Museums Uniting a Divided World: Celebrating International Museum Day 2026
Each year, International Museum Day brings the global museum community together to reflect, connect and celebrate. This year’s theme: Museums Uniting a Divided World, couldn’t feel more timely. Here’s how some of our CAMD members are marking the occasion.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following content contains images and names of people who are deceased.
Museums of History NSW: Unearthing Careers
To mark both International Museum Day and National Archaeology Week, Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) is giving students a rare behind-the-scenes look at careers in the GLAM sector galleries, libraries, archives and museums.
On Monday 18 May (6pm–8pm) at the Museum of Sydney, staff from across MHNSW will share their stories and offer advice for those looking to forge a path in museums and archives. The panel will be moderated by Dr Karin Sowada, Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University’s School of Humanities.
The evening wraps up with refreshments, after-hours access to the Unearthed exhibition, and the chance to chat with speakers one-on-one. The event will also be live streamed for those unable to attend in person. Free, but registration is required.
https://mhnsw.au/whats-on/events/unearthing-careers-in-museums-and-archives/
South Australian Museum: Warlpiri Elder Darby Jampitjinpa Ross
South Australian Museum is taking IMD as an opportunity to honour Warlpiri Elder Darby Jampitjinpa Ross.
Warlpiri Elder Darby Jampitjinpa Ross worked at the South Australian Museum for decades from the 1960s through to the 1980s, quietly and powerfully helping to lead the development of the Museum’s repatriation programs, returning secret and sacred items to Aboriginal communities at a time when few institutions were doing so.
Darby, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 100, later became a distinguished artist working with the Warlukurlangu Arts Centre in Yuendumu. Several of his painted shields and canvases remain in the Museum’s collection, and he was instrumental in the development of the beloved Yuendumu Doors collection.
Read full story here: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following content contains images and names of people who are deceased. https://whatson.samuseum.sa.gov.au/news/celebrating-darbys-legacy-international-museum-day
Chau Chak Wing Museum: Museums as Agents of Change
The Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney is marking IMD with a thought-provoking public talk led by arts manager Prof. Dr Gesa Birnkraut from the University of Applied Sciences, Osnabrück. Drawing on international case studies, Gesa will explore how European museums are responding to growing calls to function as trusted democratic spaces, building bridges across differences and engaging communities in meaningful ways. The talk will also reflect on what Australian cultural institutions might learn from these approaches, opening a conversation about priorities and possible directions for the sector Presented in conjunction with the Museums and Heritage Studies Program, University of Sydney. More information.
Queensland Museum Announces the 2026 Medal Recipients
Queensland Museum is marking International Museum Day in a very special way: announcing the recipients of the 2026 Queensland Museum Medal.
Since its establishment in 1987, the Medal has recognised individuals who have made a major contribution to the Museum’s research, collections, community projects, partnerships and engagement. Past recipients have included champions of industry, life-long public servants, published historians, notable scientists, community leaders and prominent nature conservationists.
This year’s recipients continue that proud legacy. Stay tuned for the full announcement via their Facebook and Instagram channels.
Museums Victoria: A Place of Belonging
At Museums Victoria, International Museum Day is being celebrated at the Immigration Museum: a place that has been at the heart of Melbourne’s multicultural story for more than 27 years.
“The Immigration Museum is an integral multicultural community institution,” says CEO and Director Lynley Crosswell. “It is where we share the powerful stories of our vibrant multicultural heritage and history that reflects our rich diversity. For so many Victorians, it is a place of belonging that is central to our sense of community.”
Through exhibitions like Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours, which invites visitors to explore how cultural beliefs, languages and heritage shape our perceptions and My Working Life: Stories from the Collection, the Museum offers spaces where stories are told, assumptions are challenged and diversity is celebrated.
As Director of Global Engagement Nick Marchand puts it: “Victoria is one of the most culturally diverse places on earth and the Immigration Museum has been at the heart of that story for more than 27 years. On International Museum Day, we are proud to stand alongside museums around the world in uniting people through shared stories, shared heritage and shared humanity.”
Questacon: Science, People and a Little Dancing
Questacon will be celebrating the people and places that make Questacon what it is. Expect a peek behind the scenes at the team driving the visitor experience, all set to Weird Science by Oingo Boingo. It’s a joyful, energetic snapshot of the creativity and passion that powers one of Australia’s most beloved science centres.
MOTAT: Unity in Everyday Moments
Across the Tasman, the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland is celebrating IMD by focusing on the simple, powerful moments that bring people together.
As MOTAT’s Director of Museum Experience, Liz Cotton shared on The Girl Museum podcast, that unity often looks like “a grandparent and grandchild discovering something together, or a volunteer sharing hard-won know-how with a young visitor who’s full of questions.”
More than places of preservation, museums are spaces for connection where stories are shared, perspectives are explored and differences are respected.
MOTAT upholds these principles alongside the UN Sustainable Development Goals by providing platforms for multiple perspectives and world views, sharing narratives through the agency of collections including the meanings and connections collections create between people.
Happy International Museum Day.