International Museum Day (IMD) is an international day held annually on or around 18 May, coordinated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The event highlights a specific theme which changes every year reflecting a relevant theme or issue facing museums internationally. IMD provides the opportunity for museum professionals to meet the public and alert them as to the challenges that museums face, and raise public awareness on the role museums play in the development of society. It also promotes dialogue between museum professionals.
History The first International Museum Day took place in 1977, coordinated by ICOM. IMD was established following the adoption of a resolution by ICOM to create an annual event "with the aim of further unifying the creative aspirations and efforts of museums and drawing the attention of the world public to their activity."
Each year, museums are invited to participate in IMD to promote the role of museums around in the world. They do so through events and activities related to the annual theme. An annual theme for the event was first adopted in 1992. An international poster from ICOM was first developed in 1997, and in that year was adapted by 28 countries. In 2009, IMD attracted the participation of 20,000 museums hosting events in more than 90 countries. In 2010, 98 countries participated in the celebration, with 100 countries in 2011, and 30,000 museums in 129 countries in 2012. In 2011, the official IMD poster was translated into 37 languages. By 2014, 35,000 museums from 140 countries were taking part in IMD.
Themes 2026 – Museums Uniting a Divided World 2025 – The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities 2024 – Museums for Education and Research 2023 – Museums, Sustainability and Well-being 2022 – The Power of Museums 2021 – The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine 2020 – Museum for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion 2019 – Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition 2018 – Hyperconnected museum: New approaches, new publics 2017 – Museums and Contested Histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums 2016 – Museums and Cultural Landscapes 2015 – Museums for a Sustainable Society 2014 – Museum collections make connections 2013 – Museums (memory + creativity = social change) 2012 – Museums in a changing world. New challenges, new inspirations 2011 – Museum and memory: Objects tell your story 2010 – Museums for social harmony 2009 – Museums and tourism 2008 – Museums as agents of social change and development 2007 – Museums and universal heritage 2006 – Museums and young people 2005 – Museums bridging cultures 2004 – Museums and intangible heritage (Intangible cultural heritage) 2003 – Museums and friends 2002 – Museums and globalisation 2001 – Museums: building community 2000 – Museums for peace and harmony in society 1999 – Pleasures of discovery 1998–1997 – The fight against illicit traffic of cultural propertyLaunch of International Museum Day 2011 'Objects tell your story', Hunan Provincial Museum. 1996 – Collecting today for tomorrow 1995 – Response and responsibility 1994 – Behind the scenes in museums 1993 – Museums and indigenous peoples 1992 – Museums and environment
Timeline 2007 Museums in approximately 70 countries participated in the event. For this edition, the message that was conveyed was We are all responsible for universal heritage. In Angola, a debate on The Contribution of the National Museum of Anthropology on Asserting Cultural Identity was organised. In Algeria, two days were devoted to the theme of heritage and museology in Algeria, the objective being to submit a project to set up a centre for training museum professionals. The Colombo National Museum in Sri Lanka organised visits and workshops for certain schools aimed at teaching pupils to identify with their heritage. At the Acadian Museum of the University of Moncton (Canada), a conference was held to discuss the issues involved in preserving Acadian oral heritage in a museum as a centre of conservation and dissemination. In Israel, the Historic Museum of Bethlehem partially opened on the occasion of IMD. In Botswana, the site museum of Tsodilo celebrated the event by organising performances of plays, music and traditional dances. In Peru, the inhabitants of Lima were invited to the Fifth Feria of "Museums within your reach" with the participation of 30 museums from Europe and Central Asia.
2009 In 2009, ICOM partnered WFFM (the World Federation of Friends of Museums) in order to promote the event.
2010 In 2010, museums from 96 countries participated in the event, organised around the theme Museums for social harmony.
In Mongolia, the theatre museum invited kindergarten children to attend a play in the museum.
The Samarkand State Museum of Cultural History in Uzbekistan organised an impressive performance with the award-winning children's dance ensemble Jonona. It was followed by a musical slide show displaying the Samarkand region's historical heritage.
In Sri Lanka, the Department of National Museums provided an educational programme with mobile exhibitions for students in the northern region of the country as a means to encourage peace and social harmony among the ethnic groups who are living in the north and the south of the country.
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Museu Calouste Gulbenkian) in Portugal arranged a special reception for visitors in a bid to highlight its initiative of creating a club for 23 local teenagers with anti-social behaviour.
2011 About 30,000 museums in 110 countries participated in the celebration of IMD 2011, under the theme Museum and Memory: Objects tell our story.
