Message from Mayor of Victoria and head of culture, David Andre, on the International Museum Day 2021 |18 May 2021

Mr Andre

‘The future of museums: recovering and re-imagining’

“On this International Museum Day, Seychelles stands with the rest of the world to reflect on the importance of museums in our society. The value of museums to society has always been acknowledged in respect of their role in preserving society's cultural and natural heritage. As we celebrate this significant day we recognise this dedicated group of museum and cultural workers, who give their best even at the brunt of various challenges to keep the country’s heritage alive.

“The international community has been celebrating International Museum Day on May 18 since 1978, at the suggestion of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).  The Seychelles has been part of this celebration since 1997 and has created its own National Chapter. Museums are among the most important centres of our culture, education and development, where our historical memory, evidence of events, facts, and, in general, our national identity are preserved and presented. May 18 is a good opportunity to emphasise the role of museums as centres for enhancing knowledge, recognition of real values, inspiration, creation and realisation of imaginary ideas.

“The theme ‘The future of museums: recovering and re-imagining’ seeks to challenge museums to create, imagine and share new practices for creating value, new business models for cultural institutions and innovative solutions to the current social, economic and environmental challenges, taking into account the current reality associated with the pandemic which greatly affected the cultural sector. This theme resonates with the department of culture and just recently we saw the opening of the first Museum Café – Lansiv – in the heart of Victoria to offer visitors and members of the public a new experience of Seychelles culinary heritage. For the second time museums in Seychelles are celebrating this day under the ‘new normal’ due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This year’s theme also encourages museums to continuously upgrade and embrace innovations as means of reachinf new audiences, such as the use of digitization to create new forms of cultural experience for visitors.

“Most importantly, May 18 is also considered a day for recognition for museum workers. Therefore, I warmly congratulate all the specialists in the field, who contribute to the preservation, development and dissemination of different museum programmes through their devoted, honest and grateful work.”

David Andre

Mayor of Victoria/head of culture