Museums are reimagining their role, on International Museum Day, let’s discover how they’re transforming, says SAKSHI PRIYA
In a world spinning ever faster on the axis of change social upheaval, climate shifts, digital revolutions, what anchors us to who we are? What helps us make sense of where we come from and where we might be heading? Today, on May 18th, as we mark International Museum Day 2025, we are urged to turn our gaze towards these quiet yet powerful institutions that have long stood as stewards of memory and culture. But now, more than ever, we must ask, are museums ready for the future?
This year’s theme, The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities, resonates far beyond curators and academics. In cities swelling with migrants, in rural towns bracing against modernity and in communities redefining identities post-pandemic, how do museums remain relevant? More importantly, how can they lead the way? Gone are the days when museums were grand halls filled with artefacts and whispering tourists. Today’s museums are becoming dynamic spaces of dialogue and participation. From immersive exhibitions powered by artificial intelligence to community, led storytelling projects that reclaim silenced voices, the transformation is underway. But is it enough?
At the heart of this evolution lies a central question: who is the museum for? The answer, increasingly, is everyone. From a grandmother tracing ancestral histories to a teenager experiencing augmented reality displays, the museum of tomorrow must speak in many voices and adapt to many lenses. They must welcome the curious wanderer, the student with questions, and the elders with stories. The 27th ICOM General Conference in Dubai aligns with this theme, providing a global platform to discuss how museums can safeguard intangible heritage, amplify youth engagement, and innovate technologically. But this conversation cannot remain within high-level panels. It must flow into classrooms, homes, and public squares. When a community feels that a museum reflects them, their pain, joy and resilience, that is when real transformation begins. Across India, museums are already rewriting their roles.
The Partition Museum in Amritsar channels collective memory into empathy. The Indian Music Experience Museum in Bengaluru uses soundscapes to connect generations. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai is pushing the boundaries of heritage and arts education. The Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad brings the world’s cultures under one roof with its extensive collection. Have you visited these places? Have you explored the stories they hold? Museums are not about passive observation, they are educational spaces where you can engage with the past, present, and future. Imagine stepping into a room at the Indian Museum in Kolkata, home to more than 200,000 artefacts, from rare manuscripts to ancient sculptures. Or in the Odisha State Tribal Museum, you can explore rich tribal history and craftsmanship. Interested in cars, trains, planes and everything that moves? The Heritage Transport Museum in Gurugram offers a fascinating look at India’s transport history. With over 3,500 exhibits, it traces the journey from bullock carts to vintage cars, steam engines to aircraft, capturing how transport shaped India’s economy, society, and everyday life across generations. Every visit brings new learnings and perspectives. Are you ready to see what is waiting for you there? But are these efforts enough to keep pace with the rapid churn of our communities? Can museums truly keep up with the speed of societal change, of displacement, digital addiction and identity crises? Or will they, like so many other institutions, risk becoming relics themselves?
Take, for example, the Conflictorium in Ahmedabad, where museum-goers not only experience but participate in the stories of conflict and reconciliation. Or the Museo Camera in Gurugram, where visitors dive into the art of photography through hands-on interaction with rare equipment. The future of museums is interactive, dynamic, and inclusive. Shouldn’t you explore them and see what’s unfolding? Perhaps the most urgent call today is to let young people into these spaces, not as visitors, but as creators. What stories do they want to tell? What histories matter to them? Let us imagine a world where museums are not buildings but breathing organisms that evolve with us.
The Louvre Museum in Paris continues to reinvent its offerings through virtual tours. Similarly, the Tate Modern in London has used cutting-edge technology to engage a global audience the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, which has transformed an old silo into a space for African art, where emerging artists find the freedom to explore
