The 1st Asian Children's Museum Conference

speakers and moderators

Gail Dexter Lord
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Gail Dexter Lord is a museum planner with over 30 years of experience in the museum and cultural sector. As co-President with her husband Barry Lord of Lord Cultural resources Inc., she has been instrumental in assisting museums to expand and reposition their services in times of change. She has helped develop new cultural institutions such as the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. She has consulted with more than 15 children's museums in many countries including Germany, Austria, the US, Canada, England and Korea.

In Asia, Gail has worked with museums in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong in the People's republic of China. She and Barry have contributed to the growing knowledge of museum planning and management through their many publications: The Manual of Museum Planning has been published in Chinese by the Department of Culture. Gail's most recent book is “The Manual of Strategic Planning for Museums” (Alta Mira Press, 2007). Gail has taught in Museum Studies departments around the world and has initiated Lord Academy within Lord Cultural Resources to provide young people interested in museum careers with exceptional training and internship opportunities.

Annemies Broekgaarden
Annemies Broekgaarden is head of Tropenmuseum Junior, the children's museum of the Tropenmuseum, one of the large ethnographic museums in the Netherlands. She is a strong supporter of the development of child-based museum approaches in museums all over the world. She is a member to the Board of Hands On! Europe, the European network of children's museums.

Trained as manager, communicator and with substantial knowledge of cultural anthropology, Annemies guides the development of interactive exhibitions for children. Previously she worked as Project Manager for Public Relations in the Corporate Communication Department of NOS, the Dutch National Broadcasting Corporation.

Bing Baguioro, Ed. D.
Bing Baguioro founded Children's Laboratory's Textbook Theatre in 1982 which was the Philippines' first mobile teaching and learning theater for children. From the classrooms to the streets of Metro Manila, Teacher Bing became Kuya Bing (Big brother Bing) to the streetchildren of Rizal Park where he took these performances in 1985, one of the earliest forms of what is known today as Street Education.

Teacher Bing's bodies of work include both local and international productions and publications on alternative education modalities such as Street Education for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Alternative Education for Children in Need of Special Protection in Myanmar, Life Skills Education and Street Theatre for Save the Children (US) in Bhutan, and Early Childhood Care and Development on the Air for UNICEF-Manila. He continues to run training workshops for teachers and parents and does consultancy work with national and international organizations such as the International Labour Organization, Plan International, World Vision, Christian Children's Fund and RTRC-Asia in Singapore.

Isabel Cheng
As the Director of Sales and Marketing with Singapore Zoological Gardens, Isabel is responsible for the planning and implementation of the overall sales and marketing strategies for both Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. Her portfolio includes memberships, fund raising, advertising and promotions, and corporate communications.

Isabel comes from an advertising background, having been with Leo Burnett in Singapore for 3 years and McCann Erickson in Malaysia for 3 years. Prior to joining the Zoo and Night Safari, Isabel worked with Philips Consumer Electronics, Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa for 7 years and the Director for Marketing and PR.

Nurit Shilo-Cohen
Nurit Shilo-Cohen is Senior Curator-at-Large for Museum Education in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. She has been Chief Curator and Director of The Ruth Youth Wing of the Israel Museum for 15 years; before that she was an exhibition curator in the art department of the Museum. Nurit is also the author of many books and articles. She has a degree in art history and Jewish philosophy and a degree in biology, both from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is a Board Member of Hands On! Europe.

Felipe M. de Leon, Jr.
Felipe M. de Leon, Jr. is a Professor of Arts Studies at the University of the Philippines where he teaches humanities, aesthetics, music theory, and Philippine art and culture. He is currently Commissioner and Head of the Subcommission for the Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

He was the Artistic Director of the musical concert and television programs Concert at the Park and Paco Park Presents in 1986. Since 1985, he has been the Musical Director of Kasarinlan Philippine Music Ensemble, a group that promotes the treasures – indigenous, folk, light, serious, pop and other types – of Filipino vocal and instrumental music. He has written books and articles about humanities and cultural issues, as well as music for various theater plays. He was the main author of the ASEAN Declaration for Cultural Heritage.

