In the era of the technological revolution, one may wonder: why do we need museums at all? The question is certainly debatable. However, many years ago, the classics answered it with different words.
“He who does not know the past knows neither the present, nor the future, nor himself,” said the French thinker Voltaire.
“A people that does not know its past has no future,” our compatriot Mikhail Lomonosov answered him.
“Today, which does not have yesterday, does not have tomorrow,” the poetess Marina Tsvetaeva formulated the same idea.
Museums act as custodians of memory, places where the past comes to life. To get acquainted with the life of different nations, the historical features of life in other countries, to find out how people lived in past centuries – all this can be done in the museum. A curious, inquisitive mind will find answers to many of its questions.
In addition, technological progress is not at all a rival to museums, it is their best friend. More and more cultural institutions around the world are adopting new technologies. Augmented reality, interactivity and virtual immersion – what science fiction writers wrote about a hundred years ago, today – our everyday life, which can also be touched in the museum space.
International Museum Day is an important holiday and a real cultural phenomenon. It not only reminds residents of different countries of the need to love and know their history, but also allows you to establish a dialogue between different countries and peoples on a global scale. The preservation of experience, the exchange of knowledge, the development of mutual understanding and mutual respect between representatives of different cultures are the key tasks of this holiday.
When is International Museum Day celebrated?
Every year International Museum Day is celebrated 18 May, in 2023 more than 145 countries of the world have joined this tradition.
history of the holiday
Days of museums began to be celebrated long before the creation of a single international holiday. For example, in Europe and in the Empire, the first mention of the “day of museums” dates back to the second half of the XNUMXth century – the period when states began active educational activities.
The international holiday owes its appearance to the International Council of Museums (ICOM), established in 1946. Since the middle of the last century, it included the Soviet Union, today – Our Country.
In 1977, the 11th global conference of the International Council of Museums took place, which took place in two cities of the USSR – Moscow and Leningrad. It was there that the decision was made to establish the International Museum Day.
It is noteworthy that the proposal to create a holiday date was made by the delegation headed by Irina Antonova, at that time the director of the State Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin. So we can safely say that the holiday has origins – both by the place of establishment and by the name of the person who proposed its idea to the international community.
Holiday traditions
Since 1992, the celebration of the International Museum Day has been held every year under a certain slogan relating to the peculiarities of the museum business. Focusing on the theme of the year, museums around the world are preparing enlightenment and educational programs, and entry to many cultural institutions is free on this day.
Perhaps the most famous tradition of the holiday is the annual Night of Museums festival, which has been held by many museums in recent years. It is arranged, as a rule, on the weekend closest to May 18. Depending on the desire and capabilities of an institution, the Night of Museums can last one day, all weekends or a whole week. During the festival, admission to the museums is free. Visitors are invited to author’s excursions, interactive programs are organized, lectures and master classes are organized, events for children are held – often whole families come to the Night of Museums.