Five topics were developed during International Museum Day 2011: Care and access to collections and documents. Museums' history. Forgotten memory. The link between memory, community and identity, including family identity. Africa's cultural contribution to the world. In Australia, the National Sports Museum in Melbourne organised a programme called Remembering the Moments that Made Us where visitors of the museum had the opportunity to meet and talk with sporting legends (Memory Makers) who contributed to great sporting moments and memories.
In Malaysia, seminar with international speakers, exhibitions, sport carnivals, workshops and educational programmes were organised in various museum around the country.
In Sudan, the Natural History Museum in Khartoum created an educational programme for families and school children who were able to participate in a photography competition on the theme "Documenting Our Natural History".
In Argentina, the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia in Caballito (Buenos Aires) suggested a programme entitled Musecuentos especially established for this occasion. Storytellers shared stories that were highlighted by the museum's objects.
In Belgium, the Royal Museum of Mariemont, offered guided tours on the theme Objects' CV.
The conservation and transmission of collective memory is a preoccupation for other heritage players, beyond the museum community. For this reason, for the first time ever, the International Council of Museums initiated institutional partnerships with other organisations that feel concerned by these questions and share ICOM's preoccupation for the preservation of memory: UNESCO with the Memory of the World programme. Co-ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA) International Council on Archives (ICA) International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
2012 The International Museum Day 2012 was celebrated around the theme Museum in a changing world. New challenges, new inspirations.
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the International Museum Day, the ICOM Fund sponsored a photo contest entitled Me in my museum. The participants had to take photos of themselves, alone or with their friends, in or outside their favourite museums with the official logo created for the event. The winners of the "Me in my museum" contest were Yonit and Efrat, from Israel, whose picture was taken in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
In many countries, International Museum Day is the occasion to celebrate museums and their activities. For instance, each year, the month of May is Museums Month in Guatemala, organised with the Ministry of Culture of Guatemala. This year, the theme was New challenges and new inspirations.
In Brazil, the week of 14–20 May is the opportunity to organise museum activities over several days, and the 18th is celebrated as a national holiday. For the 10th edition of National Museums week, activities such as exhibitions, conferences, guided tours and workshop were organised in Brazilian cities. Museums as well as heritage institutions provided dance performances, music, theatre, poetry contests and more.
In Peru and Bolivia, International Museum Day is followed by the Long Night of Museums. Visitors have both day and night to visit museums and the event is celebrated in both countries every year.
In Lithuania, the year 2012 was declared as the Year of Museums, in honour of the bicentenary opening of the first public museums in the country.
The Museu do Falso (Viseu, Portugal) opened on 18 May 2012, for International Museum Day. Visitors were able to discover the unique Museum of History, made from contributions by contemporary artists, working under the premise of Simulacrum: What if a given event occurred differently from how it did?. This aimed to serve as a hub for cultural actors and citizens.
In Côte d'Ivoire, IMD 2012 was celebrated in the structure of the Palais Royal of Abenguru. Local institutions and ICOM Côte d'Ivoire organised various events including discussions, game contests for students and guided tours. About 1,500 people joined in the celebrations with important political and cultural actors from the country.
Hans-Martin Hinz, President of ICOM, launched the event from Bahrain, with the visit to the National Museum's exhibition Tylos: Journey Beyond Life that recounted burial rites and customs in the ancient history of Bahrain. He then experienced the mobile museum Enkiru, an extension of the exhibition specifically geared for children aged 7 to 11. Finally, he participated in a workshop devoted to emerging museum professionals organised by the National Committee of Bahrain, in partnership with ICOM Arab. Meanwhile, the ICOM President personally thanked Chinese and Argentine museums by sending them a video, broadcast during the launch ceremonies for International Museum Day in China and Argentina.
To celebrate the event, Julien Anfruns, Director General of ICOM, delivered the keynote address on the 17 May at the conference "Science Museums and New Technologies" organized by the ICOM International Committee for Education and Cultural Action (CECA) in Rome, Italy. He was also a panellist and keynote speaker at the International Bar Association's conference about new legal challenges in the arts which took place at the MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome).
Partners European Night of Museums: For the second year, ICOM patronized the European Night of Museums, an event which echoes IMD in the spirit of an all day and all-night weekend dedicated to museums. CNES: The CNES Space Observatory partnered with International Museum Day to offer a contemporary and original view on museum practice. It proposed sharing the questions raised by evolutions in the concept of space over the centuries to a curious and varied public, by organising various events in a great many European museums. Museum Together: On the occasion of International Museum Day, ICOM supported the Museum Together project, a social application that aims to foster the organisation of meetings around museums and encourage the sharing of cultural experiences.
2013