4 min readNew DelhiMay 19, 2022 10:09 AM IST
First published on: May 18, 2022 at 12:40 PM IST
In keeping with the belief that museums have the power to transform, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) announced May 18 as International Museum Day (IMD) in 1977. Its objective is to raise awareness about the fact that, “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”
Officially established with the adoption of a resolution during the ICOM General Assembly in Moscow in 1977, the idea of IMD goes back to 1951, when the ICOM gathered the international museum community for a meeting called Crusade for Museums, to discuss the theme “Museums and Education.”
How the world comes together on IMD
Museums across the world plan events and activities to celebrate International Museum Day. According to the ICOM website, last year, more than 37,000 museums participated in the event in about 158 countries. The participants can register and mention their programme on an interactive map on the official website of the ICOM. Every year, the ICOM also declares a theme and the participating museums are invited to create special activities in line with that. The theme chosen for 2020 was “Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion” and 2021 reflected on the pandemic, with the theme “The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine.”
The theme for 2022 is “The Power of Museums”, elucidating that “museums have the power to transform the world around us. As incomparable places of discovery, they teach us about our past and open our minds to new ideas — two essential steps in building a better future.”
The oldest museums in the world
In classical Latin “museum” meant a building “a place devoted to the Muses ( inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts), a place for the study of special arts and sciences,”
Termed by many historians as the first museum in the world, Ennigaldi-Nanna’s museum was built by a Babylonian princess in circa 530 BCE. However, at the time most of the ‘museums’ showcased private collections.
Some of the oldest public museums in the world opened in Italy during the Renaissance, and it is believed that the Capitoline Museums in Rome have the oldest public collection of art. It opened in 1471 when Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of ancient sculptures to the people of Rome. The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani), the second oldest museum in the world, traces its origins to 1506, when Pope Julius II displayed a sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons for the public at the Vatican. Since then, the Vatican Museums have grown and now boast over 70,000 works of art, of which 20,000 are on display for the public.
Founded in 1814, the Indian Museum in Kolkata, also known as the Imperial Museum, is the oldest museum in India. Its collection boasts of a wide range, from armor and antiques to ornaments, skeleton, fossils and miniature paintings.
Some of the weirdest museums
Not all museums have masterpieces of art and some also attract attention for their bizarre theme. If Turkey’s Avanos Hair Museum has the world’s largest collection of hair gathered from more than 16,000 women, The Dog Collar Museum in England documents canine attire and accessories from medieval times. A trained anthropologist, Andrea Ludden’s collection of more than 22,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers finds place at the The Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers in Gatlinburg, USA.
While the TOTO museum in Fukuoka, Japan, has on display toilets and tableware made by the company, Delhi’s Sulabh International Museum of Toilets is dedicated to the global history of sanitation and toilets. Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts, US, meanwhile, only accepts art that is too bad to ignore.
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Founded in 1814, the Indian Museum in Kolkata, also known as the Imperial Museum, is the oldest museum in India. (Express Photo: Partha Paul) 
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