Spain once again celebrates International Museum Day

The state museums of the Ministry of Culture join the celebration of International Museum Day and the European Night of Museums on Saturday, under the motto ‘Museums for education and research’.

On the occasion of this anniversary, created in 1977 by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), on Saturday, May 18, entry to the 16 state museums of the Ministry of Culture will be free.

In addition, International Museum Day is a good occasion to visit the newly opened temporary exhibitions in state museums. Among them are ‘Convivium: archaeology of the Mediterranean diet’, in the National Archaeological Museum, or ‘Chupas y parkas. Rockers and mods since Brighton 1964’, at the National Museum of Anthropology, both in Madrid; or ‘Travel to paint. Sorolla and the painted sculpture’, in the National Museum of Sculpture, in Valladolid.

European Night of Museums: night activities

Also on May 18, on the occasion of the 20th European Night of Museums, eleven of the state museums will open their doors free of charge during extraordinary hours at night.

The activities are distributed throughout different parts of the territory. The National Museum of Underwater Archaeology. ARQVA, in Cartagena, will organise a collaborative mural to collect the footprint of the entire visiting public that night. In Valladolid, the National Museum of Sculpture will offer small nightly jazz, swing and gypsy concerts, led by Manusser. In Santillana del Mar, the National Museum and Research Centre of Altamira will offer the already traditional activity ‘Altamira with its original light’ to the public who have already reserved their ticket.

In Mérida, the National Museum of Roman Art will present historical recreations that will allow you to understand in depth different aspects of Ancient Rome and its inhabitants. And in Valencia, the National Museum of Ceramics and Sumptuary Arts ‘González Martí’ will offer theatrical night visits.

In Madrid, the National Museum of Anthropology, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, the Cerralbo Museum, the Sorolla Museum, and the Costume Museum; in Valladolid, the Casa Cervantes Museum; and in Toledo, the Sephardic Museum and the El Greco Museum will allow you to visit their exhibitions at night, in addition to offering different surprises to the visiting public.

Virtual tours

Furthermore, for those people who cannot go to museums, the Ministry of Culture has just launched new virtual tours for the 16 museums in the State Museums network. More than 46,000 high-resolution photographs make up these tours that allow users to navigate the museums’ rooms and collections through 360º panoramic views, and delve into the details of more than 200 digitised works, through commented videos, scientific articles, sound documents, and information about their historical context, related figures or anecdotes that will reveal their most unknown secrets.