Network Creating the new museum definition: over 250 proposals to check out!

Across the world ICOM provides a common framework for museums, a forum for professional discussions, and a platform for questioning and celebrating heritage and collections in museums and cultural institutions.
A shared definition of the museum serves as the backbone for ICOM as a global organisation.

However, the points of intersection between museums and communities are continuously shifting. Following the recommendation of the standing committee on Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials and having carefully weighed the pros and cons, the ICOM Executive Board has decided, that it is time to rethink and revise the existing museum definition.

The current definition, which has only seen minor adjustments over the past few decades, does not reflect and express adequately the complexities of the 21^st century and the current responsibilities and commitments of museums, nor their challenges and visions for the future.

ICOM invited its members, committees, partners and other interested stakeholders to participate in the development of potential alternatives for the museum definition in time for the 25^th ICOM General Conference, which will take place in Kyoto, 1-7 September 2019.

For more background information

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Submitted proposals

(updated regularly and sorted by date of receipt – with provisional translations as received from contributors)

#1 Spain

Un museo es una institución que custodia, conserva, documenta, investiga, expone, difunde y protege un patrimonio cultural de gran significado para el Humanidad, ya sea material o inmaterial. El museo debe una organización transparente y comprometida con el desarrollo social de su comunidad. (Spanish)

A museum is an institution that guards, preserves, documents, researches, exhibits, disseminates and protects a cultural heritage of great significance for Humanity, whether material or immaterial. The museum owes a transparent organization committed to the social development of its community. (English)

#2 Mozambique

Museu- é uma instituição sem fins lucrativos , de caracter permanente, com ou sem personalidade jurídica, com objectivo de sistematizar um conjunto de bens culturais tangíveis e valoriza-los por meio de investigação, incorporação, inventariação, conservação, interpretação e divulgacao, … (Portuguese)

Museum is a non-institution of permanent character, with or without juridical personality, aiming at systematizing a set of tangible cultural assets and valuing them through: research, incorporation, inventory, conservation, interpretation, exhibition and dissemination in order to dialogue with various audiences (national and international) in the field of visitation, academic and delight. (English)

#3 Mexico

El Museo se alimenta de la diversidad de formas culturales de la relaciôn: sujetos colectivos, objetos-conocimientos significativos y memorias-activaciones; con el fin de resguardar, investigar y exponer expresiones artîsticas asî como la herencia cultural del pasado y en construcciôn. Organizaciôn (Spanish)

Museum is nourished through diverse cultural forms and relationships: collective subjects, significant object-knowledge and memory activations; with the purpose of safeguarding participants, research and promote artistic expression as well as past and in progress cultural heritage activities. Communal, private, public, or mixed organizations, entities which may be institutionalized or not, non-pro (English)

#4 Brazil

Museus são processos e devem estar a serviço da sociedade e do seu desenvolvimento. Devem ser unidades de investigação, interpretação, mapeamento, documentação, preservação cultural, comunicação e exposição dos testemunhos do homem e da natureza, com o objetivo de ampliar construção da identidade. (Portuguese)

Museums are processes and must be at the service of society and its development. They should also be units of investigation, interpretation, mapping, documentation, cultural preservation, communication and exposure of the testimonies of man and nature, with the aim of expanding the possibilities of identity construction and the critical perception about the cultural reality of cities. (English )

#5 Germany

Le musée est une institution au service du salut public, fondée pour une existence illimitée. Avec l’intention de transmettre au futur ; il conserve des témoins matériels (de la nature, d’une culture ou des cultures) et crée des connaissances internes et externes de et avec ces témoins. (French)

A museum is an institution in the service of public welfare, erected for durable existence. Intending the transfer into future, it conserves material evidence (of nature, of one culture, of cultures) and creates internal and external knowledge with and concerning those objects. (English)

#6 Iran

A museum is an open to the public, professionally established and managed institution which attempts to elaborate human dignity and life quality through appreciation of love, peace, equality and nature, free from any political, social, cultural or ethnic bias with lawful acquisition, documentation, conservation, exhibition and research of tangible and intangible heritage of humanity. (English)

#7 Italy

the mechanism for distilling visions (English)

il meccanismo per distillare visioni (Italian)

#8 Israel

Museums, as instruments of affecting realities, provide single to multi-perspectives into focuses of public interest which are not commonly obtainable, inside the tensions between original to recycled, innovative to traditional, informative to engaging, sectorial to universal, according to the museum’s core commitment. Museums operate out of a transparently declared to a hidden motivation. (English)

המוזיאונים כמכשיר להשפעה על המציאות, מנגישים פרספקטיבה בודדה או מרובה אל מוקדי עניין ציבורי,

בתוך המתחים שבין מקורי לממוחזר, חדשני למסורתי, אינפורמטיבי למערב קהל, סקטוריאלי לאוניברסלי, על פי

מחויבות הליבה של המוזיאון. המניע של המוזיאונים מוצג בשקיפות מלאה או בהסתרה חלקית. (Hebrew)

#9 Italy

A museum is a permanent non-profit institution at the service of society and its development, open to the public and a place for the exchange of ideas, which acquires, preserves, researches, communicates and shows the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and of its environment for the purposes of education, study and entertainment. (English)

#10 United States

Museums are stewards of culture. Rather than define, they seek to describe cultures as enacted by communities of constituents and to provide gathering sites and support platforms for the practice of diverse cultures. Museums are entrusted with objects in their care by the public and are responsible to make those objects accessible to the public. (English)

#11 United Kingdom

Museums collect, conserve, and communicate heritage through exhibitions and display. They are public institutions that make cultural heritage present and accessible to all. Museums are agents of education and recreation through research and display, with the power to lead social, cultural, and intellectual change for the benefit of human development. (English)

#12 Yemen

المتاحف لا تعد مؤسسه لحفظ وعرض الاثار فقط انما تعد حلقه وصل بين ماضي والمستقبل ومن خلالها نرسم صوره للماضي وناخذ دروس  للحاضر

Arabic

Museum is no longer an institution to preserve and display monuments only but is a link between the past and the future through which we draw a picture of the past and take lessons for the present. (English – Google Translate)

#13 Portugal

Um museu é uma instituição permanente, ao serviço da sociedade e de seu desenvolvimento e cultura. Precisa estar aberto a todos, é inclusivo para todos e para todas as crenças, raças e escolhas pessoais. Adquire, conserva, comunica e exibe todo o património para fins de educação, estudo e lazer. (Portuguese)

A museum is a permanent institution in the service of society and its development and culture. Needs to be open to the all the public, is inclusive to all and to all beliefs, races and personal choices. Acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. (English)

#14 Canada

Independently and collectively, as non-profit entities, museums are saving the world for future generations with Evidence: collections, Knowledge: research and Inspiration: education and engagement. Museums reflect who we were, who we are and who we aspire to be through the cultural and natural heritage we choose to collect, preserve, study and share with the publics we serve. (English)

#15 Spain

Los museos, además de ser instituciones encargadas de conservar, investigar, exponer, enseñar bienes relevantes de interés cultural, son organismos que tienen una vida interna, una intrahistoria que aflora a través de quienes trabajan y colaboran en y con ellos, que aflora en todos los frutos culturales que su actividad desarrolla: publicaciones, estudios, personalidades. Esta “intrahistoria” da carácter de entidad diferenciadora y proyección más allá de sus paredes y de las fronteras. (Spanish)

Museums, in addition to being institutions in charge of preserving, researching, exhibiting, and teaching relevant cultural assets, are organisms that have an internal life, an intrahistory that emerges through those who work and collaborate in and with them, which emerges in all the cultural fruits that its activity develops: publications, studies, personalities. This “intrahistory” gives character of differentiating entity and projection beyond its walls and borders. (English)

#16 United Kingdom

The UK Museums Association (MA) definition says: “Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society.” (English)

#17 Mexico

El Museo se alimenta de la diversidad de formas culturales de la relaciôn: sujetos colectivos, objetos-conocimientos significativos y memorias-activaciones; con el fin de resguardar, investigar y exponer expresiones artîsticas asî como la herencia cultural del pasado y en construcciôn. Organizaciôn comunal, privada, pûblica o mixta; abierta a los pûblicos; que puede o no institucionalizarse, sin fines de lucro y en permanente transformaciôn para co-generar espacios-tiempos museales desde y para el ejercicio de libertades, en beneficio de las actuales, futuras generaciones y de Nuestra Madre Tierra para el buen vivir. (Spanish)

The Museum is nourished through diverse cultural forms of the relationships: collective subjects, significant object-knowledge and memory activations; with the purpose of safeguarding participants, research and promote artistic expression as well as past and in progress cultural heritage activities. Communal, private, public, or mixed organizations, entities which may be institutionalized or not, non-profit organizations, along with groups in permanent transformation may use museum space and times for the exercise of liberty for the benefit of current and future generations along with the welfare of Our Mother Earth. (English)

#18 Philippines

A museum is a non-profit institution in the service and development of society, accessible by the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits tangible and intangible realities for the purposes of celebration, education, or resolution. (English)

#19 Mozambique

Museu é uma instituição sem fins lucrativos, de caracter permanente, com ou sem personalidade jurídica, com objectivo de sistematizar bens culturais tangíveis e intagiveis e valoriza-los por meio de investigação, inventariação, conservação, exposição e divulgação com finalidade de dialogar com diversos públicos (nacionais e internacionais) no âmbito da visitação escolar, acadêmica e deleite. (Portuguese)

Museum is a non-profit institution of permanent character, with or without juridical personality, aiming at systematizing a set of tangible and intagible cultural assets and valuing them through: research, inventory, conservation, exhibition and dissemination in order to dialogue with various audiences (Nacional and international) in the field of scholarly visitation, academic and delight. (English)

#20 United Kingdom

Museums have a responsibility to promote positive development locally and globally, addressing real world issues and promoting a just society that flourishes within a stable natural environment. (English)

# 21 Serbia

The museum is a vibrant, thriving, permanent institution, which serves as a bearer and keeper of our tradition, history, our rich and diverse heritage, diversity of our environment, giving shape and form to who we are, unique laboratory for learning and exploration, an institution created for social, educational and professional purposes. (English)

# 22 Ecuador

Los museos son organizaciones que están concebidos para la dinamización social; con fines de debate y reflexión que involucren a la comunidad con su entorno patrimonio-territorio, el cual debe ser un derecho en que la colectividad pueda participar y conocer su herencia multicultural que cuenta con identidades múltiples cambiantes. (Spanish)

Museums are organizations that are designed for social dynamization; for the purpose of debate and reflection that involve the community with its patrimony-territory environment, which must be a right in which the community can participate and know its multicultural heritage that has multiple changing identities. (English)

# 23 Ecuador

El museo es una institución de tipo cultural que debe comprometerse con el desarrollo social, político, cultural-patrimonial, tecnológico, ecológico y económico de los pueblos y comunidades donde se asienta; a través de una eficiente gestión del acervo cultural material e inmaterial que está bajo su custodia. (Spanish)

The museum is a cultural institution that must be committed to the social, political, cultural-patrimonial, technological, ecological and economic development of the peoples and communities where it is based; through an efficient management of the material and immaterial cultural heritage that is under its custody. (English)

# 24 The Netherlands

Museums are institutions that collect, organise and display the immaterial and material traces of past and present to create and promote new visions for the future. Their professional authority enables them to listen to a plurality of voices, especially those often unheard, and provide a space of encounter and debate for everyone. (English)

# 25 Spain

Los museos son instituciones abiertas, responsables y publicas en las que la sociedad se reconoce a sí misma, su pasado, su presente y su futuro, a través de aquellos elementos que en ellos se conservan, se ponen en valor, se comunican y se estudian con el objetivo de ser una herramienta de mejora de la sociedad y del mundo. (Spanish)

Museums are open, responsible and public institutions in which society recognizes itself, its past, its present and its future, through those elements that are conserved, valued, communicated and studied in them with the aim of being a tool for improving society and the world.  (English)

# 26 France

Le musée est un espace de rencontre ouvert à tous, sans distinction socıale, politique, religieuse ou d’origine, ou s’élaborent des échanges dans un esprit d’expertise partagée afin de sauvegarder, valoriser et animer les patrimoines, expressions de la diversité culturelle de l’humanité dans une démarche de développement durable. (French)

The museum is a meeting place open to all people, without any social, political, religious or distinction of origin, where exchanges are elaborated in a spirit of shared expertise, in order to safeguard, enhance and animate the heritages, expressions of the cultural diversity of the humanity within a sustainability approach. (English)

