Happy International Museum Day

CAIRO - 19 May 2017:Numerous Museums and cultural institutions all over the world celebrated on Thursday the “International Museum Day”, through series of events and activities.

International Museum Day was officially established in 1977 by the general assembly of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) with the goal of creating an annual event that unifies the creative aspirations and efforts of museums, and drawing the attention of the world public to their activity.

Participation in International Museum Day grows every year among museums around the world that more than 35,000 museums participated in the event in about 145 countries last year.

Celebrating with a unified theme
As the event started to attract more and more participating museums, ICOM for the first time in 1992 suggested having a theme every year. The first one was: museums and environment.

The theme chosen for 2017 is “Museums and contested histories: saying the unspeakable in museums.”

The theme of this year focuses on how to understand the incomprehensible aspects of the disputed histories we all inherited. It also encourages museums to play a role in peacefully addressing traumatic histories through mediation and different points of view.


This year, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities decided to provide visitors, both Egyptians and foreigners, free entry to all museums in Egypt on May 18, celebrating the occasion.
This year, Egypt Today will create a "Museums Week" to celebrate the numerous museums we have all over the country.