International Museum Day 2026
This year’s International Museum Day poster reflects the theme Museums Uniting a Divided World, capturing the idea of connection, dialogue, and shared understanding across differences.
Every year on 18 May, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) marks International Museum Day — a global event highlighting the transformative role of museums in society.
This year's theme, Museums for a United World, focuses on three commitments:
- Museums contribute to reducing inequalities by promoting inclusive access to culture and knowledge.
- Museums support peaceful and inclusive societies by encouraging dialogue, mutual understanding, and respect.
- Through partnerships and collaboration, museums strengthen global cooperation for sustainable development.
At the Australian War Memorial, our newly opened Conflict in the Middle East from 1990 gallery in Anzac Hall speaks directly to these ideals.
Within the gallery, the Reflections section explores the complex and often unresolved legacy of these conflicts. This is a space that gives voice to those who lived them. Australian veterans, their families, and members of affected communities share stories of courage, uncertainty, trauma, and resilience — told through personal objects, photographs, and their own words. Each object was chosen by the story sharer to represent something of their life after conflict.
One of those stories belongs to Bashar Hanna. As a child, he kept his wishes inside a small Aladdin lamp — wishes for the war to end, and to be somewhere far from it.