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    WMODA | Wiener Museum > Highlights > Museum Week · June 2-8

Museum Week · June 2-8

May 25, 2025

Louise Irvine

This annual event began in 2014 with a collaboration of French museums wishing to expand their audience. It has now become a global event on social media, supported by UNESCO. Over the years, there have been many different cultural conversations supporting important causes and the social impact worldwide has been massive, particularly with young audiences. This year’s theme is “Learning togetherness” and celebrates the intersection of culture and the environment with 7 days, 7 themes, and 7 hashtags online and onsite.

Day 1 · “Together with machines” reflects on how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how we interact with the world. Museum life has changed dramatically since the Internet first arrived in modern culture. When I began my career at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, we used hand-written index cards to catalog objects and textbooks to research collections. Hours were spent in libraries poring over reference books. We still love libraries at WMODA, but we appreciate the wonders of the digital revolution every day as we work with databases and online resources to store and access museum information. The future with AI technology is even more exciting. Storytelling, creative writing, marketing and graphic design can be more efficient. However, human knowledge, judgment and creativity remain central to museum operations.  Thankfully for WMODA, fears that people would prefer to experience art online have proved unfounded. In-person encounters remain compelling and tangible objects are crucial to art appreciation.

"The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do." - B.F. Skinner

Day 2 · “Together in Motion,” encourages us to explore movement in the visual and performing arts as expressions of human creativity and emotion. In the Art Deco exhibition at WMODA, we showcase how porcelain artists have celebrated famous dancers and dance styles from classical ballet performed by Anna Pavlova to Loie Fuller’s experimental performances with swirling fabric and cascades of colored light projections at the Folies Bergère in Paris. The expressive dance movement in the early 1900s rejected the formality of ballet and united body, mind and spirit in the art of movement. By connecting emotions with natural movements, free dancers aspired to high art and not merely entertainment.

Enjoy the creativity and emotion of movement at WMODA

The Ecstasy of Dance | Wiener Museum

Day 3 · “Playing Together” is dear to our hearts at WMODA. During the last few years, we have had lots of fun with our scavenger hunts and trivia trails, which appeal to visitors of all ages. Our games are designed to provide knowledge and inspiration. You can hunt for all kinds of dragons hiding in their lairs throughout the museum's ceramic galleries. For the Art Deco Centennial, we launched a trivia trail to discover the Roaring Twenties at WMODA. Visitors are challenged to look out for all the flappers, vamps and divas who inspired porcelain statuettes during the 1920s, as well as the creative women who designed them.

Day 4 · “Living Together, Humans and Nature,” encourages environmental harmony, as does our current Elephant Safari exhibition, inspired by the Great Elephant Migration, which visited Miami Beach last December. The installation of 100 life-size lantana wood elephants on the beach was made by the Coexistence Collective, a community of indigenous artisans in South India, raising money for conservation work promoting human-wildlife coexistence. Our presentation of 100 elephants from the museum collection celebrates these amazing pachyderms in pottery, especially the elephants created by the Ardmore Studio in South Africa.

"In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it." – Marianne Williamson

 

Learn about Trunks in Trouble at WMODA

Elephant Safari | Wiener Museum

Day 5 · “Really Together: Accessibility in Culture’ is best demonstrated at WMODA by Chelsea Rousso’s Unity in the Community · Transparency through Glass project. Thanks to grants from Broward Cultural Division, 150 local people had the opportunity to create fused glass art at hands-on workshops held by Chelsea at WMODA and other locations. As they explored the tactile qualities of glass art, individuals could express their ideas of unity and community in their icons, which were kiln-fired by Chelsea. Participants came together at WMODA on International Museum Day to proudly celebrate their shared achievement, which hangs at the entrance to the museum.

Unity in the Community | Wiener Museum

Day 7 · “Together for the Seas” coincides with World Ocean Day, which has been celebrated at WMODA for many years. Our underwater tropical paradise in Florida has inspired many of the exhibits in the Hot Glass Gallery, from Rob Stern’s giant shells to the waves and coral formations by Josh Fradis. Chihuly’s Seaformshighlight his passion for the Pacific Northwest, and Pino Signoretto’s sculptures portray the marine creatures in the Venetian lagoon. Pottery and porcelain artists have also portrayed the wonders of the deep, notably Roger Cockram, a contemporary British potter and marine biologist, renowned for his impressive vessels. Mirela Popovici’s community project to build a coral reef out of clay also inspired our visitors.

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."

- Jacques Cousteau

 

Dive into WMODA to appreciate the beauty of marine life in the Fired Arts

World Oceans Day | Wiener Museum