press kit - The International Council of Museums

International Museum Day – 18 May 2011
Museum and Memory: Objects Tell Your Story
Paris, Thursday 12 May 2011
PRESS RELEASE
On and around 18 May next, museums worldwide will celebrate International Museum Day. Established in
1977 by the International Council of Museums, more than 30,000 museums in around 100 countries will hold
special activities on this occasion.
Museum and Memory: Objects Tell Your Story
In 2011, the theme of International Museum Day is Museum and Memory. Through the objects they store,
museums collect stories and convey the memory of our communities. These objects are the expressions of our
natural and cultural heritage. Many of them are fragile, some endangered and they need special care and
conservation. International Museum Day 2011 will be an occasion for visitors to discover and rediscover
individual and collective memory.
Activities on the Museum and Memory theme…
In Australia, the National Sports Museum in Melbourne is organising a programme called Remembering the
Moments that Made Us where visitors of the museum will have the opportunity to meet and talk with sporting
legends (“Memory Makers”) who contributed to great sporting moments and memories. In Sudan, the Natural
History Museum in Khartoum has created an educational programme for families and school children who will
be able to participate in a photography competition on the theme Documenting Our Natural History. In
Argentina, the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Ridavia” in Caba, will offer a programme
entitled Musecuentos specially established for this occasion. Storytellers will share stories that will be
highlighted by the museum’s objects. In Belgium, the Musée royal de Mariemont will offer guided tours on the
theme “Objects’ CV”.
International and Institutional Partnerships
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 has
initiated close institutional partnerships with other organisations that feel concerned by these questions and
share ICOM’s preoccupation for the preservation of memory: the UNESCO “Memory of the World” programme,
the Co-ordinating council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA), the International Council on Archives
(ICA), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions (IFLA).
In addition, ICOM will be a patron of the European Night of Museums on 14 May, 2011 for the first time since
the event was launched in 2005. At the launch of the European Night of Museums, International Museum Day
is announced.
We wish you an excellent International Museum Day and an enjoyable European Night of Museums!
Please, visit the IMD website and discover museum activities at: http://imd2011.icom.museum.
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Museum-Day-2011/178953758817864
Press contact - Nadine AMORIM - Tel. + 33 1 47 34 91 63 – nadine.amorim@icom.museum
UNESCO House. 1, rue Miollis. 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France. Tel. +33 (0)1 47 34 05 00. Fax: +33 (0)1 43 06 78 62
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