# 27 Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland (a collective proposal)

Museums are spaces to engage with heritage – in all its expressions, forms and dimensions – within a contemporary context, connecting heritage as a source from the past with an orientation towards the future, in a sustainable perspective. (English)

# 28 Croatia, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Syria (a collective proposal)

A museum is a non-profit institution or organization in the service of society and its cultural, social, political, ethical and sustainable development which identifies, collects, researches, documents, preserves/safeguards exhibits and communicates different types (tangible, intangible, natural, digital) of heritage, acknowledging and respecting different worldviews, open to its public/stakeholders, for purposes of learning, empowering and enjoyment. (English)

# 29 United States

A museum is a “not-for-profit” entity that “administers, preserves, researches, and communicates” the diversity of cultural and natural heritage, including digital and living, with representation for ethical and educational causes of the community and the environment. (English)

# 30 Tunisie

Le musée est une institution permanente dotée d’un statut juridique de droit public ou privé, à but lucratif ou non, chargée de collecter, d’inventorier, d’étudier, de restaurer, de conserver, de consigner et d’exposer le patrimoine tangible et intangible des civilisations du passé, d’un territoire, d’un peuple ou d’une minorité ethnique dans l’objectif de transmission d’une mémoire collective et de partage des valeurs civilisationnelles et culturelles. Le musée est le garant et le gardien des biens patrimoniaux et doit user de toutes les techniques et les nouvelles technologies pour sauvegarder les biens de l’humanité, en constituant des réserves par l’achat, la collecte et les dons aussi bien des découvertes par les fouilles archéologiques. Dans leurs diverses formes architecturales, les musées doivent assurer l’apprentissage par toutes les techniques et les sciences de l’éducation et de la communication en garantissant le divertissement, les jeux et les loisirs à toutes les tranches d’âges des visiteurs. (French)

The museum is a permanent institution, with a legal status of public or private law, for profit or not, in charge of collecting, inventorying, studying, restoring, preserving, recording and exhibiting the tangible and intangible heritage, of the civilizations of the past, for a territory, a people or an ethnic minority, with the objective of transmitting a collective memory and sharing the civilizational and cultural values. The museum is the guarantor and custodian of the heritage properties and must use all of the techniques and new technologies, to safeguard the goods of the humanity, by constituting reserves by the purchase, the collection and the gifts as well as the discoveries by archaeological excavations. In their various architectural forms, museums must ensure learning by all techniques and sciences of education and communication, ensuring entertainment, games and recreation for all age groups of visitors. (English)

# 31 Greece

Το μουσείο είναι χώρος για τη μνήμη, την έρευνα, την μάθηση και την διάδραση με και για την κοινωνία. Ο ρόλος του μουσείου είναι να είναι μια ήπια δύναμη με απώτερο σκοπό την παρέμβαση έτσι ώστε η δημιουργικότητα, η παραγωγή και η βιώσιμη ανάπτυξη να είναι εφικτά (Greek)

A museum is a space for memory, research, learning and interaction with and about society. The role of a museum is to be a mild force with a higher purpose to intervene so creativity, production and Sustainable Development are achievable. (English)

# 32 Poland

Museum is a place where we are creating visual and contextual narratives about what makes as human. It is a safe repository of material fragments of past chosen as representative to transfer to the future the values important for the society in which the institution exists. (English)

Muzeum to miejsce w ktorym tworzymy wizualne i kontekstualne narracje opowiadajace o tym co czyni nas czlowiekiem. To bezpieczne miejsce dla materialnych fragmentow przeszlosci, ktore zostaly wybrane przez nas by reprezentowac wartosci, ktore spoleczenstwo tworzace instytucje muzeum chce zachowac dla przyszlosci. (Polish)

# 33 Colombia

El Museo es un Horizonte Cultural donde confluyen las formas de vida humana con la naturaleza y el universo. (Spanish)

The Museum is a Cultural Horizon where human life forms converge with nature and the universe. (English)

# 34 Brazil

O museu é uma instituição permanente sem fins lucrativos, ao serviço da sociedade e do seu desenvolvimento, aberta, em diálogo e com a participação de diferentes públicos considerando a sua diversidade, que adquire, conserva, investiga, comunica e expõe o patrimônio material e imaterial da humanidade e do seu meio envolvente com fins de educação, estudo, deleite e transformação social, para a emancipação dos povos. (Portuguese)

The Museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and of your development, open dialogue and with the participation of different audiences considering your diversity, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and of your surroundings with the purposes of education, study, and treat social transformation, for the emancipation of the people. (English)

# 35 Brazil

Os museus são sem fins lucrativos que conservam, investigam, comunicam, interpretam e expõem, para fins de preservação, estudo, pesquisa, educação, contemplação e turismo, conjuntos e coleções de valor histórico, artístico, científico, técnico ou de qualquer outra natureza cultural, abertas ao público, a serviço da sociedade e da democracia, cultural e social, e de seu desenvolvimento. Instituições e os processos museológicos voltados para o trabalho com o patrimônio cultural e o território visando ao desenvolvimento cultural e socioeconômico e à participação das comunidades. Valorização da dignidade humana; a promoção da cidadania; o cumprimento da função social; a valorização e preservação do patrimônio cultural e ambiental; a universalidade do acesso, o respeito e a valorização à diversidade cultural; o intercâmbio institucional. (Portuguese)

Museums are non-profit organizations that conserve, investigate, communicate, interpret and display, for the purposes of preservation, study, research, education, contemplation and tourism, collections and collections of historical, artistic, scientific, technical or other cultural value, open to the public, at the service of society and of democracy, cultural and social, and its development. Institutions and museological processes geared to work with cultural heritage and territory for cultural and socioeconomic development and community participation. Valorization of human dignity; the promotion of citizenship; the fulfillment of the social function; the valuation and preservation of cultural and environmental heritage; the universality of access, respect and appreciation of cultural diversity; institutional exchange. (English)

# 36 Spain

Los museos son entes ─públicos o privados─ vivos, dinámicos y autónomos, sensibilizados con la sociedad y el medio ambiente, flexibles al cambio, con visión de futuro, comprometidos con el presente y recordando siempre el pasado. Su misión es recolectar, atesorar, conservar y exhibir piezas, especímenes y demás objetos de hoy y ayer, así como difundir ese patrimonio cultural y científico universal y/o local entre la población a través de actividades lúdico-educativas. Igualmente, la investigación y la divulgación de esos resultados deber ser fundamental en cualquier museo. Un museo no nace, se hace, y renace todas las veces que haga falta. (Spanish)

Museums ─public or private─ are alive, dynamic and autonomous entities, sensitive to society and the environment, flexible to change, forward-looking, committed to the present, and always recalling the past. Their mission is to collect, treasure, preserve and exhibit pieces, specimens and other today and yesterday´s objects. Additionally, it is essential for any museum to disseminate this universal and / or local cultural and scientific heritage among the population through recreational-educational activities. Research and dissemination of the resulting data should be of the utmost importance as well. A museum is made, not born, and it is reborn as many times as it takes. (English)

# 37 Portugal

O museu é uma instituição que, não só preserva o património, mas através das suas actividades e exposições suscita o debate público das mesmas, criando uma plataforma de diálogo critico sobre a sociedade e o seu futuro. (Portuguese)

The museum is an institution that not only preserves the heritage, but through its activities and exhibitions raises the public debate about them, creating a platform for critical dialogue about society and its future. (English)

# 38 Mexico

Ser un lugar simple y especial para el fortalecimiento de las tradiciones de la gente. (Spanish)

To be a simple and special place for the strengthening of the traditions of the people. (English)

# 39 New Zeeland

Museums are intellectual institutions that scaffold the development and furthering of understandings by engaging learners, educators and researchers of all kinds with and through the material evidence of human cultures and the natural world. (English)

# 40 Poland

Muzeum to instytucja prawna, która chroni życie materialne i intelektualne z przeszłości w celu istnienia w przyszłości. (Polish)

A museum is a legal institution that protects the material and intellectual life of the past in order to exist in the future. (English)

# 41 Uganda

Any permanent establishment set up for the purpose of preserving, studying, enhancing by various means and, in particular, of exhibiting to the public for its delectation and instruction such as as artistic, historical, scientific, technological and political collections. (English)

# 42 United States

* Museums are Public Civic Spaces that encourage strangers to peaceably congregate,

* And museums use systems to present three-dimensional evidence to allow visitors to create understanding and knowledge for themselves. (English)

# 43 Canada

[…] faire valoir l’innovation, le numérique et les technologies émergentes à travers ses activités et services publics. (French)

… promote innovation, digital and emerging technologies through its public services and activities. (English)

44 # Germany

Das Museum ist eine begehbare Bibliothek unseres kollektiven Gedächtnisses. (German)

The museum is a walk-in library of our collective memory. (English)

45 # Germany

Über das Anschauen von Objekten zu einer Anschauung über Zusammenhänge kommen. (German)

By looking at objects, you can come to a perception of contexts. (English)

46 # Germany

Das Museum als Ort, an dem man lernt, Fragen zu stellen, statt Antworten zu bekommen. (German)

The museum as a place to learn to ask questions instead of getting answers. (English)

#47 Austria

Museums are agents of social change. They are independent institutions that collect, conserve, transfer and communicate cultural heritage. Museums should to be open forums for all people in society and address topics of importance to their communities rooted in their collections and the stories they tell.

#48 Colombia

Definición de la Mesa Nacional de Museos: “El museo es una organización sin ánimo de lucro, expresada en un ambiente de aprendizaje, que interactúa con sus colecciones, su territorio y sus ciudadanos mediante experiencias que dinamizan la apropiación de la memoria, el patrimonio y el conocimiento para la transformación social.” (Spanish)

Definition by the Mesa Nacional de Museos reads: “A museum is a non-profit organization, expressed in a learning environment, which interacts with its collections, its territory and its citizens through experiences that stimulate the appropriation of memory, heritage and knowledge for social transformation.” (English)

#49 Germany

A museum is a non-profit, permanent, and bilingual institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity, its culture and environment for the purposes of researach, education, study and enjoyment. (English)

#50 Norway

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible human and natural heritage for the purposes of education, study, enjoyment and social engagement. (English)

#51 Mexico

El museo es una institución abierta, sin fines de lucro, en diálogo con su contexto, de, para y con la sociedad inmediata y distante. Adquiere, investiga, conserva y expone patrimonio material e inmaterial de la humanidad y su medio ambiente, a la vez que genera, promueve e intercambia contenido y experiencias referentes a éste, por medio de plataformas físicas y/o virtuales con fines de mediación, construcción de conocimiento, y recreo. (Spanish)

A museum is a non profit open institution, in dialogue with it’s context; which works from, for, and with the immediate, and distant society. Acquires, conserves, researches, exhibits, generates, and promotes the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and it’s environment at the time that generates, promotes, and exchanges related content and experiences, by a physical and/or virtual platform with purposes of mediation, knowledge construction, and recreation. (English)

#52 China

博物馆是通过物的搜集,研究,教学以理解人和世界发展的社会机构. (Chinese)

The museum is a social institution that collects, studies, and teaches through the real object for understanding the development of people and world. (English)

#53 United States

Museums are a cornerstone of humankind that preserves, protects, presents, and promotes access to the cultural heritage information of humanity, that the cultural heritage information of humanity may be passed on in perpetuity in both record and spirit so that all humans may individually and collectively construct their identities now and throughout time. (English)

#54 France

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and communities, open to the publics, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment, with respect for the different knowledges and ways to think reality. (English)

#55 China

博物馆是一种社会现象。它源于人们对世界的感知和文化揭示，表现为博物馆状态、博物馆现象和博物馆三种形式。(Chinese)

Museums are a social phenomenon. It originates from people’s perception of the world and cultural revelation, and manifests itself in three forms: museum state, museum phenomenon and museum. (English)

#56 Portugal

A museum is a non for profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible human and natural heritage for the purposes of education, study, enjoyment and social engagement. (English)

#57 Yemen

المتاحف عنصر حيوي هام لخلق حوار ثقافي بين الامم و تشكّل تاريخها (Arabic)

Museums are a vital element for creating a cultural dialogue between nations and their history. (English – Google translate)

#58 India

A museum is an institution which provides a platform for dialogue with heritage in all its expression. It is a centre of non formal learning which ideally should be accessible to all its stakeholders. As a space, physical or virtual, a museum stimulates one intellectually , aesthetically , scientifically and provides an avenue to challenge pre-existing narratives. A museum symbolises an intriguing fusion of intellect and emotions. (English)

