International Museum Day Promotional Theme

May 18, 2008 is World Museum Day, which happens to be a Monday. Originally, many museums were closed for rest, but this day was special, and many museums continued to be open to the public. So what is the theme of World Museum Day 2008?

On May 11, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held a press conference on the main venue activities of 518 International Museum Day in China.

Guan Qiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, introduced the activities at the main venue of this year’s China International Museum Day. Luo Jing, Director of the Department of Museums and Social Cultural Relics of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and Gong Liang, Deputy Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Director of the Nanjing Museum, answered reporters’ questions.

Fan, deputy director and spokesperson of the Policy and Regulation Department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, presided over the press conference.

China’s Main Venue “International Museum Day” Promotional Video

Guan Qiang introduced that China’s “International Museum Day” will be hosted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, Jiangsu Provincial Culture and Tourism It is co-organized by the Department of Cultural Heritage, Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, China Museum Association, and Nanjing Museum. The main venue will be held at the Nanjing Museum on May 18.

The theme of this year’s International Museum Day is “Museums for Equality: Diversity and Tolerance”. This theme not only reflects the museum’s new thinking and new understanding of its own positioning and functions, but also reflects the overall development pattern of world civilization, which is characterized by diversity, mutual respect, mutual learning, and harmonious coexistence.

Guan Qiang said that in accordance with the State Council’s unified deployment of epidemic prevention and control and related requirements, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage will strictly control the size of the on-site personnel at the main venue this year, improve emergency plans, and will try to use online and offline communication methods for the first time , held the final evaluation report of the top ten museum exhibitions in the country on May 16th, the "Museums from a Meta-Inclusive Youth Perspective" forum in the afternoon of May 17th, the opening ceremony of the main venue in China in the morning of May 18th, and the theme in the afternoon and evening forum.

This year’s main venue in China will focus on people’s diverse needs for a better life and how museums can promote social equality, diversity and inclusive development, comprehensively displaying the latest achievements in the development of Chinese museums.

In addition to the annual announcement of the promotion results of the "Top Ten National Museum Exhibitions" and "China's Most Innovative Museums" and the release of the museum's annual statistical data, a series of unique activities will also be held.

First, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and Xinhua News Agency will jointly launch the "National Cloud Exhibition" platform to further improve the quality of museum online exhibitions and innovate the way museum culture is disseminated. At the same time, at the opening ceremony, the Transportation Publicity Committee of the China Broadcasting Federation and Jiangsu Radio and Television Station will also launch the "Endorsing the National Treasure" activity.

Activities such as the "Museums on the Move" May 18th Cultural and Creative Festival" organized by the China Museum Association and China Mobile Migu Company will also be launched at the opening ceremony.

The second is to hold a donation ceremony for representative witnesses of the new coronavirus epidemic prevention and control. Xinhua News Agency, Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission, and Jiangsu Provincial Hospital will donate a batch of physical evidence to Nanjing Museum at the opening ceremony of the main venue and hold a tribute to medical staff.

The third is to launch the special exhibition "Harmony: Diversity and Tolerance in Chinese Traditional Culture from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties". This exhibition was jointly planned by the Nanjing Museum and eight cultural institutions. It selected more than 200 exquisite cultural relics with different regional cultural attributes from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States to the Han Dynasty, fully demonstrating the diverse and inclusive cultural genes of ancient China.

Fourth, a museum theme forum was held around this year’s theme, inviting 12 well-known experts and scholars in the field of museums at home and abroad to discuss the development of museums in depth

Gong Liang introduced that Jiangsu Provincial Museum, While gradually opening up to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic, the memorial hall has been actively preparing for a series of theme activities with distinctive features, rich content, and diverse forms of exhibitions, academic seminars, public interactions, and cultural inheritance and publicity around the theme of International Museum Day, giving full play to its characteristics. and advantages.

Nanjing Museum will launch the special exhibition "Harmony: Diversity and Tolerance in Traditional Chinese Culture from the Spring and Autumn Period to Qin and Han Dynasties". The Nanjing Museum of Natural History will hold the "Cultural Relics Exhibition of Eight Cities in the Nanjing Metropolitan Area, Green Jiangnan" to display the collections of the eight city museums in the Nanjing Metropolitan Area and promote the research, learning and teaching activities of the eight city museums to the society;

Yuhuatai Martyrs Memorial Hall will hold a themed event of "Revitalization and Inheritance of Revolutionary Cultural Relics". On the evening of May 18, Nanjing Museum will continue to open night performances. Historical cultural relics and intangible cultural heritage will be more vividly accessible to the public through modern dance performances, social education activities, immersive experiences and other methods. This is also the fifth year that Nanbo has presented the "Nambo Wonderful Night" cultural feast to the public.

It is reported that in addition to the domestic main venue activities, relevant activities will be carried out around the country around May 18 in accordance with the unified arrangements of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to build a platform for museums to communicate and interact with the public.

For example, Heilongjiang, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Xinjiang and other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities will host local main venue activities; Nanjing Museum, Tianjin Museum, Shandong Museum, Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum will be launched around May 18 New exhibition.

Hainan Provincial Museum, Gansu Provincial Museum, Liaoning Provincial Museum, Heilongjiang Provincial Museum, etc. An exhibition with the theme of anti-epidemic and anti-epidemic war will be held.

At the same time, museums around the world have launched new audience interaction projects, such as online exhibitions, online live broadcasts, online classes, online competitions on culture and cultural knowledge, etc. They will also organize a variety of activities around this year's theme, such as mobile exhibitions, knowledge promotion, cultural relic appraisal, intangible performances, cultural and creative publishing, etc.

Beijing, Hunan, Xinjiang and other places will carry out public welfare activities and special visits to pay tribute to medical workers. Many museums in Shanxi, Henan, Guangxi, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and other places will provide free admission or free explanation services on May 18.

"International Museum Day" was initiated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) to promote the healthy development of global museums and attract public understanding, participation and attention to museums. It is held on May 18th every year, and a theme is determined each year.

China officially joined ICOM in 1983. Since then, relevant activities have been organized every year to commemorate International Museum Day.

Since 2009, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has begun to hold museum days in the form of main venue activities, which are now held in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Nanning, Jinan, Nanjing, Shijiazhuang, Hohhot, Beijing, Shanghai, and Changsha Held for 11 times.

Reprinted from Bloomberg News