The International Council of Museums is forging ahead with plans to raise the profile of equality, diversity and inclusion within the sector despite what its president labelled “the most exceptional circumstances since its establishment”.
To help promote the theme of International Museum Day 2020, ‘Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion’, ICOM has teamed up with Routledge History and Museum Education Roundtable to make 15 pertinent articles free to access until 30th June.
Describing this year’s International Museum Day as “being marked in the most exceptional circumstances since its establishment” in 1977, ICOM president Suay Aksoy is keen for the sector to continue efforts to deliver “equal opportunity, representation and access for all”.
The poster for #IMD2020 aims at representing #Museums4Equality through figures that are both similar and diverse ☯️ We've collected 35 different translations 🌐 Can you spot yours? pic.twitter.com/1SbaOc85ox
— International Council of Museums (ICOM) (@IcomOfficiel) May 18, 2020
Acknowledging that “it seems like a strange time to celebrate, as thousands of museums remain closed and the uncertainty of what will happen in the coming months overwhelms our thoughts,” Aksoy asserts that it is “precisely now that we need to spread the message of the International Museum Day”.
She adds that through this year’s event ICOM hopes to “celebrate the manifold perspectives that make up museums, their communities and people, and to champion tools for identifying and overcoming bias in what they display and the stories they tell”.
“We must keep moving forward while nurturing the spirit of solidarity, resilience and innovation we have found,” Aksoy concludes. “Each one of us has an important role to play in reimagining and building a future based on equality, diversity and inclusion.”
Links to the articles made free-to-read until 30th June are available here.