#59 Spain

Los museos son el espacio humano común donde se manifiesta nuestro patrimonio presente, intangible, de naturaleza inmaterial. Los artefactos materiales pasados, expuestos o conservados, son el motor para el futuro que, desde el presente, volverán a inundar a las sociedades venideras con el brillo de la memoria de su patrimonio: otra vez inmaterial… apenas un suspiro humano. (Spanish)

Museum are the common human space Where heritage is manifiested, intangibe, of an inmaterial nature. The past artifacts, exposed or conserved, are the engine that, for our present , will flood the future societies with the brilliance of memory of memory ando their heritage, ágil immaterial: the sligth human sigh of life. (English)

#60 Mexico

The museum is an active (physical or digital) space that articulates society through the care and dissemination of objects of historical importance. (English)

#61 United States

a public trust for exhibitions (English)

#62 United Kingdom

Museums are a social construct which provide the users with an engaging desirable, enjoyable, lasting and stimulating collaborative reference point to the past and present generations as well as providing a set of characteristics and opportunities for conserving humanity’s knowledge and accomplishments. (English)

#63 Slovakia

Museum is no longer just a place of collecting “old stuffs”. It is a place where all our senses can work together, where we could revive the past of our nations, feel the atmosphere and social customs of that time, touch their unique arts, taste the intangible traditions, see its flowering and decay and listen to its spiritual heritage. Museum is our modern school that teaches, educates and encourages us. Simply became a part of our everyday life. (English)

#64 Finland

Museo on palvelu, joka auttaa asiakkaitaan täyttämään heidän tarpeensa ja velvollisuutensa historian ja kulttuurin tallentamisessa, tutkimisessa ja esittämisessä sekä auttaa asiakkaitaan taloudellisen henkisen hyvinvoinnin tuottamisessa. (Finnish)

A museum is a service organisation that helps its clients to fulfil their needs and responsibilities in enjoying, preserving, studying, teaching, and exhibiting heritage and culture, as well as generating economic and social wealth through its products and services. (English)

#65 Argentina

Un museo es un espacio tiempo para el asombro, la curiosidad, comunicación y aprendizajes a traves de múltiples y diversas experiencias creadas y reproducidas a partir de objetos/materialidades y relatos puestos en tensión y atención con fines de conservación, educación y transformación social hacia una decolonialidad de saberes y conocimientos que ponderen la diversidad cultural y epistémica. (Spanish)

A museum is a time space for wonder, curiosity, communication and learning through multiple and diverse experiences created and reproduced from objects / materialities and stories put into tension and attention for conservation, education and social transformation towards a decoloniality of knowledge and knowledge that ponder cultural and epistemic diversity. (English)

#66 Spain

Los museos son esos espacios democratizadores, inclusivos y accesibles que albergan para proteger, investigar y difundir la cultura de la humanidad, teniendo por objetivo a la sociedad. (Spanish)

Museums are those democratizing, inclusive and accessible spaces that are housed to protect, investigate and disseminate the culture of humanity, targeting society. (English)

#67 Croatia

The museum is (ideally) a self-sustaining institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, digitizes, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. Its mission is to present heritage objectively, to be environmentally friendly and to try to be as exemplary in any way as possible. (English)

#68 Greece

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its cultural, social and sustainable development, open and reaching out to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of disseminating knowledge, promoting science and creativity, strengthening social cohesion and enhancing well-being. (English)

#69 United Kingdom

A museum is a word about which people with little experience of the real world navel gaze. (English)

#70 Italy

Il luogo in cui in cui le persone si possono riconcigliare con la loro identità collettiva e/o scoprirne altre. (Italian)

The place in which people can reconnect with their colletive identity and/or get in touch with foreign ones. (English)

#71 Mexico

Es una plataforma de exhibición tanto física como virtual que dentro de sus funciones se aboca a la conservación, investigación y comunicación. Funge como punto de partida para impulsar el desarrollo social, promueve valores, reconocimiento y apropiación del patrimonio cultural y natural de una época histórica que fomenta un sentido de pertenencia comunitaria. (Spanish)

The museum is both a physical and virtual exhibition platform whose functions include conservation, research and communication. It entails the starting point for social development as it promotes values, ownership of natural and cultural heritage from a specific historical epoch and social belonging. (English)

#72 Colombia

El museo del siglo XXI debe de contener la autenticidad cultural de las sociedad que van más allá de lo material; es una red que re-conecta lo temporal y permanente a la sensibilidad común. (Spanish)

The 21st century museum must contain the cultural authenticity of societies that go beyond the material; it is a network that reconnects the temporary and permanent to the common sensibility. (English)

#73 Burkina Faso

Le musée est une institution sociale où se rencontrent les membres de communautés diverses pour exprimer leur culture à des fins d’éducation, de re-création et d’épanouissement. (French)

Museum is a social institution where communities meet to express their culture for educational, re-creation and fulfilment purposes. (English)

#74 Spain

El museo es un medio de comunicación y un singular contenedor de los bienes culturales representativos de la sociedad que constituyen la herencia cultural en un ámbito determinado, abierto, dinámico y en constante enriquecimiento, dedicado a la investigación, la educación, la promoción y la más amplia diffusion. (Spanish)

A museum is a true means of communication and a singular receptacle of cultural assets which represent a society and which constitute the cultural heritage of the same in a determined sphere, open, dynamic and in constant enrichment, dedicated to investigation, to education, to promotion of and the most wide diffusion. (English)

#75 Venezuela

Espacio para el encuentro de personas interesadas en confrontar su experiencia de vida, con el reto de la humanidad. (Spanish)

Space for the meeting of people interested in confronting their life experience, with the challenge of humanity.  (English)

#76 Ecuador      

El museo es un portal atemporal donde los gestores preservan y exhiben patrimonios materiales e inmateriales que dan testimonios de vida, y que plantean preguntas sobre el presente y el mañana. Es un generador de vivencias que comunican valores universales, por lo tanto, se desvincula de ideologías extremas, subjetividades cerradas o autoritarismos locales. Se nutre circularmente de fondos públicos y privados con transparencia para ofrecer accesibilidad a todos los públicos y retroalimentarse implementando en sus discursos las voces de las identidades más diversas. (Spanish)

A museum is a timeless portal where the managers preserve and exhibit tangible and intangible assets that give testimonies of life, and that pose questions about the present and the future. It is a generator of experiences that communicate universal values, therefore, it dissociates itself from extreme ideologies, closed subjectivities or local authoritarianisms. It is nourished circularly by public and private funds with transparency in order to offer accessibility to all publics and to receive feedback by implementing the voices of the most diverse identities in their speeches. (English)

#77 Colombia   

“Los museos, su origen, misión y visión siempre serán el de conservar, preservar y contribuir a la protección y educación en cuanto al patrimonio, aservo cultural y artístico que los seres humanos han dejado como legado al mundo durante los cambios de la sociedad. Su contenido pluricultural, multicultural y sobre todo como espacio de reunión para dar paso al conocimiento de los comportamientos y descubrimientos evolutivos,científicos, teoricos, y artísticos, debe llegar a todo tipo de personas, indiferente de sus condiciones geopolíticas, económicas, sociales, educativas o de formación y capacidades diferentes. Debe tener una museología y museografía que permita el reconocimiento de la vida en comunidad pero sobre todo, dar fé de la intención de unión y fraternidad sin importar las brechas sociales. Es por eso, que de la mano de las personas idóneas en el cargo correcto dentro de los museos, se debe permitir el acceso y uso de la información pertinente para llegar a todo tipo de población en cualquier lugar del planeta. Un museo que no cuente, muestre o enseñe desde la vida, no sirve para la misma.” (Spanish)

“Museums, their origin, mission and vision will always be to conserve, preserve and contribute to the protection and education regarding heritage, cultural and artistic aservo that human beings have left as a legacy to the world during the changes of society. Its pluricultural, multicultural content and above all as meeting space to make way for the knowledge of evolutionary, scientific, theoretical, and artistic behaviors and discoveries, must reach all kinds of people, indifferent to their geopolitical, economic, social, educational conditions or of different training and abilities. Must have a museology and museography that allows the recognition of life in community but above all, give faith of the intention of union and fraternity regardless of social gaps. That is why, in the hands of the right people in the right position within museums, access and use of relevant information must be allowed to reach all types of people anywhere in the world. A museum that does not count, show or teach from life, does not serve for the same.” (English)

#78 Brazil           

O museu deve estar na ordem do dia, quanto ação, processo, rede, instituição e gestão dos bens patrimoniais e salvaguarda das memórias, agregando a coletividade humana para compartilhar saberes, tecnologias e afetos, visando o bem estar planetário e a dignidade humana. (Portuguese)

The museum must be the order of the day, action, process, network, institution and management of patrimony and safeguard of memories, adding the human collective to share knowledge, technologies and affections, aiming at the planetary well-being and human dignity. (English, Google translate)

#79 Norway      

“Museums are fundamentally public spaces for lifelong informal learning that value that mission over commercial goals such as profit. Within museums, people from different parts of society, with diverse kinds of experience and expertise, join in the collaborative preservation and exploration of evidence of a shared natural and cultural heritage and the creative imagining of a more peaceful, equal and sustainable future. Together, museums and their many stakeholders form local and global networks that can provide scaffolding for positive social and political change.” (English)

#80 Norway      

Ett museum er en institusjon som stiller ut kulturelle gjenstander, og som er åpen til offentligheten. (Norwegian)

A museum is an institution that displays cultural artefacts, and is open to the public. (English)

#81 Peru

Un museo es el espacio de encuentro ciudadano que permite conocernos y reconocernos como parte de una comunidad local y global. Nos acerca a la historia, costumbres, tradiciones, espacios geográficos y tecnologías de una cultura, a través de distintas estrategias que lo hacen atractivo. Sin embargo, hoy los museos también son espacios de apropiación científica, espacios más interactivos que permiten experimentar y comprender distintos procesos y fenómenos que también nos acercan a lo que somos y proyectarnos hacia lo que queremos ser. Lo interactivo está cobrando un valor importante para el aprendizaje y la reflexión activa. (Castellano)

A museum is a space for citizen encounters that allows us to know and recognize ourselves as part of a local and global community. It brings us closer to the history, customs, traditions, geographical spaces and technologies of a culture, through different strategies that make it attractive. However, today museums are also spaces of scientific appropriation, more interactive spaces that allow us to experiment and understand different processes and phenomena that also bring us closer to what we are and project ourselves towards what we want to be. The interactive is gaining an important value for learning and active reflection. (English, Google translate)

#82 United States

A museum is a public service preservation organization that uses objects to explain subjects. When original to a museum’s subject, the objects act as evidence of or proof for topics explored and presented by the three kinds of museums in existence: art, science and history. (English)

#83 Brazil

O museu é um processo ou um conjunto de processos através dos quais uma instituição aberta ao público, virtual ou física, permanente ou não, com ou sem fins lucrativos, cuida da transmissão do conhecimento sobre as culturas humanas através dos tempos, de forma a preservar sua memória para a posteridade, garantindo o direito à herança cultural de todos os povos, culturas e subculturas, inclusive as culturas urbanas. O museu deve servir à sociedade e proporcionar seu desenvolvimento, sendo que o termo “desenvolvimento” deve ser usado respeitando o tempo natural de mudança de todas as culturas, a partir da ideia de que todas as culturas possuem importância que devem ser igualmente consideradas. Em seu trabalho, o museu adquire, conserva, investiga, comunica e expõe o patrimônio material e imaterial da humanidade e do seu meio, com fins de educação, estudo, deleite e de manutenção do conhecimento para a posteridade. (Portuguese)

The museum is a process or a set of processes through which an institution open to the public, virtual or physical, permanent or not, whether or not for profit, takes care of transmitting the knowledge about human cultures through the ages, in order to preserve its memory for posterity, guaranteeing the right to the cultural heritage of all peoples, cultures and subcultures, including urban cultures. The museum should serve society and provide its development, and the term “development” should be used respecting the natural time of change of all cultures, from the idea that all cultures have importance that should also be considered. In his work, the museum acquires, preserves, investigates, communicates and exposes the material and immaterial patrimony of mankind and its environment, for purposes of education, study, delight and maintenance of knowledge for posterity. (English, Google translate)

#84 France

Un musée est une collection d’objets conservés ou présentés à tous artistiques, archéologiques, ethnographiques ou naturels, faisant sens dans la société correspondante et donnés au public pour l’étude ou la délectation. (French)

