International Museum Day 2025 Campaign Achieves Global Success

This year's edition of the global initiative by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Museum Day (IMD), has achieved remarkable participation worldwide, demonstrating the importance of museums as dynamic cultural hubs that foster community engagement, global dialogue, and sustainable development.

In an era of profound social, technological, and environmental shifts, museums are evolving to meet the challenges of today while shaping the possibilities of tomorrow. This is reflected in this year’s IMD theme "The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities" that celebrates the transformative power of museums. Museums worldwide have arranged special activities related to the theme to engage with local communities and highlight the role of museums as institutions that serve society and its development, in line with a set of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This year is marked by: Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and Goal 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Speaking about International Museum Day 2025, ICOM President Emma Nardi says: "ICOM established International Museum Day in 1977 to increase public awareness of museums in the development of society, and it has been gaining global momentum ever since. In this view, the museum is no longer just a place for specialists, but an element of communication and progress for all citizens. Museums exhibit collections, but also establish a dialogue on sustainable development, preserve tradition, and open new debates regarding diversity and decolonisation."

So far, the IMD 2025 celebration has generated a media reach of 125 million, including 67 million social media interactions (according to Brand24), with museums and museum professionals worldwide communicating their initiatives to local and global audiences.

Every year, ICOM launches an innovative Interactive Map allowing museums worldwide to showcase their IMD-related activities. The platform connects participating institutions and creates a global visualisation of museum celebrations. Over 1700 events from over 90 countries have successfully been featured in 2025. This year's IMD poster was designed by The Love Triangle, an interdisciplinary design collective creating emotionally engaging narratives that spark conversational and inspire action. With its open-ended concept of ‘the future as fluid’, it resonated within the museum community and sparked creativity worldwide. The poster was translated into 64 languages and continues the IMD tradition where ICOM committees, museums and cultural institutions are invited to submit their poster translations in both national and indigenous languages, in recognition of the diverse linguistic heritage of participating communities.

This year’s IMD theme aligns with the upcoming ICOM General Conference, set to take place in Dubai, November 2025. This global gathering will further explore how museums can adapt, evolve, and lead in times of change, with a focus on the intangible heritage, youth power, and new technologies. Learn more about the theme, programme, and early-bird registration for ICOM Dubai 2025 at https://dubai2025.icom.museum/.

Visit the dedicated International Museum Day 2025 pages via icom.museum for more information on IMD 2025.