Museum and Memory: Objects Tell Your Story

In 2011, the theme of International Museum Day was 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 has been 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 organised a programme called Remembering the Moments that Made Us where visitors of the museum had 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 were 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, offered a programme entitled Musecuentos specially established for this occasion. Storytellers shared stories that were highlighted by the museum’s objects. In Belgium, the Musée royal de Mariemont offered 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 was 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 was announced.