Museum with no Frontiers

Museum with no Frontiers 

Within MWNF, artefacts in museums, monuments and archaeological sites become ‘ambassadors’ of the civilisations they represent.

Building bridges through knowledge and understanding

Museum With No Frontiers (MWNF) has 20 years of experience in “rewriting history” beyond narrow nationalist agendas and promoting a new, inclusive vision of history that highlights and celebrates the interconnections, cross-fertilisations, exchanges and cooperation between cultures in areas as diverse as archaeology, art and culture, economy and social life. Against the backdrop of contemporary global challenges and conflicts, MWNF projects demonstrate the far-reaching potential of cultural heritage in building intercultural bridges in the name of peace.

The MWNF programme

MWNF is a collaborative programme involving public and private partners from all over the world. It is built around two main activities: the MWNF Virtual Museum and related MWNF Galleries and the MWNF Exhibition Trails and related books and travel programme.

The MWNF programme is based on a precise methodology facilitating interaction between the partners who contribute to a transnational presentation of history, art and culture, based on equal voices and the equal visibility of all concerned.

Cooperation with the Arab world

Contributing to better knowledge of Arab countries and cooperating with Arab partners on educational and cultural tourism projects has been an MWNF priority since its foundation. Since 2010 MWNF has had a partnership with the League of Arab States to promote awareness of the Arab world’s history and cultural legacy through joint projects.

The organisation

MWNF (initially under a different name) was founded in 1995 on the initiative of Eva Schubert as an independent non-profit organisation, within the context of the establishment of a formal partnership between the European Union and the Mediterranean countries of North Africa and the Middle East (the so-called Barcelona Process). In 1996 the name was changed to Museum With No Frontiers (MWNF), and the English version is also the organisation’s official trade name. The registered office is in Vienna but a small multilingual and highly flexible MWNF team operates from around the globe.

For its activities MWNF can count on the constant support of the members of its Board and Honorary Committee and on an extremely committed network of Partners, Friends and Supporters. Between 1994 and 2007 European Union funding enabled MWNF to set up its web-based platform and to consolidate its international network. Today, it generates income through the marketing of its products and know-how. Its projects are funded by private donations, sponsorship and self-financing by the partners involved and for specific activities MWNF applies for subsidies from national or international organisations.

MWNF Activities and Projects

MWNF Galleries
The latest MWNF project invites exploration of the universal language of cultural heritage as the key for understanding and respect. A continuously growing Database feeds a constantly updated set of Galleries. MWNF Galleries build on and develop the Database of the MWNF Virtual Museum.

MWNF Virtual Museum
Discover Carpet Art (goes live in October 2016)
Sharing History (22 participating countries, 2,638 Database entries)
Discover Baroque Art (8 participating countries, 587 Database entries)
Discover Islamic Art (22 participating countries, 1,728 Database entries)
Explore Islamic Art Collections (Discover Islamic Art follow-up project with 8 additional countries, 508 additional Database entries)

MWNF Exhibition Trails
The MWNF Exhibition Trails let you discover artefacts in museums, monuments and sites within their original environment, following the Itineraries described in our thematic Travel Books. Each Itinerary combines highlights and little known places to a unique experience of discovery. 13 countries; 164 thematic Itineraries; 1422 museums, monuments and sites.