Elizabeth Cordova La'O
Lilibeth La 'O is the Director/Curator of the Museo Sang Bata sa Negros (Children's Museum in Negros), the second of two children's museums and the first marine museum in the Philippines. She is also affiliated with the University of St. La Salle Ecological Park, ALAS (Asia, Latin/Central America, Africa, Sweden) Museum Network, Philippine Association of Museums and the Visayan Association of Museums and Galleries. She has been invited as a resource speaker and/or a facilitator for various museum development seminars and trainings.

Every summer, Lilibeth conducts free environmental and art workshops for streetchildren. She is also a freelance fiber artist who weaves tapestries and murals.

Maricel P. Montero
Maricel is an AB Communication Arts graduate of Ateneo de Manila University. She has been working in the field of social development for more than a decade. She was an educational coordinator and special projects officer for Stairway Foundation and a public relations officer for a health media campaign with ReachOut Foundation International. In 2000, she became a Packard Fellow in Bangkok, Thailand for a training on Leadership Development Mechanism. She also worked as a Project Coordinator for th Global Fund Program on HIV and AIDS with the Tropical Disease Foundation.

In 2001, Maricel joined Museo Pambata as coordinator for the Children's Advocacy Program, an outreach program involving child advocates from disadvantaged areas in Manila. Through the program, the peace project: Bigas at Laruan para sa Kapayapaan/Rice and Toys for Peace was conceived together with other partner organizations. In this project, children were made aware of peace situations in the country by sharing their thoughts through letters to other children caught in between armed conflicts. In 2007, she became the Executive Director of the Museo Pambata.

Pornanong Niyomka
Pornanong Niyomka is the Managing Director of BookBridges Co.,Ltd. and the Secretary General of the Thai Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).

It is an organization which promotes reading, supports libraries for children, organizes seminars and training for writers and illustrators, translates children's books and conducts storytelling workshops for teachers. She has written and published several books and writes for a column in the ThaiBBY Journal.

She introduced the Bookstart Project to Thailand and ThaiBBY has expanded its reading promotion through Bookstart Thailand since 2003.

Tresnawati Prihadi
Tresnawati Prihadi is a General Manager with Singapore Philatelic Museum (SPM). She holds and MBA from the University of Cardiff (UK) and is an EXCO member and Chairman for Manpower and Training for Association of Singapore Attractions. Prior to joining SPM, Tres had more than 12 years of experience in customer service and attractions management including day-to-day operation, estate management, marketing and promotion, events planning, and execution and upgrading of attractions.

Since joining SPM in 2003, Tres has successfully repositioned and raised SPM's standing as a child- and family-friendly museum.

John L. Silva
As a Senior Consultant to the National Museum of the Philippines, John Silva reviews the museum's administrative functions, plans future exhibitions and develops publicity and fundraising programs. In 1996, he was Executive Director of the Geronimo B. delos Reyes, Jr. Foundation and Museum where he administered the foundation's philanthropic activities in the areas of education and the arts. While in the United States, he held key positions at GCHP San Francisco, American Cancer Society, Oxfam America, Salisbury School and North Star Fund, where he developed media communications programs, managed corporate and foundation fundraising events, and maintained funding boards to advise on grant disbursements. He was also an instructor at the Asian-American Studies Department of the University of California in Berkeley, California.

John also serves as a board member of: Heritage Conservation Society, Ballet Philippines, Mangyan Heritage Society, Filipinas Magazine, and Synergeia Foundation. His articles, essays and short stories on Philippine art and culture have been published in various newspapers and magazines with nationwide circulation and overseas distribution.

Toshiko Uchiyama
Toshiko Uchiyama plans workshops and develops and maintains exhibits at the Kids Place Osaka in Japan. She holds an MA degree in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester (UK). Prior to joining Kids Place Osaka, she was a volunteer museum assistant at Nara Prefectural Museum of Art, and was a full-time IT Officer for NEC.