A museum is a collection of artefacts that are conserved or presented everyone. They can be artistics, archeologicals, ethnographicals, or naturals. They make sense in their society. They are gived to the public for study or delectation. (English)

#85 Italy

Il museo è un’istituzione permanente, senza scopo di lucro, al servizio della società, e del suo sviluppo, aperta al pubblico, accessibile e inclusiva, che effettua ricerche sulle testimonianze materiali ed immateriali dell’uomo e del suo ambiente, le acquisisce, le conserva, e le comunica e specificatamente le espone ai fini di studio, educazione, diletto e partecipazione, attraverso forme di progettazione condivisa delle attività e superare quelle barriere che ancora ostruiscono la piena partecipazione dei cittadini alla cultura. (Italian)

The museum is a permanent, non-profit institution at the service of society and its development, open to the public, accessible and inclusive, which carries out research on the material and immaterial testimonies of man and his environment, acquires, preserves, and communicates them and specifically exposes them for the purposes of study, education, enjoyment and participation, through forms of shared planning of activities and overcome those barriers that still obstruct the full participation of citizens in culture. (English)

#86 Spain

Un Museu és tot aquell l’espai humà on la societat decideix lliurar els objectes o elements vincualts o no a ella mateixa. Amb les atribucions propies de guardar i conservar; estudiar, documentar i difondre; contextualitzar i vincular amb el seu entron i voltant. Amb una especial atenció als estrats de la societats més desafaborits. (Catalan)

A museum is all that the human space where society decides to deliver the objects or elements linked or not to herself. With the proper attributions of saving and preserving; study, document and disseminate; contextualize and link with your enton and around. With special attention to the strata of the most disadvantaged societies. (English)

#87 Australia

Museums are unique physical and conceptual sites, including online, that collect, preserve, document, research, and communicate tangible and intangible cultural heritage, history, science, and art in a myriad of ways. More than this they are important sites of knowledge production and play a role in how collectives of people identify and re/affirm cultural norms and at the same time are well placed to challenge them for a more diverse future. (English)

#88 Bolivia

Un museo es una institución sin fines de lucro, administrada por profesionales que investigan, adquieren, conservan, protegen y exhiben material de importancia patrimonial para la humanidad, con la finalidad de que los visitantes accedan a esa información, –en forma de objetos, textos, videos, audios y otros medios–, y que de esta manera se conecten y comprendan el valor del patrimonio material o inmaterial, convirtiéndolos en cómplices activos de su protección y difusión. (Spanish)

A museum is a non-profit institution, managed by professionals who research, acquire, conserve, protect and exhibit material of heritage importance for humanity, with the purpose of allowing visitors to access this information, (in the form of objects, texts , videos, audios and other media), and by this mean, to connect and understand the value of tangible or intangible heritage, turning them into active accomplices of its protection and dissemination. (English)

#89 Argentina

Si los museos del pasado fueron creados para conservar, preservar y exhibir colecciones, los museos hoy se definen por lo que hacen para que sus colecciones sean accesibles a la comunidad. (Spanish)

If museums of the past were created to preserve, preserve and exhibit collections, museums today are defined by what they do to make their collections accessible to the community. (English)

#90 United States

A museum is a place where we exhibit our shared experiences of humanity and our environment. (English)

#91 Albania

Nje muze eshte nje hapesire multidimensionale, e krijuar prej njeriut ne sherbim te shoqerise. Ai permban, pasqyron, analizon gjithe permbajtesine njerezore-natyrore te kohes qe ka egzistuar, dhe qe sjell ate ne te tashmen duke e transmetuar drejt se ardhmes.  (Albanian / Shqip)

A museum is a multidimensional space created by the humans in the service of society. It contains, reflects, analyzes all the human-natural content of the time that has existed, and brings it to the present by transmitting it towards the future. (English)

#92 United Kingdom

A museum exists to create spaces for the service of the public, using its resources, collections and programming to engage a diverse audience in a dialogue about ideas. The museum’s purpose, as a trusted authority, is to convey knowledge, both tangible and intangible, about the world around us. They do this through shared authority and collaboration while welcoming debate. They continually adapt practices and approaches in order to remain relevant to the needs of present communities and ensure sustainability for the future. The museum acts as a platform to give voice to those who contribute to this dialogue, with a commitment towards social and community development. It is a meaningful meeting place, a place for social gatherings and a place for entertainment. (English)

#93 Italy

Il museo è dove il cambiamento si avvia: lì le comunità possono riunirsi, discutere e pianificare azioni per la società in cui vivono. I musei sono lugo fertie per la crescita di nuove idea e lo sviluppo di menti creative. In questo senso, il patrimonio, conservato all’interno delle istituzioni museali sparse in tutto il mondo, può diventare un dinamico strumento attraverso cui le persone possono far valere la propria opinione sugli argomenti e i problemi della società contemporanea.  (Italian)

A museum is where change takes place: in there, communities can gather, discuss and plan actions for the society in which they live. Museums are fertile places for the growth of new ideas and the development of creative minds. In this term, heritage, preserved inside museum institutions all around the world, can become a dynamic tool through which people can make their voices heard on the current topics and problems of contemporary society. (English)

#94 Trinidad and Tobago

Museums are spaces which preserves yesterday’s stories for today’s history. A space were cultures and heritage of generations are treasured, protected, respected, diseminated and were old lives from ancient times touches the new. (English)

#95 Brazil

Um museu é uma instituição com direito a sustentabilidade econômico e financeira, a serviço da difusão educacional e cultural, mediante a preservação da memória material ou imaterial de interesse humano local ou global. (Portuguese)

A museum is an institution with the right to economic and financial sustainability, at the service of educational and cultural diffusion, through the preservation of material or immaterial memory of local or global human interest. (English)

#96 Germany

Das Museum ist eine Stelle, die das materielle und immaterielle Kulturerbe der Menschheit bewahrt und weltweit zur friedlichen Nutzung zur Verfügung stellt und eine Wissensvermittlung mit Freude ermöglicht. (German)

The museum is the place care the materiell and immateriell cultural heritage of the mankind and present it for peaceful use worldwide and give knowledge with happieness. (English)

#97 Iran

موزه ها به مثابهٔ خانه های فرهنگی فراگیری برای بودن-در گفتگو‌ با همه مردم هستند که با هدف آموزش، الهام بخشی و صلح، میراث های بشری را بر پایهٔ اخلاقیات، نگهداری و تحقیق می کنند، تفسیر و نمایش می دهند. (Persian)

Museums are as inclusive cultural houses of being-in conversation to all people, which preserve, investigate, interpret and display heritages of humanity based on ethics for the purposes of education, inspiration and peace. (English)

#98 France

Un musée est un endroit ou nous pouvons voir une large type d’arts. Un musée propose en un endroit une multitudes de trésor qui en font notre patrimoine. A travers ces arts on ressent souvent une émotion, c’est aussi le moyen de s’exprimer. (Français)

A museum is a place where we can see a wide variety of arts. A museum offers in one place a multitude of treasure that make our heritage. Through these arts we often feel an emotion, it is also the way to express oneself (English, Google translate)

#99 Spain

Institución que vincula a la humanidad con su pasado y presente y con su entorno mediante elementos patrimoniales, naturales e inmateriales. A través de ellos explica e interpreta los vínculos del ser humano con su realidad pasada, presente y también con la realidad imaginada, y son por lo tanto instituciones esenciales para un presente y futuro óptimos de las personas y el planeta.  (Spanish)

Institution that links humanity with its past and present and with its environment through patrimonial, natural and intangible elements. Through them, he explains and interprets the links of the human being with his past, present and also with the imagined reality, and are therefore essential institutions for an optimal present and future of the people and the planet. (English)

#100 Ukraine

Музей – це некомерційний культурний осередок для відпочинку, розваг, навчання, виховання, розвитку особистості. Музей – суспільне джерело набуття та поглиблення знань про матеріальну і нематеріальну спадщину людства, яку він набуває, зберігає, досліджує та популяризує за допомогою різноманітних форм і методів комунікації. (Ukraininan)

The museum is a non-profit cultural center for recreation, entertainment, education, upbringing, and personality development. The museum is a public source of gaining and deepening knowledge about the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity, which it acquires, conserves, researches and promotes through various forms and methods of communication. (English)

#101 Spain

Un museo es una institución cultural encargada de conservar, gestionar y difundir el valor patrimonial que alberga adaptándose a las necesidades de la sociedad con la finalidad de atraer a un mayor público. (Spanish)

A museum is a cultural institution that is responsible for preserving, managing and disseminating the heritage value it houses adapting to the needs of society in order to attract a larger public. (English)

#102 Belgium

Le musée est un espace interculturel ouvert au public, un lieu de rencontres et d’échanges multiculturels, dont la jouissance permet de découvrir les différents courants artistiques et de parcourir les événements de l’histoire. Son objectif est un travail d’étude visant à transmettre, par l’acquisition d’œuvres et leur exposition éthique et en toute transparence, le patrimoine matériel et immatériel d’une société en perpétuelle mutation, sur des thèmes inspirés du quotidien et de son environnement. Il préserve ainsi la mémoire collective de chacun. (French)

The museum is an intercultural open space, a place for multicultural contacts and interactions, whose enjoyment makes it possible to discover the different artistic trends and to explore the historical events. Its objective is a study work aimed at transmitting, through the acquisition of works and their ethical exhibition and in all transparency, the tangible and intangible heritage of a society in perpetual change, on themes inspired by everyday life and its environment. In this way, it preserves the collective memory of each individual. (English)

#103 Canada     

A museum is an instrument through which tangible and intangible cultural heritage and knowledge is preserved and shared on large and small scales, in an effort to benefit and serve local and global communities. They should support research and provide a link between our past, present and future, while striving to do so ethically, sustainably and without bias. (English)

#104 United Kingdom

A museum is a public, collective process by which people are enabled, through the understanding of their relationship to the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, to contribute to the long-term well-being of communities and sustainability of environments, globally and locally. (English)

#105 France

Le musée peut-être une institution publique, privée, associative. Son but est d’étudier, d’exposer, d’appréhender et d’analyser les faits humains à travers le patrimoine matériel et immatériel sociétal. Il peut être spécialisé dans une thématique, une période, ses visées sont multiples et destinées à tout public. Ainsi, il peut conserver, exposer, créer, étudier, et faire voir avec pédagogie, en évitant de se montrer catégorique sur les données qu’il transmet, par devoir d’objectivité relative à son statut institutionnel. Le musée est une structure pouvant accueillir objets, expositions, projets de recherche et de développement. (French)

The museum can be a public, private, associative institution. Its aim is to study, expose, apprehend and analyse human facts through the tangible and intangible societal heritage. It can be specialized in a theme, a period, its aims are multiple and intended for all audiences. In this way, it can preserve, exhibit, create, study, and show with pedagogy, avoiding being categorical about the data it transmits, by duty of objectivity relating to its institutional status. The museum is a structure that can accommodate objects, exhibitions, research and development projects. (English)

#106 Romania

Legea nr. 311 din 08/07/2003 citește : “Muzeul este o instituţia de cultură, de drept public sau de drept privat, fără scop lucrativ, aflată în serviciul societăţii, care colecţionează, conservă, cercetează, restaurează, comunică şi expune, în scopul cunoaşterii, educării şi recreerii, mărturii materiale şi spirituale ale existenţei şi evoluţiei comunităţilor umane, precum şi ale mediului înconjurător.” (Romanian)

Law no. 311 of 08/07/2003 reads: “The Museum is a cultural institution, public or private law, non-profit-making institution in the service of society, which collects, preserves, researches, restores, communicates and exhibits, material and spiritual testimonies of existence for the purpose of knowledge, education and recreation and the evolution of human communities as well as the environment.” (English)

#107 Brazil

Museus são arenas sensoriais engajadas no fornecimento de recursos de todo tipo, a fim de tornar o conhecimento da vida – humana e não-humana – mais amplo, confiável, gratificante e capaz de estimular a ação socialmente responsável. (Portuguese)

Museums are sensorial arenas engaged in providing sensorial resources of all kinds in order to make our knowledge of life – human and non-human – more extensive, reliable, gratifying and able to nurture responsible social action. (English)

#108 Greece

Το εργοστάσιο των ονείρων μας. [GR]

The factory of our dreams. [EN]

L’usine des nos rêves. [FR]

#109 Sweden

A museum is an institution that creates context for knowledge and artifacts through telling stories of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. (English)

