Museums world-wide have been asked to participate in a solidarity campaign in response to the closure of the National Museum in Bosnia-Herzegovina.  The museum, which is 124 years old, has been closed down due to the Government’s inability to secure legal status and adequate funding.

Six other state-level institutions, including the National Art Gallery and the National and University Library are also about to become permanently inaccessible.

An international initiative, CULTURESHUTDOWN, connecting scholars, artists and cultural producers has been formed in response to this crisis.  It has encouraged museums to symbolically ‘erase’ one  precious artwork or artifact, rendering it inaccessible for the Day of Museum Solidarity.  The collected pictures of Museum Solidarity across the world will be posted on the campaign website on Monday March 4, the scheduled Day of Museum Solidarity.

For further information see CULTURESHUTDOWN.

Examples of the response of museums in Australia and New Zealand can be seen at International Day of Solidarity: Bosnia-Herzegovina cultural institutions close and Cultureshutdown at the Immigration Museum.