MUTEC and denkmal Celebrate a Strong Comeback
After MUTEC and denkmal had to be cancelled two years ago owing to the pandemic, its exhibitors, partners and visitors were pleased to see this trade fair duo make a hugely successful comeback from 24 to 26 November 2022. The MUTEC international trade fair for museum and exhibition technology and denkmal, the leading European trade fair taking place at the same time, were both extremely busy and welcomed 12,800 visitors from 32 countries. "We've just experienced three intense days at the trade fair. You could really feel the enthusiasm of everyone there, every second of every day. Business relationships, expert discussions and personal meetings were the order of the day as MUTEC and denkmal impressively demonstrated how significant these trade fairs are as an international get-together for the entire industry", says a thrilled Markus Geisenberger, Managing Director at Leipziger Messe. This year, 473 exhibitors from 17 countries took part in the two trade fairs.
MUTEC achieved record attendance with 122 exhibitors from 13 countries. Managers of cultural establishments come to the international fair for museum and exhibition technology to learn about new technology and practical solutions in all areas. "We always exhibit at MUTEC. So we are pleased to report that this year we had plenty of visitors to our stand on all three days of the fair as usual. We were very busy. Here, we can present our latest technology to the museum industry and receive direct feedback on our innovations. We can see that visitors are interested because they come to us with specific technical questions. MUTEC is a trade fair not to be missed. That's why we'll definitely be back next time", explains Roman Schuppan at the Interactive Scape exhibition stand. Roman holds a Master's degree in Engineering and is an authorised representative of Werk 5 GmbH.
On behalf of the numerous international exhibitors, Hans Vandamme, CEO of Alfa Vision from Belgium, also summed up the experience positively. "As the market leader in virtual and augmented reality, we travelled here from Belgium to present our innovations to the German museums. We offer solutions that can literally bring history alive. It is the first time we've presented our global innovation in Germany and we're very excited by the enthusiasm shown by visitors here. We're very satisfied with our participation in the trade fair. We had good conversations with all kinds of interesting people.“
MUTEC was also well received by companies who were exhibiting here for the first time. "We're very pleased with MUTEC and can already confirm that we would love to come back. We made huge progress in expanding our network thanks to the quality of visitors here. Our company's strength lies in digitising art and cultural heritage and consequently being able to reproduce these as 3D prints. There has been a great response to our prototypes here in Leipzig. We feel that visitors are happy to be here and they confirmed to us that we are fully on the right track with what we are doing", concludes Ilja Streit, Managing Director at digitus art.
The high level of exhibitor satisfaction is reflected in the data from the trade fairs: 91 per cent intend to exhibit at the next edition of MUTEC and 92 per cent would recommend the trade fair to others.
New Exhibition Areas: Stage Technology and Equipment, MuseumMerch and Accessibility
This year, a total of three new exhibition areas celebrated their premiere at MUTEC. The trade fair was extended to include companies operating in stage technology and equipment (in cooperation with the BHT Berliner Hochschule für Technik), museum merchandise (products and services for museum shops) and accessibility. All three areas were well received by trade visitors and exhibitors alike.
"We're here at MUTEC for the first time and were aiming to attract museum shop managers right from the start. It was an experiment for us to come to the fair and we were curious to see how many people would be interested in our products. We were pleasantly surprised that our stand was packed with visitors all the time and we established plenty of valuable new contacts with museums. By adding the area called "MuseumsMerch" dedicated to museum merchandise to the MUTEC exhibition, Leipziger Messe did everything right. It was well worth us being here", says a satisfied Tilo Schmidt, Managing Director at Fridolin.
Strong Network of Partners and Comprehensive Conference Programme
This year, MUTEC advanced to become the largest get-together in the museum industry. "By now, the Saxon Museum Association's repeated participation and their further education seminar at MUTEC are approaching the status of beloved tradition for us. We're very pleased with this constructive collaboration and especially thrilled that the museum associations of Thuringia and Brandenburg also took part in MUTEC for the first time", explains Mariella Riedel, Project Director of MUTEC and denkmal.
The MUTEC conference programme offers more than 40 events covering a wide range of topics. The thematic blocks at the MUTEC forum are of particular interest to visitors. These include a contribution by ICON Germany, with a thematic block entitled "Preservation". This cooperation was originally planned for 2020 and could now finally be realised.
"We're thrilled to be a MUTEC partner. As an association, it's our goal to recruit new members and sponsors. The Leipzig trade fair provides an excellent platform for this. We always meet so many interested people here and we had some very good meetings. What's more, we're so happy that the format of our first event at MUTEC was successful. The support we received from the organisers was excellent. It was lovely to work together with them. We're very much looking forward to the next event", says Beate von Törne, Deputy Director of the German branch of the ICOM international council of museums.
denkmal Leading European Trade Fair and MUTEC in Tandem
denkmal is Europe's leading trade fair for conservation, restoration and old building renovation and was held at the same time as MUTEC. At denkmal, 351 exhibitors from 12 countries presented their products and services covering every area of monument preservation and restoration. With more than 150 events, the conference programme once again upheld this trade fair's reputation as the industry's most significant platform for further education and training. This year, the focus was particularly on the intertwined topics of climate protection and sustainability. High-profile national and international institutions worked together to develop strategies to secure a firmer position on the political agenda for the significant contribution that monument preservation and conservation can make to fighting climate change.
The next edition of MUTEC and denkmal will take place from 7 to 9 November 2024.