#110 Romania  

A museum is a formal institution which has the role to show through the objects the aspects of the past and in the same time it is a place where people, regardless of their culture, discover the evolution and development of people. Also, museum as a formal institution has the main role to perserve the cultural heritage and to analyse it. In a nutshell, museum is a liaison between the past, present and future. (English)

#111 Taiwan

A museum is a smart learning centre where collections and objects truly fit into people’s lives, rather than one of being a repository of collections for passive viewing by visitors. (English)

#112 Portugal

Um museu é uma instituição sem fins lucrativos, permanente e ao serviço da sociedade e do seu desenvolvimento sustentável, aberta ao público e que adquire, conserva, investiga, comunica e expõe o património material e imaterial da humanidade e seu meio ambiente com a finalidade educativa, de investigação, de fruição do seu acervo e das trocas com outros instituições, tendo a possibilidade de criar e desenvolver atividades complementares com vista a garantir uma parte financeira, fundamental à sua missão institucional e podendo receber um “rendimento mínimo museológico” e sistemático do Estado com vista a assegurar, anualmente, a prestação de serviço público no seu domínio de intervenção patrimonial e criativa. (Portuguese)

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution at the service of society and its sustainable development, open to the public and which acquires, preserves, investigates, communicates and exposes the material and immaterial heritage of mankind and its environment for the purpose education, research, the enjoyment of its collection and exchanges with other institutions, with the possibility of creating and developing complementary activities with a view to guaranteeing a financial part, fundamental to its institutional mission and capable of receiving a systematic “minimum museological income” of the State in order to ensure annually the provision of public service in its patrimonial and creative sphere of intervention. (English)

#113 El Salvador

Un museo es cultura viva, patrimonio visibilizado y la identidad que emerge constantemente de un pueblo, es educación, preservación y difusión de las diferentes manifestaciones generadas a travez de la historia. Puede contar con un espacio, físico, virtual o reunir diferentes iniciativas. (Spanish)

A museum is living culture, visibilized heritage and the identity that constantly emerges from a people, is education, preservation and diffusion of the different manifestations generated through history. You can have a space, physical, virtual or gather different initiatives. (English)

#114 Ukraine

Музей є неприбутковою інституцією організованого інтелектуального дозвілля, простором зустрічі часів та трансформації духу через дотик вічних цінностей, зафіксованих в матеріальній та нематеріальній спадщині людства. (Ukraine)

Museum is a non-profitable institution of organized intelectual leisure, a space of the meeting of times and the transformation of spirit through the touch of eternal values embodied in the  tangible and intangible humanity heritage. (English)

#115 Iran

موزه ها فضاهایی امن در خدمت انسانها برای کمک به آنها در ساخت آینده ای بهتر هستند. (Persian)

Museums are the safe spaces in the service of humans to help them in making a better future. (English)

#116 Russia

Museum is a social institution of actualization and interpretation of tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment via its collecting, preserving, documenting, exploring and exhibiting for translating the values shared by communities, groups and individuals according to Global trends in the World and Nature.

#117 Venezuela

El museo cambia sus paradigmas y despliega alcances múltiples, complejos, evolutivos. Requiere una definición cónsona, irreductible a obsolescencias conceptuales. El Museo es un espacio expositivo, contenedor y conservador patrimonial polivalente y glocal, físico y virtual, y un agente de comprensión patrimonial. Con dinámicas simultáneas, complejas y transformativas en varios frentes, estimula a sus usuarios a ser factores de re-interpretación y co-creación de contenidos con evolutivos significados y valores compartidos (culturales, identitarios, educativos, científicos, estéticos, espirituales). Elucida potenciales, divergentes y complementarias trayectorias de creación/producción, distribución, valoración y apropiación de sus colecciones, viabilizando múltiples expectativas de abierta y plural participación con plataformas de estrategias comunicativas y recursos pedagógicos y tecnológico-digitales de última generación. (Spanish)

The museum changes its paradigms and displays multiple, complex, evolutionary scopes. It requires a definition consonant, irreducible to conceptual obsolescence. The Museum is an exhibition space, container and patrimonial polyvalent and glocal, physical and virtual, and an agent of patrimonial comprehension. With simultaneous, complex and transformative dynamics on several fronts, it stimulates its users to be factors of re-interpretation and co-creation of contents with evolving meanings and shared values (cultural, identity, educational, scientific, aesthetic, spiritual). Elucida potential, divergent and complementary trajectories of creation / production, distribution, valuation and appropriation of their collections, enabling multiple expectations of open and plural participation with platforms of communication strategies and pedagogical and technological-digital resources of last generation. (English)

#118 Mexico

A museum is a space for participatory social exchange that bases its intellectual discourse on a collection of objects that tell the stories of human beings but also create the narratives by which we understand such stories. Museums have a responsibility to collect, preserve, and present objects for their study and reference to future generations. A museum is an inclusive space where visitors can enjoy, learn, expand their horizons, challenge themselves and their world view.

#119 Lebanon

A museum is a global, non-profit cultural institution that collects, documents, preserves, studies, researches, communicates and educates the tangible and intangible heritage of humankind. It is a space that holds in trust for society artefacts and safeguards our collective memory for future generations.

#120 Mauritius

A museum is not necessary an institution but a place where knowledge and history are disseminate through interaction, interpretation and technologically while maintaining the acquisition,preservation and conservation of intangible and tangible heritage . A museum is no more a center of attraction but a center on interpretation.

#121 Germany

A modern museum have give good information for all kind of person, old and young, valid and invalid, in all regions of the world, to understand in many languages and in old and new technical possibilities….all allowed methodes are possible to make the museum and their collections public and protect and care the collections.

#122 Mexico

Un museo es un sitio patrimonial que resguarda y divulga la percepción mediante la representación tangible de las ideas, sentimientos y pensamientos, que dan sentido e identidad a una comunidad. (Spanish)

A museum is a heritage site that protects and disseminates perception through the tangible representation of ideas, feelings and thoughts, which give meaning and identity to a community. (English)

#123 Germany

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which provides space for learning to everyone with a learning horizon within which every visitor can participate and develop individually based on their background, yet along the lines of specific topics and goal taxonomies defined by the museum before.

#124 Brazil

Museus são espaços em constante transformação que promovem experiências com fins de educação, contemplação e construção de conhecimentos visando à formação integral, a emancipação dos indivíduos e a realização plena da democracia. São organizações a serviço da sociedade, dedicadas ao mapeamento, investigação, documentação, preservação, comunicação e interpretação dos testemunhos selecionados da natureza e da ação do homem. (Portuguese)

Museums are spaces in constant transformation that promote experiences for the purposes of education, contemplation and construction of knowledge aiming at integral formation, the emancipation of individuals and the full realization of democracy. They are organizations at the service of society, dedicated to the mapping, investigation, documentation, preservation, communication and interpretation of the selected testimonies of the nature and action of man. (English)

#125 Germany

A museum is a non-profit, permanent and transparent institution in the service of present and future societies, accessible to all, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates, exhibits and safeguards in collaborations based on equality with diverse partnerships the tangible and intangible heritage and its environment for the purposes of social and environmental sustainability.

#126 Costa Rica

Un museo es una institución flexible, permeable, adaptable y viva. Sostenible ambiental y financieramente, al servicio de la sociedad y de su desarrollo, abierta a la comunidad, que con un posicionamiento ético adquiere, conserva, investiga, transmite, dialoga y expone el patrimonio cultural de grupos humanos y su contexto para la mediación, el estudio, el pensamiento crítico y la generación de plataformas que promueven la vinculación y la transformación social. (Spanish)

A museum is a flexible, permeable, adaptable and living institution. Environmentally and financially sustainable, at the service of society and its development, open to the community that, from an ethical position, acquires, conserves, researches, transmits, dialogues and exhibits the cultural heritage of human groups and their context for mediation, study, critical thinking and the generation of platforms that promote social cohesion and transformation. (English)

#127 Costa Rica

El museo es un espacio inclusivo de interacción y encuentro, virtual o físico, entre las diversas comunidades y sus memorias, para la difusión de conocimientos y la conservación del patrimonio –material e intangible– y las identidades, a través de experiencias que fomenten aprendizajes significativos, de manera sostenible y administrado con transparencia. (Spanish)

A museum is an inclusive space of interaction and encounter, virtual or physical, between diverse communities and their memories, for the diffusion of knowledge and the conservation of heritage -material and intangible- and identities, through experiences that foment significant learning, in a sustainable way and administrated with transparency. (English)

#128 Costa Rica

El museo es una institución sostenible, inclusiva, dinámica, transparente, sin fines de lucro, comprometida con los retos del presente y sus soluciones, al servicio de las sociedades y de su desarrollo, abierta a públicos diversos, que adquiere, conserva, investiga, comunica, media, expone y pone en valor el patrimonio cultural y natural con fines pedagógicos, de estudio y esparcimiento. (Spanish)

A museum is a sustainable, inclusive, dynamic, transparent, non-profit institution, committed to the challenges of the present and its solutions, at the service of societies and their development, open to diverse audiences, that acquires, conserves, researches, communicates, mediates, exhibits and gives value to cultural and natural heritage for pedagogical, study and leisure purposes. (English)

#129 China

A museum is an institution which collects, preserves, researches, exhibits and communicates collections, through diverse curatorial approaches and extending activities to engages the community to learn, share and enjoy, with the purposes of making a better life for humans. (English)

#130 Egypt

Museums are the process of fusion the gaps between civilizations, Exchange the knowledge and cultures among peoples, and understanding the opinions of others through displaying, interpretation and translation, and The Cultural and Community friction with each other and practice the intellectual work of thinking and creativity for the service and development of society. so the museum is a non-profit institution in the first place, it must be accessible to the public the Especially the marginalized communities and poor. (English)

#131 Cameroon

Museums it’s a powerful institution for the reconciliation of human been with themselves and their soul , it’s a departure and arrival of human resource and energy.That’s why we said that; Museum it’s the place where justice, equality,peace and Tolerance should be present or build by different exhibition and Civilization knowledge. (English)

#132 Costa Rica

El museo es un espacio físico o virtual, que propicia de manera descentralizada, la generación de experiencias mediante el encuentro con la comunidad y desde un diálogo reflexivo entre el pasado, el presente y el futuro. Consciente de la importancia de identificar desafíos apremiantes para generar estrategias que potencien el desarrollo sostenible de la sociedad. La dinámica que se genere en torno a sus colecciones debe tener una vocación social y educativa, de la mano de la actualización permanente a nivel profesional y social de sus colaboradores. Sus funciones esenciales deben tener un sentido vinculante, a favor de la generación de un conocimiento dinámico, construido de forma conjunta entre el museo y la comunidad. Debe garantizar el libre acceso a un conocimiento veraz, respetuoso con las diferencias, y que dialogue con las necesidades actuales. (Spanish)

The museum is a physical or virtual space that fosters, in a decentralized way, the generation of experiences through the encounter with the community and from a reflective dialogue between the past, the present and the future. Aware of the importance of identifying pressing challenges to generate strategies that promote the sustainable development of society. The dynamics that are generated around their collections must have a social and educational vocation, hand in hand with the permanent updating at the professional and social level of their collaborators. Its essential functions must have a binding sense, in favor of generating dynamic knowledge, built jointly between the museum and the community. It must guarantee free access to truthful knowledge, respect for differences, and be in dialogue with current needs. (English)

#133 El Salvador

Museo debe ser un espacio físico e institucional que trascienda las funciones básicas, es decir la adquisición, conservación, investigación, transmisión y exposición; para estar en consonancia con los cambios constantes y permanentes de la realidad. Cuya misión tome en cuenta, sin perder el sentido histórico de los hechos, la realidad política, económica, social, ambiental y cultural del contexto local, regional, nacional y mundial; los principios y valores éticos y morales basados en la progresividad de los derechos humanos para la promoción de la participación proactiva y asertiva de las comunidades que le rodean y que esto permita el desarrollo de un trabajo compartido entre museo y participación ciudadana activa con el objetivo de tener museos como espacios de reflexión, de formación, de discusión y de proposición de soluciones a las diferentes necesidades que se demandan en un contexto determinado. (Spanish)

Museum must be a physical and institutional space that transcends the basic functions, that is, acquisition, conservation, research, transmission and exhibition; to be consistent with the constant and permanent changes in reality. Whose mission takes into account, without losing the historical sense of the facts, the political, economic, social, environmental and cultural reality of the local, regional, national and world context; the ethical and moral principles and values based on the progressivity of human rights for the promotion of the proactive and assertive participation of the communities that surround it and that this allows the development of a shared work between museum and active citizen participation with the objective of have museums as spaces for reflection, training, discussion and proposal of solutions to the different needs that are demanded in a specific context. (English)

