International Museum Day 2016

International Museum Day is commemorated on 18 May. The day is coordinated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The theme for International Museum Day 2016 is Museums and Cultural Landscapes, which will also be the theme of the General Conference of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), to be held in Milan, Italy from 3 to 9 July 2016.

Museums help us learn more about your own country as well as where we fit into the global village. The objective of the theme for International Museum Day this year  is to raise awareness of the fact that, “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among different people.”

It‘s time to discover just how amazing museums are and its cool to hang out at museums spending time with friends and discussing the great art and exhibitions.  So call your friends and head off to the nearest museum and discover your cultural landscape.

To increase public awareness of International Museum Day, some museums in the Western Cape have organised a fun competition on Social Media.

You are invited to participate in the ‘Selfie competition’. The competition is open to everybody and participants are being asked to post their selfies with an artefact of one of the abovementioned museums on the ‘My Selfie – My Cultural Landscape’ Facebook page. A one-liner caption should accompany the selfie, explaining why the participant chose that particular background.  The closing date for the competition is 20 May 2016 at 12:00.  Weekly prizes are on offer and first and second prizes will go to the selfies with the most ‘likes’ on 31 May 2016. 

You can even include your friends on social media in this fun competition. All you and your friends need to do is visit a museum close to you and post a selfie of yourself in front of the museum on social media.

At the launch of the competition at the Togryers Museum in Ceres, Mr James Vos, member of the National Parliament for Witzenberg, emphasised the important role museums play in bringing communities together through exhibitions, programmes and special events.  “The aim of this competition is to enhance museums as cultural landscapes and to showcase museums as tourism activities where history is alive and exhibitions interactive.  It is important that museums form part of the tourism routes around the Western Cape so that local and international tourists can be educated on the unique themes displayed at each museum.  This Selfie Competition will put the emphasis on museum objects and its importance as part of our history,” he said.

The Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport and its province-aided museums preserve our heritage for future generations.  Let us celebrate our heritage, BETTER TOGETHER.

Here is a list of museums in the Western Cape

For more information about our museums please have a look at  the Museum Services overview.