IMD 2011 Media Release

MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Museums Australia, 18 May 2011

International Museum Day, 18 May 2011 (Museums and Memory)

The worldwide community of museums will celebrate International Museum Day on and around Wednesday 18 May 2011 – as part of a Museums Week of events annually. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to advance public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society.

Worldwide more than 30,000 museums in around 100 countries hold special activities to mark the occasion. In 2011, the day is being recognised throughout Australia in events held by small regional and community museums as well as state and national institutions.

The 2011 theme of ICOM’s International Museum Day, ‘Museums and Memory’, provides a special opportunity to focus on the role of museum collections and exhibitions as providing powerful triggers for public memory.

Through objects in their collections, museums develop and tell the stories of our communities – connecting people across places and time, and conveying rich examples of the variety of our social, natural and cultural heritage as a nation.

Memory is not just about personal recollections and reminiscences, though these are powerful starting points. Museums explore stories from the distant past as well as relating our history to contemporary issues. Museums present experiences, connect communities, and provide interpretations in exhibitions that promote personal reflection on our shared stories, leading to understanding and tolerance around contested history and building social solidarity across Australia’s diverse communities.

Museums Australia, supported by the National Museum of Australia, is celebrating International Museums Day, through a two-day symposium that celebrates the theme of Museums and Memory.

Expert speakers will explore rich topics such as oral history, Indigenous 20th century histories rewoven in collective memory, the Stolen Generations’ torn memories, international repatriation successes from abroad and continuing commitments by museums to national reconciliation following the national Apology.

There will be coverage of immigrant histories as diverse as the Chinese and the Irish in Australia since settlement, and many other national ‘stories’ that we all share. Information on the Symposium and speakers is available at: <http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au>

For further information contact:

Museums Australia National Office
(02) 6273 2437
ma@museumsaustralia.org.au