#134 Morocco

A museum is a space in which all kinds of people within communities interact with, learn about and are entertained by tangible and intangible cultural heritage. A museum is a place of convergence that shows cultural diversity and the collective memory and histories of the communities, in order to reflect and create a diverse and harmonious identity outside of any political agenda. A museum protects, preserves, cares for and saves heritage, ideas and objects. (English)

#135 United States

Museums are sites of community experience through engagement with shared cultural heritage both tangible and intangible. Museums define the public they serve in the widest possible way and acknowledge their intended permanence through sustainable practices and engagement with present debates. Museums acknowledge that institutionally they have often been built through elite and exclusionary practices and that to meet the challenges of the future new voices and new methodologies need to be explored. (English)

#136 United States

A museum is a place that allows the human brain to expand, transform, and spark through the exhibition of objects that carry the weight of a time, a culture, and an experience which crosses and erases all the lines that humanity draws in order to separate one and other. (English)

#137 Spain

Un museo es el lugar en el que se custudia, conserva y exhibe una colección de patrimonio material o inmaterial, relacionada con cualquier ámbito del conocimiento o de la creación humana. Es, al mismo tiempo, el mediador entre esa colección y la ciudadanía, a quien hay que transmitir su valor e interés, mediante un programa educativo, divulgativo y lúdico, en el que se integren valores como la igualdad y la multiculturalidad. (Spanish)

A museum is the place where a collection of tangible or intangible heritage, related to any area of knowledge or human creation, is conserved, preserved and exhibited. It is, at the same time, the mediator between the collection and the citizenship, transmiting its value and interest, trough an educational, informational and ludic program, which integrates values such as equality and multiculturalism. (English)

#138 Brazil

Os museus são instituições culturais que constroem relacionamentos e conhecimento, pesquisando, preservando e comunicando suas coleções para o melhor desenvolvimento das sociedades em constante transformação. (Portuguese)

Museums are cultural institutions that build relationships and knowledge by researching, preserving, and communicating their collections for the better development of societies in constant transformation. (English)

#139 France

Un musée est une solution de gestion d’un patrimoine qui favorise sa reconnaissance, sa conservation et sa valorisation, et qui permet de mettre à la fois en récit et en débat une version de la réalité de notre société. (French)

A museum is a solution for heritage management – helping its acknowledgment, preservation and enhancement – that both tells a story about and discusses one version of our social reality. (English)

#140 Mexico

Museo. – institución permanente, flexible y abierta, sin fines de lucro, al servicio de la sociedad para su educación, desarrollo y fortalecimiento mediante el acopio, conservación, documentación, investigación, exposición y difusión de los testimonios materiales e inmateriales del individuo y su medio ambiente en situación de vulnerabilidad, a través de espacios comunicativos físicos o virtuales accesibles, interactivos y experienciales que contribuyen al diálogo y la formación responsable de una sociedad universal justa, incluyente y participativa. (Spanish)

Museum. -institution permanent, flexible and open, nonprofit, at the service of the society for education, development, and strengthening through collection, preservation, documentation, research, exhibition and dissemination of material witnesses and immaterial of the individual and his environment in a situation of vulnerability, through spaces communicative physical or virtual experiential, interactive and accessible that contribute to dialogue and a fair universal society responsible for training, inclusive and participatory. (English)

#141 Mexico

El Museo es una institución de carácter de servicio público permanente y sin fines lucrativos, que muestra y conserva el patrimonio tangible e intangible de la sociedad, buscando sus orígenes y su desarrollo en el tiempo y su relación con el medio geográfico y social, aportando apoyo para la investigación, con el fin de darlos a conocer para fines educativos, científicos y de recreación, en un marco de respeto a la sociedad y su medio ambiente. (Spanish)

The Museum is an institution of permanent public service character and non-profit, which shows and preserves the tangible and intangible heritage of society, seeking its origins and development over time and its relationship with the geographical and social environment, providing support for research, in order to make them known for educational, scientific and recreational purposes, within a framework of respect for society and its environment. (English)

#142 Turkey

Museums are not just places for collecting also for sharing the knowledge of human being. Museum is place to connecting others, learning from each others. Museum establishes empathy with all unknown. Humans, communities and ecosystems can learn stories of other beings and cultures at the museum. (English)

#143 United States

A museum is an institution open to more than one person that has a defined space. It acquires and exhibits artifacts for the purpose of education, study, and/or enjoyment. (English)

#144 Spain

Museo es cualquier ecosistema protegido por instituciones públicas y privadas donde la adquisición, conservación, investigación, educación, exhibición, diálogo, recreación y creación sin ánimo de lucro de la herencia tangible e intangible de la humanidad y de la naturaleza inspira modelos de justicia social, de soluciones a las crisis, de respeto a la diferencia, de búsqueda de la felicidad y de convivencia ética y sostenible entre todas las formas de vida presentes y futuras. (Spanish)

Museum is any ecosystem protected by public and private institutions where the acquisition, conservation, research, education, exhibition, dialogue, recreation and non-profit creation of the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and nature inspires models of social justice, of solutions to crises, respect for difference, search for happiness and ethical and sustainable coexistence between all present and future forms of life. (English)

#145 Qatar

A museum is a non-profit “humane” knowledge based public institution, and an experience service provider that is created to engage, provide knowledge, improve wellbeing, instigate curiosity, provide materials for research and serves the transfer into the past, showcase the present and its transfer to the future generations. It’s aim is to guard, collect, exchange, display and present visual narratives through creating an immersive experience using research of owned and loaned artworks including: artefacts, performance, archives, objects, digital art and multimedia. (English)

#146 Mexico

Un museo es una institución sin fines lucrativos permanente, al servicio de la sociedad y de su desarrollo, abierta al público, que adquiere, conserva,investiga, comunica y expone el patrimonio tangible o intangible de la humanidad y su medio ambiente con fines de educación, estudio y recreo con el aporte del trabajo del hombre y la tecnología. (Spanish)

A museum is a permanent non-profit institution, at the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, preserves, investigates, communicates and exposes the tangible or intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study and recreation, with the contribution of man’s work and technology. (English – Own translation)

#147 Mexico

Un museo es un lugar en el que habita la historia, el arte, la ciencia y la cultura y ayuda a entender el contexto en el que vivimos; pasado, presente y futuro. (Spanish)

A museum is a space in which history, art, culture and science live and helps to understand the context in which we live; past, present and future. (English)

#148 United States

A museum is an entity that encourages people of all backgrounds to engage in meaningful conversations around the knowledge and stories of humanity; to this end, the museum collects, preserves, interprets and presents ideas and objects to inform and inspire future generations about our shared world. (English)

#149 Italy

A museum is a non profit, apolitical institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible world heritage to foster sustainability, education and recreation. (English)

#150 Cuba

The museum is an iterative creation between reality and the subject. It is a socio-cultural and multigenerational concept that responds to the need to have common codes to understand and explain human actions during the course of the years. Either from an individual, global, scientific, political, economic, racial or gender perspective, their relevance feeds on the specific contextual conditions to decode different allusive or representative messages at a certain moment, to a particular community and based on changing experiences. (English)

#151 Canada

A museum is an inclusive organization with a collection of tangible and intangible heritage and history that is in service to society and its sustainable development. Museums should aim to educate, give enjoyment, inspire discussion and conversation, and encourage creative and critical thinking. (English)

#152 Croatia

Museums are keepers of collective memory, who: i) offer their audiences paths of understanding the way that communities shaped their environment with the artistic, cultural, social and/or political influences during past and present; and ii) inspire their audiences to influence the better future and shape better world themselves, by designing enjoyable experiences, provoking dialogue and engaging audiences’ participation and pro-activity. (English)

#153 Greece

Un museo es un espacio permanente sin fines lucrativos, que adquiere, conserva, investiga, comunica y expone el patrimonio material e inmaterial de la humanidad y su medio ambiente. Además el museo, asume la responsabilidad de representar a la sociedad por encima de cualquier poder y de forma inclusiva e igualitaria en todas las anteriores funciones, con fines de educación, estudio y recreo. (Spanish)

Ένα μουσείο είναι ένας μη κερδοσκοπικός, μόνιμος χώρος που αποκτά, συντηρεί, ερευνά, επικοινωνεί και εκθέτει την υλική και άυλη κληρονομιά της ανθρωπότητας και του περιβάλλοντος της. Το μουσείο αναλαμβάνει επίσης την ευθύνη της εκπροσώπησης της κοινωνίας πάνω από κάθε εξουσία και με συνεκτικό και ισότιμο τρόπο σε όλες τις προηγούμενες λειτουργίες, με σκοπο την εκπαίδευση, την μελέτη και την απόλαυση. (Greek)

A museum is a non-profit permanant space that acquires, conserves, reearches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intagible heritage of humanity and its environment.The museum also assumes the responsibility of representing the society above any power and in an inclusive and equal way in all the previous functions for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. (English)

#154 Ivory Coast

Le musée est une institution fondamentale quant à la mémoire et l’histoire d’un peuple, d’un pays, d’une nation. Elle est le socle de tout processus visant le mieux-être d’une société donnée. Cette institution demeure un cadre de recherche scientifique et technique indéniable. (French)

The museum is a fundamental institution in the memory and history of a people, a country, a nation. It is the foundation of any process aimed at the well-being of a given society. This institution remains a framework of undeniable scientific and technical research. (English)

#155 Australia

A museum is a reflection of our highest selves across values, times and geographies. (English)

#156 Norway

A museum is an independent, not-for-profit, enduring institution aiming to serve, but also to critically reflect upon the development of society. Its core practises are to acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit tangible and intangible human and natural heritage. It is open to a broad public for the principal purposes of education, study, enjoyment, creative interaction, social engagement and advancement of individual citizenship. (English)

#157 Portugal

Museu é uma ponte entre o passado e o futuro na via do desenvolvimento sustentável; uma instituição que, nos domínios e através das funções que lhe são próprias – investigação, preservação, comunicação e educação – promove o conhecimento individual e coletivo, a harmonia entre os povos, a igualdade de oportunidades e a equidade social e territorial. (Portuguese)

Museum is a bridge between the past and the future on the way to sustainable development; an institution that, within it’s own fields and specific functions – research, preservation, communication and education – promotes individual and collective knowledge, harmony between people, equality of opportunities and social and territorial equity. (English)

#158 Mexico

Espacio de exposición de la memoria e identidad presente y pasada de las diferentes culturas del mundo que por su carácter de testimonio apoya la resiliencia de la humanidad a nivel global no solo en momentos de conflicto sino también en aquellos de conmemoración, ya que permite la transmisión de generación a generación a través de sus colecciones, perpetuando una conciencia de lo que es ser humano. (Spanish)

Space of exposure of the memory and present and past identity of the different cultures of the world that by its character of testimony supports the resilience of the humanity at global level not only in moments of conflict but also in those of commemoration, since It allows the transmission of generation to generation through its collections, perpetuating a consciousness of what it is to be human. (English)

#159 Germany

Museen sollten ein Spiegel der realen Welt mit Kommentaren sein. (German)

Museums should be a mirror of the real world with comments. (English)

#160 Colombia

Los museos son instituciones abiertas al público que generan significado social, están en diálogo con sus comunidades, promueven el intercambio cultural, son flexibles al cambio y educan para la inclusión de todo el pensamiento, creación y memoria del ser humano. (Spanish)

Museums are open to the public institutions that generate social meaning, are in dialogue with their communities, promote cultural exchange, are flexible to change and educate for inclusion of all thought, creation and human memory. (English)

#161 Hong Kong

博物館係一個收藏、保存、研究同埋展示唔同種類嘅人文同埋科學領域遺產嘅機構，佢可以由政府、私人、非牟利團體經營，以實體或者線上形式存在。博物館要本住誠信同埋透明嘅原則，取得同埋使用佢嘅物質、金錢、社會、學術資源，秉持尊重傳統、立足當下、迎向未來嘅思維，以推動環境、社會、經濟方面嘅可持續發展為己任。博物館亦係一個寓教於樂嘅非正式教育場所，佢會提供準確無誤嘅知識、關懷社區、人類共同面對嘅挑戰，並且將內容結合各種媒介，用老少咸宜嘅方式重新包裝，從而培養觀眾嘅想像力、批判思考能力、審美眼光、好奇心、同理心等等。(Cantonese)

