On 18 May 2021, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska (MSURS) celebrated International Museum Day (IMD). This was an opportunity to mark 130 years since the construction of the old Austro-Hungarian railway station in Banja Luka, which is home to the MSURS.
This year’s celebration of IMD was an opportunity to stage the museum day at the same time as the European Night of Museums, an event in the City of Banja Luka calendar of cultural dates marked annually by the MSURS. The circumstances surrounding COVID-19 forced museums around the world to combine the European Museum Night with IMD, simultaneously celebrating them by having a host of events in the week of 18 May, or the International Museum Day.
The MSURS marked IMD on 18 May by celebrating the 130th anniversary of the construction of the old Austro-Hungarian railway station in Banja Luka, its home for many years, with a lecture titled “130 years of the building of the old Austro-Hungarian railway station”. The lecture was given by Prof. Miroslav Malinović, PhD, following a recital performed by the trumpet quartet of the Banja Luka Academy of Arts.
On 20 May, also in the week of the International Museum Day, the MSURS hosted the children’s special #MuseumAtNightChallenge. On the occasion, members of the DEA NIKA Children’s Acting Studio took visitors on a dramatic tour of the exhibition “From Gallery to Museum”.
About International Museum Day
IMD was first celebrated forty years ago, in 1971. Every year, more and more museums around the world choose to mark this special day. A new theme is chosen annualy by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), under the aegis of the Council of Europe and the UNESCO. For 2021, the theme selected is “The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine”, meant to herald changes in the work of present-day museums and create space to reimagine and contribute new ideas and solutions in the so-called new reality created by the pandemic. This approach opens up possibilities for museums to reinvent their frameworks and programmes to respond to the current situation.
International #MuseumAtNightChallenge
#MuseumAtNightChallenge is a novel international museum Internet platform launched by a number of European museums on the initiative of Belgium’s adventure and social science park Le Pass. The idea behind it is so exciting that it was quickly embraced around Europe. Le Pass proposed sharing with the audience and followers on social networks (Instagram, Facebook) short video clips and photographs showing real or imaginary stories of what happens at museums at night. Each of the museums taking part in this event has been “challenged” by a European museum it previously collaborated with. The initiative seeks to support the work of museums and keep lines of communication with the public open in a previously unseen, exciting way, as the doors of museums worldwide stay closed, or museums continue to receive limited numbers of visitors because of the pandemic-induced health crises.
The MSURS celebrated IMD thanks to the support of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Srpska and the City of Banja Luka. The event was sponsored by m:tel, which showed again in 2021, when the MSURS is celebrating its great anniversary, the importance of having connections between cutting-edge technology and contemporary art.