International Museum Day 2014

Santa Marta Museum, Cascais | Image via Flavio Filho

The Intenational Museum Day is celebrated in the 18th of May since 1977, as proposed by the International Museum Council. This year, such as previous editions, various museums open their doors to this initiative. 

All museums will grant free entry along with other initiatives with the objective of gaining a higher number of visitors to the different instalations.

For some places, the closing time is delayed up until the night, as proposed by the French Culture Department in 2005, originating the International Museum Night aswell. 

Saturday night, in the 17th, various museums will be open to the public with the objective of atracting a younger audience in the european continent.
All European Council countries' museums will be invited to participate in this anual event. 

The great number of visitors and the coverage by the media reflect the interest of museum professionals and the audience in general for this initiative which helps create bonds and partnerships between the museums themselves to collaborate further.

Electricity Museum, Lisbon | Image via Wikipédia

This day's biggest initiative is it's anual theme. 2014's theme is "Objects create connections."
This theme accentuates the power that objects have as physical manifestations of man's history and as connection nexus for communities through collective memories. And, as a paralel to this theme, many traditional participation methods have been revamped in these spaces, increasing participants' interest in the collections.

Make most of your local museums!

Activities in this week might last hours, a day or even several days. Memories shall be made, shared and celebrated with visits, theater, street performances, concerts, dance and workshops. Thus making the European Museum Network an active medium for initiatives of cultural exchange, enrichment and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peache among people!

Story House, Cascais | Image via Tura

For those near Cascais, the activities start at 3pm with a visit to the Museum of Santa Marta with a workshop included! At the same time there will also be a musical for kids in the Moinho de Armação in Alcabideche for the play "The Princess and the Pea".

Right afterwards in the Library-Museum of Condes de Castro Guimarães, there is a guided tour of the exibition "Cascais. Quotidiano e Paisagens nos séculos XIX - XX". At 4pm, in the Portuguese Music Museum there will be a concert by the Lopes-Graça choir.

Click here for a more detailed plan of the activities in Cascais!

Serralves Museum, Oporto | Image via About Portugal

For whom is staying at the great city of Oporto, activities start way before the Museum Night. Right around the morning there will be a tours of several museums, a fair in the National Print Museum.

Check out night activities like the tour of the Transportation and Comunications Museum, the Futebol Clube do Porto Museum, a violin and piano concert at the National Soares dos Reis museum and so many other that we can't list properly!

Click here for a more detailed plan about activities in Oporto!

Saint Jorge Castle, Lisbon | Image via Wikipédia

Portugal's Capital itself doesn't fall behind with it's initiatives! Check out Lisbon's celebrations at the Saint Jorge Castle saturday night with parties, opera, dance shows, weapon exibitions and other activities through out the night!

Or prepare yourselves for the fourth edition of the Flower Party at the Tapada da Ajuda across all of the weekend. Other events might be found at the City Museum, the National Theater Museum and the Electicity Museum, such as several others! 

For a more detailed plan of Lisbon's activities, click here!