Museum is an institution that collect, preserve, research, and display different kinds of humanities and science heritage, it can be run by government, private or non-profit, exists physically and/ or virtually. A museum has to obtain and use its material, financial, social, and intellectual resources under the principles of accountability and transparency; to promote the sustainable development of the environment, society and economy by respecting the past, standing in the present, and facing the future. Museum is also a platform for informal education and socializing, it communicate knowledge accurately, care for communities, inspire people to think about the challenges facing the world. It presents content for people of all ages with integration of various medium, in a way that nurture audience’s imagination, critical thinking, aesthetic vision, curiosity and apathy. (English)

#162 Brazil

Museus são sistemas permanentes de memória, sempre em transformação, que preservam a materialidade e imaterialidade da vida terrestre, a serviço da humanidade, respeitando a diversidade cultural e as escolhas individuais, garantindo que seus conteúdos sejam usados para o desenvolvimento local e global e que todos tenham acesso as experiências de co-criação e celebração da vida. (Portuguese)

Museums are permanent systems of memory, always in transformation, that preserve the materiality and immateriality of terrestrial life, at the service of humanity, respecting cultural diversity and individual choices, ensuring that its contents are used for local and global development and that all have access to the experiences of co-creation and celebration of life. (English)

#163 United Kingdom

Museums are the physical manifestation of Place and place-making, working with their communities and wider society to acquire, conserve, and research collections of tangible cultural heritage, and discovering the intangible cultural heritage relating to them. A museum celebrates these collections through the provision of exhibitions and learning and engagement activities, promoting physical and intellectual access to the varied stories and identities collections represent. (English)

#164 Turkey

Müze, ilgi alanındaki kültürel varlıklar konusunda araştırmalar yaparak, bunları sergileyerek ve öğreterek hafızayı canlı tutan bir kurumdur. Hangi konuya odaklanırsa odaklansın, insanları bir araya getirir. İlham verici demokratik, özgür ve barışçıl – sanal veya fiziksel – bir alan yaratır. Hem ulusal hem de küresel düzeyde insanlara – özellikle STK’larına ve taban kuruluşlarına – platform sağlar. Çok kültürlü, farklı etnik gruplardan oluşan kitlelere ulaşmak için kültürlerarası sorunları ele alır. Çözümler sunmaz ama merak ettirir. Kelimenin her anlamıyla etkileşim için bir alan görevi görür. Tüm bunlar sayesinde müzede “zihin festivali” fırsatları yaratılır. (Turkish)

A museum is an institution to keep memory alive by researching, exhibiting, and teaching relevant cultural assets. It treats subjects in a gender-sensitive way, no matter which main focus it has, brings people together; creates a fulfilling democratic, free and peaceful – virtual or physical – space; provides a platform for members of the public – in particular NGOs and grass roots organizations – both on the national and global levels; addresses cross-cultural issues to reach wide multi-cultural, multi-ethnic audiences; makes curious without offering solutions; acts as a space for interaction in every sense of the word; by all this creating opportunities for a “festival of the mind”. (English)

#165 Greece

Θεματοφύλακας και κοινωνός ιστορικής, εθνικής και καλλιτεχνικής μνήμης. (Greek)

Guardian, trust holder and communicant of historical, ethnical and artistic memory. (English)

#166 Puerto Rico

A efectos de la actualidad presenciada, el rol del Museo es dar cuenta de la transformación e integración social de sus ciudadanos, sea de manera comunitaria localizada o como proyecto autónomo de nación. Las gestiones y fines de la institución deben nutrirse del diálogo sostenido desde la escucha ética y la acción estética de los individuos involucrados; artistas, espectadores, educadores. El Museo debe abordar la creación artística, desde sus procesos y artefactos, en vínculo profundo con la experiencia cultural cotidiana. A través de los espacios diversos –dentro y fuera de la institución– tiene la misión de provocar que la multiculturalidad se acentúe, se relativice y hasta eclosione para que surjan apreciaciones artísticas dinámicas y plurales. Su aportación social y educativa, así como su acervo histórico tienen que constatar la dignidad humana que el arte obsequia. El respeto hacia el valor ecológico del medioambiente, la mirada crítica hacia el continuo desarrollo y el reconocimiento a las alteridades deben armonizar entre los propósitos programáticos del Museo sin menoscabar en sus diferencias y aportes. Precisamente las alteridades convocan la nueva concepción. (Spanish)

The role of the Museum is to provide and give account for the transformation and social integration of its citizens, whether in a localized community or as an autonomous project of a nation. The efforts and goals of the institution must nurture dialogue held from listening to ethical and aesthetic action of the individuals involved; artists, spectators, educators. The Museum must approach the artistic creation, from its processes and artifacts, in deep bond with the daily cultural experience. Through diverse spaces -in and outside the institution- it has the mission of causing multiculturalism to be accentuated, relativized and even hatched so that dynamic and plural artistic appreciations emerge. Their social and educational contribution, as well as their historical heritage, must confirm the human dignity that art gives. The respect towards the ecological value of the environment, the critical look towards the continuous development and the recognition of the alterities must harmonize between the programmatic purposes of the current Museum without diminishing in their differences and contributions. It is precisely otherness which are calling the new Museum concept. (English)

#167 Spain

El museo es una institución oficial cuyas funciones en origen, son conservar, investigar y comunicar diferentes aspectos del patrimonio histórico y cultural de una sociedad. Pero mas allá de estos aspectos, su función prioritaria es la educación no formal, en torno a la construcción identitaria de una población, inmersa en los distintos procesos sociales de naturaleza cambiante. Con ello el museo dedicara sus esfuerzos y lógicas funcionales a la acogida de todos los perfiles sociales, reformulando así, las diferentes narrativas que representan, o no, a determinada población. (Spain)

The museum is an official institution whose functions in origin, are to conserve, investigate and communicate different aspects of the historical and cultural heritage of a society. But beyond these aspects, its priority function is non-formal education, around the identity construction of a population, immersed in the different social processes of a changing nature. With this, the museum will dedicate its efforts and functional logics to the reception of all social profiles, thus reformulating the different narratives that represent, or not, a specific population. (English)

#168 Malaysia

Museums are the home of the tangible and intangible objects that they collect, cherish, restore, preserve and study. Museums share with the world their invaluable treasures and present them in discourses through exhibitions and educational and recreational activities. They care to leave a memory, start a conversation, stimulate the mind and recall events to catch the interest of their present viewer. (English)

#169 Nigeria

A museum is a construct open to the public, for society and its sustainable development, which initiates dialogue between humanity and its heritage (cultural, natural and virtual) that is identified, documented conserved and communicated for the purpose of learning, socialization, empowerment and enjoyment. (English)

#170 Portugal

O Museu é o Lugar de Encontro de Memórias e Conhecimento. O Lugar da Cultura e da Inclusão. (Portuguese)

Museum is the Meeting Place of Memories and Knowlegment. The place of Culture and Inclusion. (English)

#171 United States

A museum holds in one body the diverse physical and intellectual resources, abilities, creativity, freedom, and authority to foster the changes the world needs most. As a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of nature and culture, it cares for and shares the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment. The museum and those who support and work with it use education, research, and creativity to mobilize individual, collaborative and collective action for significant impact so that health, justice, and cultures thrive on a flourishing planet. (English)

#172 Brazil

El Museo-Compositorio es un lugar donde se compone, combina, conecta y relaciona todo lo que sabemos describir, analisar, monitorizar o formalizar. La magia del silencio y su desafío tiene que ver con su naturaleza elusiva, porque basta con que haya alguien mirando o escuchando para que el silencio que buscamos, ese que hemos definido como ausência de señales, se convierta en algo que sucede delante de un testigo. Si no hay señales, no puede haber sensores. Suprimamos testigos uno a uno hasta que nos quedemos al silencio total. Solo hay brumas, es un viaje por la mística. Que queda de una pieza de arte cuando se cae en red? Y si aislamos a su creador y al curador, al crítico, al admirador y al estudioso? Todo lo que se desvanece deja un vacío que lo complementa la saudade. Un mundo donde la saudade remplace a la vista, el oído y el tacto. Una sensorialidad que lejos de estar saturada, está anhelante. El propósito es componer el silencio. Poner con otros. Con otros hacer algo que no emita señales, algo cuyo modo de existencia es el silencio. El silencio es común. Será que aprenderemos a dejarnos afectar por esas cosas que no hablan? Como serían esos ecosistemas de silencio? (Spanish)

The Museum-Compository is a place where we Compose, Combine, Connect and Relate all we can Describe, Analyse, Monitor or Formalyse. It relates with new rules of digital writing. Its focus is the Silence that resists to be represented. The magic of the silence derives from its elusive nature. If someone is listening to it the silence, as lack of signals, transforms itself in testimony. If there are not signals there are no sensors. Lost objects, dissolved paintings, imcomprehensible texts like fog in a mystical journey. What rests from a Work of Art when it falls in the Net? Which new role plays the creator, the curator, the critics, the admirer or the scholar? We do not leave any track of authorship or tool in the Net. Everything that disappears thus leaves an empty space filled by the missing sensation that replaces the vision, ear and touch. New full sensoriality established not by abundance but from scarcity. The compository intends to compose the silence like a musical play by interfering on the alterity of minority groups by Gender, Ethnicity, Age, and social inequality, creating a space that does not emit signals and which way of existence is the silence of ecosystems. (English)

#173 Japan

A space where object are made to speak to human kind who long for story to be told. (English)

#174 Namibia

Museums are not isolated islands, but a network of places where the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of communities has been deposited and preserved. The collections are entangled across time and space in ways that create opportunities for knowledge exchange and dialogue within and between the communities that museums serve. Museums matter. (English)

#175 Azerbaijan

Hər bir muzey müxtəlif sınaqların, səhvlərin və bədii yaradıcılığın mövcud olduğu bu planetdə həyatda əsrlər boyu inkişaf etməkdə olan maddi və qeyri-maddi insan sivilizasiyasının kiçik kolleksiyasının qəyyumu və varisidir. Belə ki, muzey bərpa işlərini, danışıq qeydlərini, tədqiqatları və bu kimi artefaktları (keçmişdən qalan əsərlər) müxtəlif sərgilərdə nümayiş edərək keçmişin ən yaxşı nümunələrini gələcək nəsillərə aydın şəkildə çatdırır. (Azerbaijani)

Each museum is the heir and guardian of a small collection of tangible and intangible human civilization which has been developing over the centuries of life on this planet with a variety of trial and errors as well as artistic creativities. Accordingly, the museum is where by recording, restoration, conservation, research and displaying these artefacts in different exhibitions tries to introduce the best of the past as an enlightened way forward for the future generations. (English)

#176 Egypt

Museums are a formal exhibition that displays exclusive items whether them being of historical, artistic, cultural, or intellectual value. They are meant for showcasing humans’ intellect, civilization, culture and pioneership. They are visited for educational, inspirational, contemplation, appreciation and/or entertainment purposes. (English)

#177 Iran

وزه به عنوان يك نهاد غير انتفاعي مكاني به جهت شناخت ،حفاظت و معرفي انديشه انساني است. آثار اين انديشه در شكل ملموس و غير ملموس در تعامل با طبيعت بخش اصلي موزه را شكل مي دهد (Farsi)

Museum as a non-profitable entity could be considered a place for recognition, conservation and promotion of human thought. The intangible and tangible consequences of this thought interacting with nature forme the principal part of Museum (English)

#178 Qatar

A museum is a space that services diverse communities bringing history to the present and preserving the present for the future.

