Mohammed AlBalawi
Rawi Leadership Team, Royal Commission for AlUla, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

With 5 years of experience as a Rawi (narrator), I honed my skills through extensive training around the world, including the USA, France, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Storytelling, a passion deeply rooted in my culture and handed down from my ancestors, is at the heart of my work. My experience also ranges from interpretation to tour guide in the tourism sector, with a focus on historical site operations and quality flow within the team. I am passionate about cultural exchange and have had the privilege of working with different stakeholders internationally. In addition to learning French, I continually expand my knowledge of cultural heritage sites and speak in public through advanced courses and presentations.

Sofia Billotta
ICOM Accessibility Group, International Council of Museums

Head of Public Engagement and Training Offices – MAXXI Foundation
Art historian and museologist, she holds a European master’s degree in architectural history from Roma Tre University, and is conducting a PhD at Torvergata University. Expert in museum education and accessibility and cultural heritage pedagogy, she has curated projects for several museums and participated as a researcher in projects for La Sapienza University and the Lazio Region on regional museum systems. She has been working at MAXXI since 2004, first within the Education Office, for which she was responsible from 2014 to 2018, currently heading the Training Office and the Public Engagement Office, which implements accessibility and intercultural projects in a participatory key. Since the academic year 2016/17, he has been teaching Museum and Territory Didactics at the School of Specialisation in Historical and Artistic Heritage of the Sapienza Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, University of Rome.

Maria Elena Colombo
Head of the Department of Interpretation, Accessibility, and Sharing

Graduated in Conservation of Cultural Heritage, she holds a Master in Museology, museography and management of cultural heritage. She has been involved for a decade in communication in digital contexts. He worked as Digital Media Curator and press office for the Diocesan Museum of Milan from 2011 to 2015, collaborating with the Bagatti Valsecchi house museum and the MAN of Cividale. He taught Multimedia for Cultural Heritage at the Brera Academy; holds courses at the Master in Museology, Museography and Cultural Management and at the School of Specialisation in Archaeology at the Catholic University of Milan on museology and communication, with a focus on digital. She is the author of the volume Museums and digital culture. Since 2022, he has been responsible for the interpretation, accessibility and sharing department of the Egyptian Museum in Turin.

Stefania de Blasi
Head of communication and documentation area, Centro Conservazione Restauro La Venaria Reale

Stefania De Blasi is an art historian, specialising in the history of decorative arts and a PhD in History of Restoration and Art Criticism. He has collaborated on national research and cataloguing projects with the University of Turin, the Piedmont Superintendencies and Italian museums. Since 2006 he has been working at the ‘La Venaria Reale’ Conservation and Restoration Centre (CCR), where he has coordinated, as a reference art historian, the areas of restoration of wooden furniture, textile artefacts and numerous national and international projects on museum residences. Today he is responsible for the Communication and Documentation Area and manages the JRC’s library and archives. He has curated numerous exhibitions, conferences and publications and is the referent of curatorial and enhancement projects for the assets of the Fondazione Ordine Mauriziano, in particular for the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi. She is a specialist lecturer for the JRC's Preventive Conservation Programmes. He has taught and written about restoration history, museology, art market, connoisseurship and history of decorative arts.

Alessia Fassone
Curator, Egyptian Museum, Italy

Graduated in Egyptology and specialised in Archaeology at the University of Turin, she worked in numerous archaeological excavations and took part in the activities of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Alexandria. As an expert of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he took part in the project “Grand Egyptian Museum – Giza”, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2004.
It has also devoted itself to Egyptological dissemination, through teaching and drafting of texts, cultural tourism and museum teaching. Before becoming Curator for the Foundation for the Egyptian Museum and Antiquities, he collaborated with the Archaeological Superintendence of Piedmont on the cataloguing of the collections kept in the warehouses.

Sara Ingoglia
Fondazione Santagata for Economics of Culture, Communication and PR Officer

Sara is a young professional with an interdisciplinary education between economics and culture. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management of Cultural Heritage from Ca’ Foscari University and a Master’s degree in Economics and Cultural Entrepreneurship from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Through her passion for art and a strong interest in communication and digital innovation, Sara aspires to contribute to the development and growth of the cultural sector. Her professional experience in the communication sector, including a position at the Culture Department of the Municipality of Milan, has provided her with significant skills in institutional contexts. Currently, Sara holds the role of Head of Communication at Fondazione Santagata, where she is responsible for promoting the projects and activities in progress and taking care of the external relations of the Foundation.

