Become a Member

The Institutional Membership Categories and Annual Fees for 2026 are as follows:

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS (voting)

Institutional - Regular I
(Operating budget: < €30,000)

• Cards: 3

• Fee: €320

Institutional - Regular II
(Operating budget: €30k–€100k)

• Cards: 4

• Fee: €395

Institutional - Regular III
(Operating budget: €100k–€1M)

• Cards: 5

• Fee: €590

Institutional - Regular IV
(Operating budget: €1M–€5M)

• Cards: 6

• Fee: €705

Institutional - Regular V
(Operating budget: €5M–€10M)

• Cards: 7

• Fee: €805

Institutional - Regular VI
(Operating budget: > €10M)

• Cards: 8

• Fee: €980

SUPPORTING MEMBERS (non-voting)

Supporting - Institutional

• Cards: 8

• Fee: €2512

The fees are based on yearly ICOM International membership rates, with the addition of a small operational fee charged by ICOM Malta. 

Institutional memberships provide a broad range of benefits, including, but not limited to:

• Access to some ICOM training and other activities organised yearly in Malta and around the world.

• ICOM membership cards to distribute to your staff for free admission to museums worldwide (quantity dependent upon membership category).

• Institutional members can designate three (3) persons to represent them on National Committees and International Committees, as well as the General Conference and General Assembly. These persons need not be Individual Members of ICOM.

• Ability to use the institutional membership number to attend webinars, conferences, workshops, free entry to exhibitions, etc.

• Access to a variety of timely resources and unlimited opportunities for collaboration.

• Advocacy for museums and cultural heritage.

• Regular communication from ICOM Malta bringing you news, opportunities, and resources, while giving you the chance to share your views on preserving and promoting natural and cultural heritage, both local and international.

Institutions can designate up to three of its employees, called designated representatives, to represent them on International Committees. This means that an institution may choose a Committee and designate three representatives to this Committee. Or the institution may choose three different International Committees and designate the same or different representatives to these Committees. For more information on the ICOM International Committees, click here.

Museums or institutions in Malta can become institutional members of ICOM provided they:

• meet the definition of an ICOM museum.  

• accept and comply with the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums.  

• be recognised by ICOM and ICOM Malta

Please note: According to the ICOM Statutes, there is no specific obligation for institutional members apart from accepting and adhering to the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums. However, as a gesture of solidarity, museums typically offer free admission to ICOM members (those with the card and annual sticker).

Institutions qualifying as museums (ICOM Internal Rules, Article 2.1.2.)

Aside from institutions designated as museums, the following institutions qualify as museums eligible to seek ICOM membership: 

1. Natural, archaeological and ethnographic monuments and sites, historical monuments and sites requiring the execution of museum-related activities including acquisition, conservation, and the collection of tangible and intangible evidence of peoples and their environment; 

2. Institutions holding collections and displaying for educational purposes live specimens of plants and animals, such as botanical and zoological gardens, aquaria and vivaria; 

3. Science centres and planetaria; 

4. Non-profit art galleries, as well as conservation institutes and exhibition galleries maintained by libraries and archive centres; 

5. Nature reserves; 

6. National, regional or local museum organisations as well as public agencies (ministries, departments or organisations) responsible for museums as defined in the present Article; 

7. Non-profit institutions or organisations undertaking research in areas of conservation, education, training, documentation, as well as other activities relating to museums and museology; 

8. Cultural centres and other institutions that facilitate the preservation, perpetuation and management of tangible and intangible heritage resources including living heritage and the creation of digital artefacts.”

Any institutions participating directly or indirectly in dealing (buying or selling for profit, including commercial galleries) in art, cultural artefacts, natural or cultural heritage. (as established by ICOM Statutes, Article 4. Membership)

If you are unsure whether you qualify for ICOM membership, please get in touch.

Institutional membership in ICOM for entities in Malta is only possible through the Malta National Committee of ICOM (ICOM Malta). Any legal person (museum or institution) wishing to become a member of ICOM Malta must complete an institutional membership application.

ICOM Malta’s Executive Board decides on the request within 1 month from the date of submission. If the membership application is accepted in accordance with ICOM international regulations, the annual subscription for the current year is due and an invoice issued.