  • Institutional/organizational profile,
  • A technical proposal illustrating how the tasks will be carried out,
  • A detailed financial proposal (budget estimation in USD) indicating rate per unit.

For more information, visit UNESCO.