Maria Teresa Jaquinta
ICOMOS Italy, Secretary General, International Council of Monuments and Sites

An architect by profession, Maria Teresa Jaquinta has held important roles in various international organizations. He is currently Secretary General of the Italian Committee and Vice President of the International Scientific Committee for Conservation Education and Training at ICOMOS. Member of other committees dealing with architectural heritage conservation and risk preparedness. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Professional Association of Architects, Planners, Landscapers and Conservationists (CNAPPC).
During his career at ICCROM, from 1987 to 2021, he held management roles and supervised numerous projects. Among these, the NAMEC program (1992-2001) and the coordination of initiatives in the Mediterranean, such as the study for the restoration of the Axum stele and the preparation of the architectural competition for the New Egyptian Museum in Giza. From 2004 to 2021, she was also responsible for ICCROM’s external relations with Member States, focusing on the host country, Italy.
In 2021 and 2023, he successfully handled two Italian cases for inclusion in UNESCO’s World Memory Register, namely the Banco di Napoli Foundation and the Naples State Archives. Since 2023 he has been Director of the International Law and Development Program at UNIDROIT. He actively participates in conferences and courses at Italian and international universities.

Valerie Magar
Unit Manager – Programmes, ICCROM, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restor

Valerie Magar holds a degree in conservation of movable heritage (Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía, Mexico) and a doctorate in archaeology (Université de Paris I, Sorbonne, France), where she specialized in the conservation of archaeological heritage, in particular wall paintings and rock art, as well as in the history and theory of conservation. He worked in Mexico at the Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (CNCPC) of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). She was National Coordinator of INAH between 2013 and 2016. Between 2004 and 2010, she worked at ICCROM as a conservation specialist, and returned to ICCROM in 2018, where she is responsible for the Programmes Unit. He is a member of ICOM, ICOMOS and the World Archaeological Congress (WAC) He has published on various topics of archaeological conservation, heritage management, history and conservation theory. She has been an editor for several magazines in the past, and is currently the editor of Conversaciones..., co-published by INAH and ICCROM.

Joanna Norman
Director, Victoria and Albert Research Institute and National Art Library, United Kingdom

Joanna Norman is director of the V&A Research Institute, the National Art Library (NAL) and the archives of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Responsible for the direction of research projects and affiliations of the V&A, university collaborations and collections and services of the library and archives. His curatorial projects and publications include Baroque (V&A, 2009), Treasures from Budapest (Royal Academy of Arts, 2010), Europe 1600-1815 Galleries (V&A, 2015), Scottish Design Galleries at V&A Dundee (2018), Between Two Worlds: Francis Williams and Vanley Burke (V&A, 2023) as well as the collaboration V&A / BBC4 Handmade in Britain (2011-2). He currently leads the coordination of a new AHRC-funded programme for scholarships for young professionals at cultural and heritage organisations, co-chairs the Independent Research Organisation consortium and is a member of the Royal Historical Society.

Photo Credit © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Sarah Stannage
IIC, Executive Director, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works

With over 20 years of professional experience in museums, heritage, economic development, coastal and rural regeneration, and in addition to working as Managing Director in the charity sector, Sarah trained as a restorer in Lincoln (UK) and did an internship in archaeology and antiquities at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. She continued with a Master’s degree dedicated to environmental and sustainable development decision-making, while working in the East of England for an Urban Regeneration Society, becoming Director of Heritage as Head of Museums, Archaeological Sites, Historic Houses and Collections. He has direct experience in the management of sites at serious risk of climate change, including at landscape level, and had the opportunity to hold the world’s first crowd-funded and crowd-sourced Flag Fen LIVES archaeological excavation project in 2012. She often draws on her professional practice and experience in co-production and participatory work to promote broader social change and community empowerment.
After being a policy researcher in a six-year multidisciplinary project funded by the Research Council for Arts and Humanities (AHRC), Understanding Everyday Participation: Articulating Cultural Values, in addition to being a Clore Leadership Fellow ‘Living Places’ and a member of the Royal Society of Arts, is currently on the Advisory Board of a DigVentures social enterprise and is on the ICCROM’s Net Zero Heritage for Climate Action and the Climate.Culture.Peace initiatives. Sarah was appointed Executive Director of the International Institute for the Conservation of Historical and Artistic Works (IIC) in 2018.