“Museus, Sustainability and Well-Being” is the theme proposed this year by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), promoter of the International Museum Day, on May 18, a date celebrated annually since 1997 to reinforce the links between museums and society.
In Portugal, dozens of public and private entities on the mainland and the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira respond to the challenge of the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC) for national museums and the Portuguese network to create special programs for these dates, usually free of charge.
Guided and thematic visits to exhibitions, to the reserves of some museums, theater, dance, circus and music shows, workshops, lectures, among other initiatives for all audiences make up a general program that adds up to dozens of activities throughout the country.
Among the two dozen events that are already foreseen in the general program, available ‘online’ on the DGPC page, are, in Lisbon, guided tours “A museum for all”, during the entire international day, at the Arpad Szenes-Vieira Museum da Silva, which will also have free entry to the Casa-Atelier exhibitions.
At Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, the morning will be filled with the “Fencing Meeting in my Palace” initiative, in partnership with various entities, including the local parish council and the Portuguese Fencing Federation.
To the north, in the Palace of the Dukes and in the Castle of Guimarães, the Puppet Theater “Afonso and Constança, first Dukes of Bragança!” he had it built to live there with his second wife, Constança de Noronha.
In Porto, the Transport and Communications Museum will stage a “Treasure Hunt” at Customs, with the discovery of the building’s spaces and stories using clues, mystery boxes, with objects from the Customs Collection, and traditional games, inviting general public to get to know Porto Customs from new perspectives.
Annually, more than 40 thousand museums participate in the event, all over the world, according to ICOM, while the DGPC organizes a survey of the museological spaces integrated in the Portuguese Network of Museums willing to join the celebrations of the Day and Night of Museums, initiative launched in France in 2005, which centers celebrations at night time.
This year, ICOM encourages museums to show their transformative potential for sustainable development and well-being: “Museums can make an important contribution to the well-being and sustainable development of communities”, stresses the non-profit organization government in a text published online to justify the theme, adding that “they can have a cascade effect to motivate positive changes” in the world.
Since 2020, ICOM has aligned the annual theme with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and in 2023 it listed three, particularly aimed at museums around the world.
These are the fight against social isolation and the promotion of inclusion and mental health at all ages, in environmental action, taking urgent measures to combat the impact of climate change, and raising awareness of the loss of biodiversity, encouraging the protection of life. on Earth, and the sustainable use of Earth’s ecosystems.
According to ICOM, these actions for a sustainable future can be promoted through educational programs, exhibitions, research and dissemination in the communities where museums are located.
ICOM is the largest international organization of museums and museum professionals, created in 1946, dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of the world’s natural and cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, through good practice guidelines, disseminated by national commissions active in 146 countries.
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