TIRANA, May 22 – This year’s ICOM-International activity theme for museums around the world was “Hyperconnected museums: new approaches, new publics,” and was marked by a number of events around Albania’s cultural spots.
International Museum Day has been celebrated since May 18, 1977 and, since 1992, the counseling board of ICOM (International Council of Museums) has been deciding on a theme that celebrates this day by encouraging debate within societies on museum roles and issues.
This year’s topic focused on the role of museums and their function toward society as they transform into key spots that promote peaceful human relations.
Some of the cultural spots that hosted activities over the last week were the Butrint Museum and National Park, the Apolonia Archeological Museum and National Park, the Bylis Archeological Park, Shkodra’s Marubi National Photography Museum, the National History Museum in Tirana and traditionally cultural cities like Berat, Vlora, Durres and Kruja.
Hyper-connectivity is a term that was coined in 2001 to describe the multiple communication forms we use today, such as face to face communication, emails, instant messaging, phone and the internet.
This global communication network is becoming more complex, diverse and integrated by the day. In a modern world connected through myriad of forms, museums are also joining the universal tendency in relation to various forms of communication.
In this context, museum workers and representatives were given an opportunity to contact museum visitors and witness the challenges of modern museums in order to better their function and continue serving society’s development.
In Albania, activities included 3D representations of museum monuments, student training on appropriate museum behavior, literary activities and recitals, round tables concerning museum accessibility for people with special needs, as well as education though culture study hours which aimed to familiarize students with the country’s cultural inheritance.
The week’s last event, which took place in Korca’s National Education Museum, commemorated the 172 year birthday anniversary of Albania’s national poet Naim Frasheri through his documents, photos and publications.
As stated by the country’s ministry of culture, it’s “impossible to understand the role of museums without regard to all the connections they create. They are an integral part of their local communities, cultural landscapes and natural environment. Thanks to technology, museums can now reach beyond their traditional audience and can find new audiences by approaching their collections in different ways: digitizing them, adding multimedia elements in exhibits or something as simple as a hashtag that allows visitors to share their experiences in social media.”
