The keynote address and panel discussion will explore the current trends and future challenges and directions of museums in the 21st century. Focusing on MoMA's activities as a case study, Lowry will identify the changing nature of collecting, exhibiting and commissioning and will explore how institutions are transcending the limitations of the physical space by developing new creative collaborations across national and international boundaries and in the online world.

The panel session that follows, chaired by ACMI Director, Tony Sweeney, with John Kaldor, Director of Kaldor Public Art Projects, public broadcaster and commentator Phillip Adams and Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, Director of Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, will continue the discussion by investigating how institutions are realigning their programs and shifting their artistic focuses and practices. The panel members will also contribute to a discussion about the way institutions maintain public relevance in a time of rapid social and cultural change and how the impact of digital technologies and the demands of the audience is shaping the development of the sector.