May 18th International Museum Day: Celebrations at 30,000 Museums Worldwide

By Chen Guanxin, MOOK Travel & Lifestyle Network. Compiled and Reported. Source: MOOK Editorial Department

What do museums mean to you? Aside from viewing paintings and artworks, museums might seem unrelated to daily life. Since 1977, the International Council of Museums has designated May 18th as International Museum Day, which is now in its 35th year. This year, over 100 countries across five continents — totaling more than 30,000 museums — have joined in and organized a series of events. These include South Africa’s National Museum of Literature, Canada’s Bank of Canada Currency Museum in Ottawa, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the U.S., Brazil’s Museum of History and Culture, the Whanganui Regional Museum in New Zealand, Bulgaria’s Museum of Anthropology, and China’s Fujian Museum, among others. Brazil has even combined this celebration with its National Museum Week (May 14–20), during which museums across the country will host a variety of exhibitions, music and dance performances, film screenings, and more. This allows the public to experience museums not just as places to display cultural relics and artworks, but as spaces deeply connected to everyday life.

The International Council of Museums aims to help the public understand the role and significance of museums in society. In addition to designating May 18th as International Museum Day each year, it also sets an annual theme. The 2012 theme was “Museums in a Changing World. New challenges, New inspirations,” focusing on how museums can use their facilities to address new issues such as climate change, emerging media, and social responsibility, and to consider how they can adapt and grow in a rapidly changing world. Museums around the globe took part in this year’s events, including Germany’s Gutenberg Museum, which houses ancient printing equipment; Russia’s Moscow Museum of Modern Art, located in an 18th-century merchant’s mansion; and Macao’s Museum of Communications, which centers on postal and communication history.

The invention of Gutenberg’s printing press had a profound impact on European civilization. The Gutenberg Museum, located near the Cathedral Square market, displays ancient printing equipment, with its most important exhibit being the first edition of the 42-line Bible printed by Gutenberg himself — named for its 42 lines per page — and one of only 47 surviving copies in the world. In addition, the museum showcases the development of printing technology around the world, including China’s woodblock printing, which predates Gutenberg by 800 years. There are also detailed and rich introductions to the printing histories of countries such as Japan, India, and Korea.

Located in an 18th-century merchant’s mansion in Russia, the Museum of Modern Art houses a rich collection of 20th-century paintings, sculptures, and design works from both Russia and abroad. Here, you can see outstanding works by early 20th-century Russian avant-garde artists such as Chagall, Kandinsky, and Malevich, as well as a section dedicated to the works of "nonconformist" artists who were not favored by the Soviet regime during the 1950s and 60s.

Officially opened on March 1, 2006, with an investment of 76 million MOP, Macao’s Communications Museum introduces the development of postal and communications services in Macao through a wealth of valuable materials. Most of the exhibits and facilities are designed to be interactive, allowing visitors to enjoy hands-on experiences.

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