March 13 was #WhyILoveMuseums Day, a social media movement started by Mar Dixon, a consultant who has led monthly hashtags for the cultural field from her @CultureThemes platform for almost a decade.
Mar tells us that she founded CultureThemes to spread positivity in the field at a time when funding cuts were widespread around the world. She asked people to share why they love museums because “Sometimes we need to hear why people love museums but more importantly sometimes we just need to ask them…something museums often forget or [are] too shy to do.”
For everyone caught up in the daily grind of collecting, conserving, and interpreting objects—and running the facilities that allow people to see them—it’s good to take a step back and remember why you do it. These responses remind us of the delights, inspirations, and insights that museums make possible.
Some people celebrated the impact museums have on their youngest visitors:
#WhyILoveMuseums Because museums help young people develop new skills and learn outside the classroom. They can boost young people’s wellbeing – and even inspire a lifelong love of heritage.
Skip over related stories to continue reading articleWe want every child and young person to be part of the opportunities a museum offers. pic.twitter.com/h8QOp12lkw
— Kids in Museums (@kidsinmuseums) March 13, 2019
Happy #WhyILoveMuseums day! Museums are great experiential storytellers and they fill my kids with awe and wonder. pic.twitter.com/S4HUpuGXkG
— Kristy Kokegei (@KristyKokegei) March 13, 2019
#WhyILoveMuseums , because where else can I hang with this munchkin while checking out a 3000 year old bull/dude with a unibrow? pic.twitter.com/emWCuoZhrk
— Kris Vogt Veggeberg (@KrisVeeVee) March 13, 2019
when kids leave notes like this #WhyILoveMuseums pic.twitter.com/Ng2KUmMivk
— Amy Dbsn (@DbsnAmy) March 13, 2019
Dear (adorable) @PetrieMuseEgypt half term visitor, thank you for saying thank you. I hope your teacher gave you a great mark #whyIlovemuseums pic.twitter.com/F5XhTNl5Jg
— Dr Anna Garnett (@Beket_Aten) February 20, 2019
Others described the stirring encounters they have as visitors:
#WhyILoveMuseums You can escape to a quiet place and indulge as you wish. You can stand before greatness and feel like you’re the luckiest person in the world for that moment. pic.twitter.com/kWgVXbQMew
— Karin J (@KarinJurick) March 13, 2019
#WhyILoveMuseums because the feeling of walking around not knowing what you’ll find then seeing an object that stops you in your tracks or when you learn something completely random or interesting, makes my day!
— Sarah Cameron (@S_R_Cameron) March 13, 2019
Because there is no substitute for seeing something face to face. Being up close to living history, an extinct ancestor, the paint brush traces of an artist or a beautiful insect. Magical. #WhyILoveMuseums pic.twitter.com/2a08QblPWZ
— Deb Hepplestone (@DebHepplestone) March 13, 2019
Literal time machines and teleporters #WhyILoveMuseums pic.twitter.com/Iidlofk2kT
— THORNBACK (@AncientSub) March 13, 2019
For me, museums are like big, tangible books. They allow me to challenge, explore & gain a better insight into historical, social and cultural contexts from around the globe. Museums are a great form of self care for me #WhyILoveMuseums ?♥️
— Emily. Not Emma. (@EmMuseumMusings) March 13, 2019
Everything you can imagine is real. pic.twitter.com/JYwEdJYgHN
— Ilham Koubaa (@Unaniem) March 13, 2019
Some highlighted their ability to spur critical thinking:
#WhyILoveMuseums because #museums are about ideas, sometimes even difficult ideas about representation, equity, & identity – and the dialogue that blossoms around these ideas. Pic: Byron Kim, Glenn Ligon, Black & White, 1993, @americanart #ITweetMuseums pic.twitter.com/p6iEGcFqVb
— Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell (@KayleighBinDC) March 13, 2019
Museums are spaces for seeing ? and thinking ?
A good museum promotes choice. Choosing what to engage with. Having opinions on the history and presentation of objects. Deciding how to use the space. Questioning the information provided.
Happy #WhyILoveMuseums day! ?— Sophia Sample (@sophiasample) March 13, 2019
Because they help us training/shaping our critical thinking skills, because they have us raising questions, because they’re thought-provoking (or so they should always be): this is #WhyILoveMuseums; and you?
— Ilenia Atzori (@Il3ni4) March 13, 2019
Some admired the breadth of objects (and living species!) they contain:
#WhyILoveMuseums today!
For us it’s #cats. Cats throughout time and across the world. How bout you? pic.twitter.com/6W2InF6QLQ
— Art & History Museum Brussels (@ArtHistoryBRU) March 13, 2019
The fact that items like this – knitted wool with red staining still visible – survived over 400 years buried under the seabed, literally blows my mind ??#WhyILoveMuseums pic.twitter.com/N13EhIaCJd
— Eleanor Schofield (@E_Schofield) March 13, 2019
#WhyILoveMuseums because you can handle SPACE ROCK pic.twitter.com/4XOWim8eRO
— Beth (@BethKnitsx) March 13, 2019
#WhyILoveMuseums? Because I get to count critters like this guy as part of my work family. #Gus #naturalhistory #Museums LS pic.twitter.com/psXHkV7g89
— MNH Naturalists (@MNH_Naturalists) March 13, 2019
So #WhyILoveMuseums ? Because within them is the wealth of the planet. A repository of its heritage – both biological and cultural. One little specimen of a fly can tell you so much about that animal, its species, the habitat at the time, & us, as it’s collector ?? pic.twitter.com/4KvfzY13x4
— Dr Erica McAlister (@flygirlNHM) March 14, 2019
Today is #WhyILoveMuseums Day! I ❤️ museums because they hold, for everyone, the splendid, terrible and weird things that are part of our world.
— Dr Dominique Bouchard (@drbouchard) March 13, 2019
Others applauded the role they play in enabling research:
#WhyILoveMuseums They represent the culmination of our archaeological efforts to understand what we find. Museums take our dry dusty site reports and fragments of artefacts, and make them accessible to the public in an engaging way, preserving the past for everyone. pic.twitter.com/ZALK1DrqfC
— S. M. Porter (@SMPorterauthor) March 13, 2019
Natural History Museums are windows into our past, let us see the diversity of today, and help us predict our future on this amazingly beautiful planet all while permitting cutting edge research #WhyILoveMuseums
— Dr. Corrie Moreau (@CorrieMoreau) March 14, 2019
And some people saw the big picture for humanity:
We love museums because they keep alive a myriad of stories of human ingenuity and creativity, and they help us see the threads between past, present and future. #WhyILoveMuseums pic.twitter.com/4V7k5dhNLg
— Fire Hazard Games (@FireHazardGames) March 13, 2019
#Museums preserve our cultures and allow us to share them with the world. The fantastic work being done @SmithsonianNMAI @AmerIndianNYC #WhyILoveMuseums pic.twitter.com/t6tG2AJwa2
— Zachary Wnek (@ZacharyWnek) March 13, 2019
Museums are incredible repositories of millions of years of history, science, art, and culture. They help us better understand ourselves, our place in the world, and our connection to the cosmos. They’re the ultimate & best human examination of our own existence. #whyilovemuseums
— Dustin Growick (@DustinGrowick) March 13, 2019
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