The organization was founded in 1992 as the "European Panorama Conference" in Szeged, Hungary. (1992_Founding_resolution_Szeged.pdf) The conference in Altötting, Germany in 1998 was the first meeting with a global reach. (1998-11-06_Resolution_Altoetting.pdf)
While initially established as an interest group the organisation developed its momentum through the active participation of a dedicated volunteer group. The yearly conference became an important annual event supported by a range of institutional partners and an organizational board. Since 2003 the organization has been called the International Panorama Council (IPC).
Over twenty successful years of volunteer work a global network was created. Through both the IPC General Assembly in 2010 in Istanbul Turkey, and 2011 in Gettysburg PA, USA, it was decided to secure the future by formalizing the IPC as a non-government, not-for-profit membership association, subject to Swiss law.