Contributing for one more year to the actions of the International Museum Day, NiMAC [The Nicosia Municipal Art Centre, Associated with the Pierides Foundation] shares with you this edition’s poster. You can download it, colour it in and send it back to us at info@nimac.org.cy to share.
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With the theme Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion, Inter- national Museum Day 2020 aims at becoming a rallying point to both celebrate the diversity of perspectives that make up the communities and personnel of museums, and champion tools for identifying and overcoming bias in what they dis- play and the stories they tell.
The potential of museums to create meaningful experiences for peoples of all origins and backgrounds is central to their social value. As agents of change and trusted institutions, there is no time like the present for museums to demonstrate their relevance by engaging constructively in the political, social, and cultural realities of modern society.
The challenges of inclusion and diversity and the difficulty of navigating complex social issues in increasingly polarised environments, while not unique to museums and cultural institutions, are important ones, due the high regard in which museums are held by society.
An increasing public expectation for social change has catalysed a conversation around museums’ potential for social good in the form of exhibitions, conferences, performances, education programmes, and initiatives created. However, there re- mains much to do to overcome conscious and subconscious power dynamics that can create disparities within museums, and between museums and their visitors.
These disparities can relate to many topics, including ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and identity, socioeconomic background, education level, physical ability, political affiliation and religious beliefs.