Exploring the importance of International Museum Day in South Africa

“People are specifically encouraged to visit museums with their families and get acquainted with the glorious history, culture, and sacrifices of the great freedom fighters of our country.” It is a symbolic gesture that International Museum Day in KwaZulu-Natal is celebrated at the historic site where the father of South Africa’s freedom — the globally revered Nelson Mandela — was captured and arrested by apartheid police.

INTERNATIONAL Museum Day, established by the International Council of Museums (Icom) in 1977, is celebrated annually on May 18. Icom selects a different theme each year, including topics such as globalisation, indigenous peoples, bridging cultural gaps, and caring for the environment.

The day was created to raise awareness of the importance of museums in developing societies, as the living memory of people, and to provide museum professionals with an opportunity to engage with the public and highlight the challenges facing these institutions. As defined by Icom, museums are “institutions in the service of society and its development”.

Since 1977, International Museum Day has been organised worldwide and held every year on or around May 18, coordinated by Icom. The date was designated by Unesco as the International Day of Museums to emphasise the vital role museums play in preserving beauty, culture, and history.

Museums come in all sizes and are often associated with institutions of learning and libraries. Increasingly, churches and centres of worship have taken on the character of museums, as people visit them for their artistic value even if they do not share the faith of those who built them. Therefore, International Museum Day is an opportunity to support museum education and make everyone aware of the importance of museums.

The theme for the 2025 International Museum Day is “The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities.” This theme highlights how museums must adapt and thrive in a world marked by rapid social, technological, and cultural shifts. It encourages museums to consider how they can remain resilient and relevant in the face of these changes.

According to Unesco, museums are centres for the preservation, study, and reflection on heritage and culture. They can no longer remain detached from the pressing issues of our time. The definition of museums has evolved over the past two centuries. Abigail Galvan, a museum expert, describes the museum as “one of the graces that gives us hope for a brighter future”.

Equally, Dr Cynthia Finlayson, a specialist in museum studies at Brigham Young University, believes that a museum can save cultural heritage. She points out: “Identity is memory. Memory is identity. Without a shared identity, culture disappears. A museum enhances, stores, validates, preserves, and saves identity.”

Today, museums have become permanent, non-profit institutions that serve and develop society. They are open to the public and may possess and preserve material evidence of the population and their environment, conduct research, and display findings for purposes of education, research, and entertainment.

Collections of objects can be found in most cultures, having long been associated with the tastes of European monarchies. This reflects a relationship to the past that places great value on tangible monuments left by our ancestors and aims to protect them as essential elements of human society.

Alongside archaeological heritage, this group constitutes what is internationally known as World Heritage. The heritage preserved in museums serves as a tool for dialogue between nations and a shared international vision aimed at achieving cultural development. It is important to note that this development varies greatly depending on historical and cultural contexts.

The primary goal of museums is to preserve and protect heritage in its entirety. They carry out scientific studies to understand and determine the meaning and ownership of this heritage. In this regard, museums help foster a global ethic based on practice, aimed at preserving, protecting, and disseminating cultural heritage values.

Museums are powerful agents of intellectual growth and cultural understanding. They belong to the common heritage of humanity and thus require special protection during times of armed conflict. A museum is more than just a building; it preserves the cultural heritage of an entire community and represents an integral, though often overlooked, part of any society’s history. Using collections of historic documents and objects, a museum tells the story of a particular community.

There are many ways a museum can go beyond being a repository of historical identity. It can preserve poetry, language, and costumes. It can act as a communal memory device. A museum can become a form of positive resistance. It can help people cope with daily stress and nourish both body and soul. It can affirm a person’s value within society.

Conserving cultural heritage is always a complex task. Weak institutional capacity, lack of appropriate resources, and the isolation of culturally significant sites are compounded by a lack of awareness about the importance of cultural heritage conservation. However, the dynamism of local initiatives and strong community solidarity systems are impressive assets.

These forces should be empowered to preserve and protect heritage. Involving communities in cultural heritage conservation increases efficiency and raises awareness of the relevance of the past in the face of rapid change. Understanding a people’s past helps current generations build a sustainable sense of identity and appreciate the value of their own culture. This knowledge enriches lives and equips people to better handle contemporary challenges.

As any change can be unsettling, especially when poorly managed, it is important to retain the best of traditional self-reliance and rural life skills as people adapt to new realities. Conventional systems of knowledge are rarely written down — they are implicit, passed on through practice and example, and seldom codified or articulated. They endure only as long as they remain useful and are not replaced by new techniques. They are easily lost. Thus, the objects created through these systems of knowledge become critically important.

Against this backdrop, museums must become key institutions at the local level. They should function as spaces for learning. The objects that bear witness to systems of knowledge must be accessible to visitors who wish to learn from them. Culture must be viewed in its entirety — how people live, use, preserve, and enjoy their environment for a better life. Museums allow objects to speak, to testify to past experiences and future possibilities, and thus encourage reflection on how things are and how they might otherwise be.

The celebration of International Museum Day also offers people around the world the chance to learn about their history and culture through museums. This is true because the cultures, histories, and precious memories of ancestors are often safeguarded in these institutions. People are encouraged to visit museums with their families and learn about the glorious history, culture, and sacrifices of great freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela.

In addition, museums explore both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of various tribal communities, displaying important artefacts, handicrafts, sculptures, and histories from different eras to showcase the skills and traditions of South African tribes. Museums like the one near the Nelson Mandela capture site attract tourists due to their unique locations. Moreover, museums are key contributors to the well-being and sustainable development of communities.

Regarding the educational mission undertaken by museums of all kinds, their scientific work is equally significant. The role of museums is also reflected in the interaction between culture and nature, with increasing numbers focusing on science, natural sciences, and technology.

Museums foster societal development by preserving evidence of the past and valuing cultural aspirations. Community museums, through their deep engagement with audiences, closely follow social and cultural changes and help define our evolving identities and diversity in a constantly changing world.

Our rich heritage — displayed and protected by museums — is linked to inventiveness and vitality, both of which have characterised the museum sector in recent years and represent its greatest strengths. Icom general director Julien Anfruns adds: “Reconciling their traditional mission of preservation with the cultivation of creativity necessary for renewal and visitor growth is the evolution that museums are striving for, with the firm conviction that their presence and actions can positively transform society.”

Museums help build bridges between nations, ethnic groups, and communities through shared values such as beauty and harmony. Indeed, museums can help us navigate and understand the complex and disputed histories we all inherit. They can peacefully address traumatic histories through mediation and diverse perspectives. Museums also connect generations, linking the past, present, and future.

Therefore, on this International Museum Day, let us reflect together on how we might advance the impact of beauty upon the world.

* Dr Vusi Shongwe works in the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture in KwaZulu-Natal and writes in his personal capacity.

** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media or IOL.