IMPD and the People Behind the Curtain

Heritage is made by human beings, not by magic tricks in climate-controlled rooms.

Museums may look effortless. They are not. Behind every polished display stands an extraordinary cast of professionals whose labor makes heritage visible, legible, and public. Founded in 2014 as a year-round advocacy initiative and annual event, IMWD International Museum Workers Day was created to introduce the public to the many professions involved in the creation, research, discovery, and presentation of heritage.

Originally launched as “Hug A Museum Worker,” the initiative later evolved into International Museum Workers Day without losing its wit or its purpose.

Every year, we invite artists, scholars, art historians, scientists, archaeologists, anthropologists, curators, filmmakers, performance artists, designers & many others whose expertise, years of experience and dedication help create, discover, preserve, and disseminate tangible and non-tangible cultural heritage, in their respective countries. 

By IMWD2017, culture, heritage and museum professionals from 150+ countries have engaged with IMWD – including:

Bhutan, Azerbaijan, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Moldova, Chad, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Mozambique, Ghana, Cameroon, Belize, Oman, Madagascar, Jordan, Swaziland, Botswana, Congo, Jamaica, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, Benin, Vietnam, Papa New Guinea, Suriname, Brunei, Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, Malaysia, Burkina Faso, Togo, Dominican Republic, Mali, Rwanda, Chad, Senegal, South Africa, Yemen … as well as throughout the Americas and Europe.

IMWD2018 was marked in 21 languages, across 12 platforms, with increased engagement from: 

Timor-Leste, Angola, Marshall Islands, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Seychelles, Djibouti, Finland, Uganda, Albania, Maldives, Dominica, Democratic Republic Congo, Palau, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Pakistan, Malta, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, & Cyprus.

By popular demand among museum professionals, after 2025 celebrations, we changed the project’s name to IMPD International Museum Professionals Day.

In many respects, IMPD may be viewed as the “Switzerland” of heritage projects:

• We are multi-cultural & multi-lingual;

• We draw our strength from inclusivity;

• We are not yet affiliated with any regional, national or international institutions or alliances;

• We are not aligned with any religious or political groups;

• We are impartial – which does not mean neutral -, yet recognize the importance of strategic partnerships and the need to develop focused policies for specific regions;

• We are pragmatic since we believe in the long-term necessities of public-private partnerships; &

• We are not funded by any regional or national for-profit or non-profit entities.

IMPD is not simply an appreciation day. It is a public correction to the invisibility of museum labor.

Not by mythology.

By people.

Learn more ABOUT us.