WorldSkills Museum to open its doors on 6 November

Following six years of research, design, and building, the WorldSkills Museum will officially open to the public on 6 November 2023. Housed in the restored Wing On textile storehouse on the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, the exhibition explores the past, present, and future of skills and skilled workers.

A collaboration between WorldSkills International and WorldSkills China, the Museum is the first in the world dedicated to vocational skills.

The collection has been curated from artefacts donated from private collections, former Competitors and Experts, the archives of WorldSkills Members and WorldSkills International, and Global Partners, as well as domestic assets identified and sourced by the local team in Shanghai. Altogether, over 800 assets spread across approximately 2,500 m² tell the story of WorldSkills and of skills across time and cultures.

Six distinct zones will guide visitors through the fascinating world of skills, the role of skilled workers in ensuring a sustainable future, and in supporting innovation and economic prosperity. Combining exciting interactives and high-quality digital resources, the WorldSkills Museum is designed to provide an exciting and informative visitor experience.

Some of the highlights are an impressive collection of tools linking the foundations of human progress to skills, an overview of China’s deep and enduring commitment to skills development — looking at both ancient and modern China — and samples of projects linked to WorldSkills and its partners demonstrating how skills change worlds.

One of the zones celebrates the WorldSkills movement, exploring the origins of the organization and displaying 43 trophies and medals – a collection representing almost all Competitions held since 1950. It looks at the growth of the organization, its expansion across the world, and its core values – including excellence, meritocracy, and peaceful international cooperation – while depicting the personal stories behind an organization that has changed lives and societies across the world.

WorldSkills International and its project partners, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security China, and the Shanghai Municipal Peoples Government, have invited the WorldSkills community to join them for the WorldSkills Museum official opening.

The WorldSkills Competition 2026 will take place in Shanghai in September 2026, providing an opportunity for all participants in the world’s championship to experience the collection first hand.