Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley said that he is very pleased that the Department of Culture will once again be drawing attention to museums in the Territory when it observes Museum Week.

Honourable Wheatley said, “These are important cultural institutions in the Territory, and we are now focusing on developing them in several different ways. It is important to integrate our museums into our community, and I encourage the community to fully support them."

Director of Culture, Dr. Katherine Smith said this year’s activities will be held from May 17 to the 22 under the theme, "Recover and Reimagine". She said the theme for this year’s observance of International Museum Day is quite fitting for museum activities to be held during this year.

Dr. Smith said, “As part of the planned events, we are offering a series of workshops which cover writing mission statements, developing a collections policy, caring for the artefacts as well as introducing a decolonising paradigm into our museums.”

She added, “We have also involved the schools in immersive experiences which will introduce aspects of Virgin Islands heritage via the museum experience. We encourage the general public to fully support the fundraising "museums hop" activities on Anegada and Tortola."

The week’s activities are as follows:

For more information on the week of activities, contact the Department of Culture at 468-4379.

NOTES TO EDITOR(S):

• Flyer : Calendar of Events for International Museum Week