International Museum Day

THE worldwide community of museums celebrates today, 18 May 2018 International Museum Day with the theme “Hyperconnected Museums: New Approaches, New Publics.”

International Museum Day aims to raise awareness of the fact that, “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures, and development of mutual understanding, cooperation, and peace among peoples.” This is being organized on and around May 18 of each year. Participation in International Museum Day is growing among museums all over the world. In 2017, more than 36,000 museums participated in the event in 157 countries.

The International Council of Museums said that hyperconnectivity is a term invented in 2001 to describe the multiple means of communication we have today, such as face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging, telephone, and the Internet. This global network of connections becomes each day more complex, diverse, and integrated. In the hyperconnected world of today, museums join the trend. This is the reason the International Council of Museums has chosen the theme “Hyperconnected museums: New approaches, new publics” for this year’s celebration.

Museums are an inherent part of local communities, their cultural landscape, and their natural environment. Museums can now reach way beyond their core audience and find new publics through these approaches. These past years have witnessed the birth of countless common projects organized by museums with the collaboration of minorities, indigenous peoples, and local institutions.

ICOM invites cultural institutions of all types around the world to join in this celebration and explore the connections that tie them to their communities, cultural landscape, and natural environment.