#MuseumWeek comes to the UK
Friday, 6 March 2015
Museums across the UK are being encouraged to sign up for the second annual Twitter Museum Week, an online celebration of museums and galleries around the world.
Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo (@DickC) launched the initiative this week at a press conference in Paris with French culture minister Fleur Pellerin (@fleurpellerin). The event will take place from 23 to 29 March 2015. Any museum, gallery or collection, no matter how large or small, can take part, and it’s free.
More than 1000 museums have already signed up for the week-long celebration — more than 200 of which are from the UK, the highest number of any country in the world. Here’s the full list of participating organisations.
1000 museums and cultural institutions in 44 countries have already registered
Already confirmed are some of the country’s biggest institutions like the British Museum (@britishmuseum) and the Imperial War Museums (@I_W_M). Others across the UK like Eureka! The National Children’s Museum (@eurekamuseum) in Halifax will be taking part, alongside smaller or more specialised collections such as the British Postal Museum & Archive (@postalheritage) and the Museum of East Anglian Life (@MuseumEALife).
Last year’s #MuseumWeek was a massive hit across the UK and beyond with more than 630 organisations in 20 countries joining in. Museums and their followers sent more than 260,000 Tweets in an online celebration of all things cultural and artistic.
Seven days, seven themes
Participating organisations will include the hashtag #MuseumWeek in their Tweets for the week, meaning users can follow along on Twitter.
Every day there will also be a different theme including for museums and museum fans to Tweet along with. These are as follows:
Mar Dixon, an expert in social media and museums and host of the @CultureThemes project, said: “Last year’s #MuseumWeek was a huge hit and this year is already proving to be just as popular. I’m really excited to see the event extend from the UK and Europe to all over the world.
“Twitter gives museums and galleries a unique way to to share their collections and expertise with audiences around the world, in an instant. And with new funding challenges every day, it’s more important than ever that museums and galleries embrace digital and join in with initiatives like #MuseumWeek.”
Time capsule
When it’s over, Tweets about this year’s #MuseumWeek will be captured in a time capsule that will be displayed in museums across Europe and elsewhere. It will not be opened until 2035:
A digital work of art
In collaboration with the artist Marcin Ignac, the BRIGHT studio will produce a digital work of art based Tweets published using the #MuseumWeek hashtag. Available to see on MuseumWeek2015.org, the installation will also be shown in Paris at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, and displayed on digital touch screens across the city. It will also be available for UK museums to display, completely free.
Webinar
On Tuesday March 10 we’ll be hosting a webinar to share more details about #MuseumWeek 2015. There will be two identical sessions back to back, giving museums the chance to ask any questions. There is no need to register; simply follow these links on the day and enter a username/email address to join the session:
Session 1: 2-3pm GMT – bluejeans.com/964368628
Session 2: 3-4pm GMT – bluejeans.com/298886704
To keep up to date with all the developments ahead of March 23, follow @MuseumWeek and @CultureThemes on Twitter, and Tweet with the hashtag #MuseumWeek. Full information can be found at museumweek2015.org/en.
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