Exhibition and Performance Documentation Working Group

The Exhibition and Performance Documentation Working Group is a specialist body within ICOM Documentation (formerly CIDOC), one of the 35 international committees of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). It was officially approved by the CIDOC board at the 2015 Annual Conference in New Delhi. Its mandate is to investigate the central role of exhibition and performance art documentation for museums and related organizations, and to address issues concerning long-term preservation, access, and research. The group's main goal is to provide guidelines to museum professionals on how to carry out exhibition and performance documentation. Its stated overall trajectory is to "build together, think together, share with the world." The working group operates through task forces and collaborative projects, including a shared bibliography on exhibition and performance documentation, a mapping of relevant projects in museums and universities, and a compilation of existing definitions of key terms. Leadership includes Coordinator Zoë Renaudie (Montréal, Canada), Vice-coordinator Alexandre Matos (Porto, Portugal), and Founding Coordinator Gabriel Moore Forell Bevilacqua (Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil). The group maintains a public website built with SvelteKit and Markdown, developed from the ouvroir/blog-template, which hosts its mapping project and other resources. Following updates to the ICOM statutes in 2023, all international committees are required to adopt and harmonize their bylaws, and working groups are now asked to present a working plan. CIDOC's updated bylaws were approved during the 2025 AGM. The working group's three-year timeline for 2026 includes administrative foundation, recruitment, and groundwork, with bi-weekly meetings launched and each task force publishing its first outputs.

The Exhibition and Performance Documentation Working Group was officially approved by the CIDOC board at the 2015 Annual Conference in New Delhi. CIDOC, now known as ICOM Documentation, is one of ICOM's 35 international committees and supports the museum community by providing guidance on good practice and developments in museum documentation. The working group was established to investigate the central role of exhibition and performance art documentation for museums and related organizations, and to address issues concerning long-term preservation, access, and research. Its founding coordinator was Gabriel Moore Forell Bevilacqua of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil. Following updates to the ICOM statutes in 2023, all international committees are required to adopt and harmonize their bylaws, and working groups are now asked to present a working plan. CIDOC's updated bylaws were approved during the 2025 AGM. For the 2026 three-year timeline, the group planned an administrative foundation, recruitment, and groundwork. From January to April, it set up email infrastructure and shared workspaces, held first meetings, and selected goals. From April to July, three task force groups worked in parallel: a Zotero Group producing a first draft of the shared bibliography on exhibition and performance documentation; a Mapping Group compiling a list of relevant projects in museums and universities; and a Definitions Group gathering existing definitions of key terms. From July to November, bi-weekly meetings were launched and each group published its first outputs. The group maintains a public website built with SvelteKit and Markdown, developed from the ouvroir/blog-template, which hosts its mapping project and other resources. Its overall trajectory is summarized as: build together, think together, share with the world.

• 2026

  Three-year timeline begins: administrative foundation, recruitment, and groundwork; three task forces (Zotero, Mapping, Definitions) work in parallel; bi-weekly meetings launched.

• 2025

  CIDOC's updated bylaws approved during the 2025 AGM.

• 2023

  ICOM statutes updated, requiring all international committees to adopt and harmonize their bylaws and working groups to present a working plan.

• 2015

  Officially approved by the CIDOC board at the 2015 Annual Conference in New Delhi.

A collaborative international working group providing guidance on good practice and developments in museum documentation for exhibition and performance art.

• Guidelines for exhibition and performance documentation

  Main goal of the working group: provide guidelines to museum professionals on how to carry out exhibition and performance documentation.

• Shared bibliography on exhibition and performance documentation

  First draft produced by the Zotero Group task force.

• Mapping of relevant projects in museums and universities

  Compiled by the Mapping Group task force.

• Compilation of definitions of key terms

  Gathered by the Definitions Group task force.

1. 1Mapping | Exhibition and Performance Documentation Icom Working Group Websiteicom-doc-ep-wg.github.io
2. 2About | Exhibition and Performance Documentation Icom Working Group Websiteicom-doc-ep-wg.github.io
3. 3Exhibition and performance documentation working group - Wikidatawikidata.org