Prof. Thomas van der Walt
Thomas van der Walt is an associate professor in the Department of Information Science at the University of South Africa (Unisa) where he teaches archival science at undergraduate level and record studies and children's literature at postgraduate level. He is the founder and chairman of the Children's Literature Research Unit at Unisa. He served as President of the African Research Society for Children's Literature and he served on the Board of the International Research Society for Children's Literature.

In addition to his academic work, Prof. Van der Walt is quite involved in community projects. He is a founder and board member of Biblionef South Africa, an organization that distributes new children's books at no cost to institutions in need of such books. For many years, he has been organizing exhibitions of South African children's books and children's book illustrations, and cultural projects for children in cooperation with South African embassies. One of these projects is the Global Twins Exchange Project whereby schools in Africa and abroad are twinned and children exchange written and visual information about their countries and cultures.

Cristina (Nina) Lim-Yuson
Nina is currently President and CEO of the Museo Pambata Foundation, Inc. An early childhood educator, she received her doctorate in Education from the University of the Philippines in 1982, founded the Early Learning Center (1974-2005) and co-founded the Museo Pambata, the first children's interactive museum in the Philippines, in 1993.

As former Chairman of the Asia Pacific Region of the World Association for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, she oversaw 28 countries in the Asia Pacific region. She is President of All Together in Dignity (ATD) Fourth World, an international non-government organization in 30 countries working together to overcome poverty. Nina is charter member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, past President of TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service) Foundation, Board Member of Baile (Bayanihan Alumni) Foundation, Chairman of the Juan & Lualhati Cojuangco Foundation and National Treasurer of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. She has authored 3 books, a workbook and has written articles on children's learning and development.

Cecile Guidote-Alvarez
Cecile Guidote-Alvarez is the Executive Director of the Philippines' National Commission for Culture and the Arts. As founder of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), she was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Outstanding Asian Award for Public Service through the Arts in 1972. She is also the founder of Earthsavers DREAMS Ensemble, a performing group composed of disadvantaged youth recognized as UNESCO Artists for Peace. She has been honored with the Ninoy Aquino Award for Nationalism, Carlos P. Romulo Award for International Understanding, CCP Gawad Sining Award for Culture, and The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Services for her numerous contributions in promoting Philippine art and culture.

Joseph de Vera
Joseph is the Exhibits Director of the Museo Pambata in Manila, Philippines. He was the project coordinator for the Museum-in-a-Box, a set of learning kits for elementary school children. He was a member of a team of concept developers for Museo Pambata's traveling exhibits.

In 2004, Joseph received a grant from the International Partnerships Among Museums (IPAM) which allowed him to travel to the United States and partner with the St. Louis Science Center in Missouri. While in the US, he was an observer at New York's Children's Museum of Manhattan and Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. 's The Smithsonian, and San Francisco's Exploratorium.

Desiree Lleno-Gestiada
Des is Museo Pambata's former Programs Director. She graduated from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor's degree in Public Administration. In 2001, she was sponsored by the Asian Cultural Council to tour children's museums and science centers in the United States. She also went to Japan to observe paper recycling procedures through a grant from the Japan Milk Carton Recycling Association. She is now the Educational Program Development Specialist at the Manila Ocean Park.

Don M. Salubayba
Don graduated from the Philippine High School for the Arts and received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines. A key member of the Anino Shadowplay Collective, he is one of two Philippine representatives to the Kirkcudbright International Arts Festival in July 2007. He received an Asian Cultural Council grant to participate in a residency program at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California and at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York City from 2004 to 2005. He also received an award at the Singapore Short Film festival in 2006 and a Gawad Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) for Animation in 2007.

Don currently teaches at the Philippine High School for the Arts and enjoys being a new father.

Manolo Silayan
Manolo Silayan is the president of the Alitaptap Storytellers Philippines, a storytelling group which organizes and conducts storytelling workshops for students and teachers. They hold regular storytelling sessions at the National Library and at the Museo Pambata.

Joselito Tecson
Joselito Tecson, or JoTec, is a noted architect and stage designer. He is the president of JT Stage Inc. JoTec was the Creative Director of the Museo Pambata when it was established in 1993. He served as a member of the museum's board of trustees for 2 terms and is the senior consultant in the museum's exhibit development team.