The worldwide community of museums will celebrate International Museum Day on and around 18 May, 2015.
This year’s theme for the event will be Museums for a sustainable society.
It highlights the role of museums in raising public awareness about the
need for a society that is less wasteful, more cooperative and that
uses resources in a way that respects living systems.
ICOM President, Prof. Dr Hans‐Martin Hinz, adds:
“Museums, as educators and cultural mediators, are adopting an
increasingly vital role in contributing to the definition and
implementation of sustainable development and practices. Museums must be
able to guarantee their role in safeguarding cultural heritage, given
the increasing precariousness of ecosystems, situations of political
instability, and the associated natural and man‐made challenges that may
arise. Museum work, through education and exhibitions for example,
should strive to create a sustainable society.
We must do everything we can to ensure that museums
are part of the cultural driving force for the sustainable development
of the world.”
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day
in 1977 to increase public awareness of the role of museums in the
development of society, and it has been steadily gaining momentum ever
since. In 2014, International Museum Day garnered record‐breaking
participation with more than 35,000 museums hosting events in some 145
countries.
