The Future of Museums – Recover and Reimagine

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The theme for International Museum Day 2021 invites museum professionals to imagine and share new practices in the (co-)creation of value, new business models for cultural institutions and innovative solutions for the social, economic, and environmental challenges of the present.

This symposium will explore some of the recovery efforts that museums adopted in 2020 and early 2021 to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also explore learning points that museums can take into the future as they engage with their audiences.

Emcee Lester was the virtual emcee for this virtual symposium event.

International museum day 2021 virtual event - emcee lester

ICOM selects each year for International Museum Day a theme that is at the heart of the concerns of society.

With the theme “The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine”, International Museum Day 2021 invites museums, their professionals and communities to create, imagine and share new practices of (co-)creation of value, new business models for cultural institutions and innovative solutions for the social, economic and environmental challenges of the present.

The year 2020 has been like no other. The COVID-19 crisis has swept the whole world abruptly, affecting every aspect of our lives Some already pressing issues have been exacerbated, questioning the very structure of our societies: the call for equality is stronger than ever.

Virtual symposium International Museum Day 2021 - Emcee Lester Leo

Museums are no exception to these changes, and the cultural sector is among the most affected, with serious economic, social and psychological repercussions in the short and long term alike. But this crisis also served as a catalyst for crucial innovations that were already underway, notably an increased focus on digitisation and the creation of new forms of cultural experience and dissemination.

This is a pivotal moment for our society, and we call museums to embrace it and lead the change. The time is now to rethink our relationship with the communities we serve, to experiment with new and hybrid models of cultural fruition and to strongly reaffirm the essential value of museums for the construction of a just and sustainable future.