Traditionally, the International Museum Day is celebrated around May 18. The celebration can last a day, a weekend, or a week. The objective is to gather at the museum around the motto "The museum, an important medium for cultural exchanges, the enrichment of cultures, the advancement of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples".

Since 1977, ICOM organizes the International Museum Day (IMD) every year, a unique occasion for the international museum community. On that day, the museums participating in the IMD present an issue that concerns cultural institutions. The International Museum Day also represents a great opportunity for museum professionals to

get to know their public and emphasize the importance of the role of museums. Museums are institutions at the service of society and its development and therefore have a role to

play in it.

The IMD brings together more and more museums around the world. In 2012, 32,000 museums participated in the event in 129 countries across the 5 continents. The ICOM Advisory Committee proposes a theme each year that museums can use to

enhance their position in society.

The theme proposed for the year is Museums (memory + creativity) = social progress.

Our rich heritage, which is displayed and protected by museums, is associated with ingenuity and vitality, two characteristics that in recent years have characterized the museum sector and

are the main strengths of museums. Museums strive to achieve a reconciliation of their traditional mission of preserving memory with the cultivation of creativity,

necessary for their renewal and to increase the number of visits, and they have the firm conviction that their presence and their actions can change society in a constructive way.

Decidedly optimistic, this motto in the form of an equation dynamically combines different and essential concepts that define what a museum is today, insisting on its

universal nature and the positive influence they exert on society. It also summarizes the bifurcation that museums are experiencing and reiterates their mission to contribute to the development and unity of the community.