#179 Colombia

Un museo es un espacio que satisface la necesidad de significación y resignificación del ser humano en todas las etapas de su vida. Es un Lugar de conocimiento inestable, en proceso, anómalo, tan energético como un átomo de Selenio que en ciertas condiciones libera una cantidad inexplicable de energía en todas las direcciones con igual impacto en la vida de una sola persona o de una sociedad entera. Un Museo es un lugar para explorar y experimentar con la vulnerabilidad semántica de los seres humanos, con la predisposición a conocer el mundo a través de la creación de historias, de hacer hipótesis de sentido, de jugar con el conocimiento que esa actividad produce y al explorar desde la vulnerabilidad, se fortalece la actividad creativa frente al mundo y frente a la vida dando oportunidad a las sociedad de reinventarse y ser. (Spanish)

A museum is a place that satisfies the human being`s signification and resignification need in all life stages. Is a generator of unstable knowledge, unfinished thinking processes and anomalies, so energetic, like a Selenium atom, with amazing and equal power of transforming a life or an entire society. A museum is a place to explore and to experiment with the semantic and symbolic vulnerability of human beings, with the predisposition to know the world through the creation of stories, the speculation exercise made in a sense hypothesis, I mean, it is through knowledge playing that makes possible for a society to reinvent itself. (English)

#180 Iran

موزه محل جمع آوری، نگهداری، حفاظت، ارتباط، نمایش و انتقال ذهنیت و عینیت تبلور یافتهی تمامی موجودات زمینی، بخصوص انسانها است. رضا قربانی، دانشجوی کارشناس ارشد مدیریت موزه از دانشگاه هنر اصفهان، ایران (Farsi)

The Museum is the site of collecting, maintaining, protecting, communicating, displaying and transmitting the subjectivity and objectivity of all earthly creatures, especially humans. (English)

#181 Portugal

O museu é uma instituição aberta que guarda a memória colectiva da humanidade através da cultura material e imaterial e que as usa para melhorar o futuro. (Portuguese)

The Museum is an open institution that keeps the humankind collective memory through our tangible and intangible heritage and uses them to improve the future. (English)

#182 Brazil

Museu é uma instituição sem fins lucrativos, a serviço da sociedade, da educação, pesquisa, e da difusão do conhecimento, para a construção da cidadania, garantindo direito à memória, cumprindo a as a função social, preservando o patrimônio museológico das comunidades e das nações, difundindo os valores democráticos, sendo espaço garantidor e estruturador da diversidade sociocultural e da sustentabilidade social e seu desenvolvimento. (Portuguese)

Museum is a non-profit institution, at the service of society, education, research, and dissemination of knowledge, for the construction of citizenship, guaranteeing the right to memory, fulfilling the social function, preserving museological heritage, communities and of the nations, disseminating democratic values, being a guarantor and structurer of socio-cultural diversity and social sustainability and its development. (English)

#183 Canada

Museums are public institutions in the service of society and its development, with a shared authority to collect, preserve and communicate human knowledge. They are safe spaces that provide universal access to information and foster opportunities for critical thinking, learning, dialogue and social engagement. (English)

#184 Brazil

Museus são instituições culturais de caráter plural e diverso, de espirito conceitualmente liquido garantidores da poética social de sua coesão social e da liberdade igualdade fraternidade entre as comunidades, tendo a democracia como valor universal e a museodiversidade como estruturante das ações garantia das diferentes narrativas da sociedade onde está inserido. (Portuguese)

Museums are cultural institutions of a plural and diverse nature, with a spiritually liquid guarantee of the social poetics of their social cohesion and of freedom equality and fraternity between communities, democracy as universal value and museodiversity as structuring of actions guarantee the different narratives of the society where it is inserted. (English)

#185 Colombia

El museo es un lugar que compone diferentes elementos de investigación artística y cultural de hechos históricos de creación de toda índole (local, regional, departamental, nacional e internacional); Basada en la recopilación Manifestación en artículos, textos, imágenes y apoyo de las Tics; con el apoyo de elementos para dar a conocer en pequeños espacios ubicando material informativo que cuente un suceso a los visitantes. (Spanish)

The museum is a place that composes different elements of artistic and cultural research of historical facts of creation of all kinds (local, regional, departmental, national and international); Based on the collection Manifestation in articles, texts, images and support of Tics; with the support of elements to make known in small spaces locating informative material that tells an event to the visitors. (English)

#186 Ukraine

Музей як осередок збережених цінностей має сприяти формуванню глобальної загальнолюдської культури. Базова наукова дисципліна для музеології – аксіологія. Головний ворог культури (а з цим і музеїв) – аномія. Експонати в музеї можуть бути як реальні артефакти, так і нематеріальні, головне – концепція. (Ukrainian)

The museum as the center of saved values should contribute to the formation of a global human culture. Basic science for museology is axiology. The main enemy of culture (and with it and museums) – anomie. Exhibits in the museum can be both real artifacts, and non-material, the main is the concept. (English)

#187 Iran

موزه ، مکانی از گوناگونی های زندگی، نژاد، فضاهای زیسته، دانستنی ها، فرهنگ، محیط زیست، میراث، صنایع دستی، هنرها، و شیوه های عشق ورزی، زندگی تا مرگ انسان است و پس از آن. مکانی گشوده و یک کانون فرهنگی با هدف ایجاد ارتباط، تعامل، آموزش،مشارکت جمعی، روحیه بخشی، یادگیری و شادکامی، جاری از گذشته به حال تا آینده، با حفاظت، مرمت، برگزاری نمایشگاه، مستند نگاری و تفسیر حیات، فضای زیست آن و میراثش. (Farsi)

A museum, is a divers place of humans life, gender, race, culture, environment, legacy, spaces,knowledge, crafts, arts, or ways of loving, living to death and afterwards. An open and public hub with communication,interaction, education,socialization, welbeing, study and joy purposes , flowing from the past to present and future with conserving, preserving, exhibiting, documenting, interpreting  existence , its living spaces and heritage. (English)

#188 Poland

A modification of the existing definition: A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution of science and culture, in the service of society, a meeting place open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates, interprets and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, applying the highests ethical standards of truth, honesty, accountability and transparency, for the purposes of education, study, enjoyment and sustainable, ecologically sound civilisational growth – regardless of ideology and political circumstances. (English)

#189 France

Le musée est une institution permanente, évoluant au sein du territoire dans lequel il est implanté, qui conserve, étudie, présente et met en valeur des objets issus des collections dont il a la charge. Il veille à inclure toutes les populations de ce territoire en organisant des évènements pensés à la fois par les professionnels des musées et des bénévoles : expositions à plusieurs degrés de lecture (pour les amateurs comme pour les primos visiteurs), visites sur-mesure du lieu avec un médiateur culturel. Ceci dans le but de sensibiliser les publics au patrimoine et à l’environnement qui les entourent. Le musée se doit d’être innovant et susciter la curiosité: cela passe par une médiation qui s’adapte à l’auditoire et qui sait séduire. (French)

The museum is a permanent institution, evolving in the territory in which it is established, which preserves, studies, presents and highlights objects from the collections for which it is responsible. It strives to include all the populations of this territory by organizing events thought by both museum professionals and volunteers: exhibitions with several degrees of reading (for amateurs as for first visitors), tailor-made tours of the place with a cultural mediator. This is to raise public awareness of the heritage and the environment around them. The museum must be innovative and arouse curiosity: it requires a mediation that adapts to the audience and that seduces. (English)

#190 Iran

The museum is a social institution who collect, conserve, interpret and communicate all concept of human and his environment in the service of people with making meaning and giving understandable knowledge, in the purpose of enjoyable learning for all. (Iran)

#191 Brazil

Museu é toda instituição que se auto defina como museu, que tenha como missão preservação, difusão do patrimônio museológico que esteja sob sua guarda, dando conhecimento aos cidadãos, sobre de forma a cumprir sua função socioeducacional, de caráter democrático e de transformação social, repeitado a diversidade, cultural, social, geracional e de gênero. (Portuguese)

Museum is an institution that defines itself as a museum, whose mission is preservation, dissemination of the museological heritage that is under its guard, giving knowledge to the citizens, in order to fulfill its socio-educational function, of a democratic character and of social transformation, repeated diversity, cultural, social, generational and gender. (English)

#192 Colombia

Los museos son instituciones sin fines de lucro para la generación, preservación y transmisión de diálogos plurales, abiertos y intergeneracionales en torno a los procesos políticos, sociales, culturales, económicos y ambientales del pasado y el presente. Son instituciones que crean experiencias que permiten a las personas y comunidades reflexionar sobre nuevas formas de construir juntos futuros mejores y sostenibles. (Spanish)

Museums are non-for-profit institutions for the generation, preservation and transmission of plural, open and cross-generational dialogues around the political, social, cultural, economic and environmental processes from the past and the present. They are institutions that create experiences that allow individuals and communities to reflect on new ways for building together better and sustainable futures. (English)

#193 Iran

Museum is an organization that passes from different times and places and by a ffecting on national identity and emotional intelligence of people ,help us to know diffrent cultural,political,national and economical, dimensions of societies.(English)

#194 United States

A museum is a sustainable, nonprofit institution that ethically represents and effectively cares for objects, arts, and ideas, is flexible regarding its ever-dynamic environment, counteracts the current systems in place that contribute to social inequality, and engages diverse communities. (English)

#195 United States

Museums are institutions devoted to the education of the public and the preservation of history through the use of objects. (English)

#196 Iran

موزه ، نهادی پایدار برآمده از، ارتباط انسان با تاریخ ،فرهنگ و محیط زیست اوست که با حفظ و نگهداری، بررسی و مطالعه، نمایش و تفسیر آثار ملموس و ناملوس بشریت و محیطش در جهت توسعه فرهنگ، اخلاق و هنر بشریت حرکت می کند. (Farsi)

A museum is a sustainable institution based on human communication with its history, culture and environment, which moves with the preservation, study, exhibit and interpretation of the tangible and intangible effects of humanity and its environment for the development of human culture, ethics and art. (English)

#197 France

Un musée est une institution permanente sans but lucratif au service de la société et de son développement ouverte au public, qui acquiert, conserve, étudie, expose et transmet le patrimoine matériel et immatériel de l’humanité et de son environnement à des fins d’études, d’éducation et de délectation. Un musée est un lieu inclusif, participatif et collaboratif qui évolue de façon permanente, s’adapte à la société dans laquelle il prend place, et répond aux attentes du public qui en a l’usage. (French)

A museum is a permanent non-profit institution serving society and its development open to the public, which acquires, preserves, studies, exhibits and transmits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purpose of studies, education and enjoyment. A museum is an inclusive, participative and collaborative place that evolves permanently, adapts to the society in which it takes place, and meets the expectations of the public who use it. (English)

#198 Kuwait

المتحف هو نظام متكامل يعمل كدار للتاريخ والثقافة، ككيان إجتماعي، كمؤسسة تعليمية، كمنصة فنية وكصوت للسياسة، عن طريق الاقتناء والحفظ والعرض والتواصل للتراث المادي وغير المادي للإنسان والطبيعة في سبيل خلق معاني وخبرات جديدة لمختلف الأعمار. (Arabic)

A museum is an integrated system that works as a house of history and culture, a social entity, an educational institution, an art platform and a voice for politics which acquire, preserve, represent and communicate the tangible and intangible human and natural heritage in order to create new meanings and experiences for different ages. (English)

#199 Portugal

O Museu é um lugar de encontro, onde passado, presente e futuro deverão ligar-se num diálogo construtivo que promova a inquietude e a incessante busca pelo sentido de Humanidade. (Portuguese)

The Museum is a meeting place, where past, present and future should be linked in a constructive dialogue that promotes restlessness and the incessant search for the sense of Humanity. (English)

#200 Brazil

Museus são instituições quentes, a serviço das populações com a missão de difusão de forma democrática e participativa do patrimônio museológico e da memoria das sociedades onde estão inseridos. (Portuguese)

Museums are warm institutions, serving the population with the mission of disseminating in a democratic and participatory way the museological heritage and the memory of the societies in which they are inserted. (English)

#201 Japan

A museum is an organization or form of activity, which is rooted in the passion for understanding ourselves, our surroundings, and the wider world extending to the universe. Museums aim to enrich human lives and productive activities, nurture our notions of identity and compassion, as well as mutual respect, by acknowledging the various elements and consequences that constitute or surround us who live in the present through the earnest study of any aspect of our existence, towards connecting our knowledge and wisdom to our future. (English)

#202 Brazil

O museu é um espaço de cultura que acolhe todos os públicos e busca comunicar os conteúdos de seu acervo, possibilitando experiências individuais ou coletivas de construção de conhecimento, criticidade, lazer, investigação, entretenimento e contemplação. Assim, pensando poeticamente, um museu é como uma grande árvore viva, plantada em um solo de patrimônio rico de memórias e identidades culturais. Pesquisa e investigação são suas raízes que buscam o necessário para alimentar a árvore. Em seu caule, ocorre o processo de ressignificação e apropriação das informações trazidas pelas raízes. Seus galhos sustentam o conteúdo a ser exibido nas folhas que representam as exposições, ou seja, aquilo que é comunicado para o público. Os frutos das exposições são os diálogos suscitados a partir do que é instigado. E, por fim, nessa comparação poética, os indivíduos são os pássaros. Eles contemplam a árvore, se alimentam de seus frutos e admiram sua folhagem, colaborando para a manutenção da existência deste ciclo. (Portuguese)

The museum is a space of culture that welcomes all publics and seeks to communicate the contents of its collection, enabling individual or collective experiences of building knowledge, criticism, leisure, research, entertainment and contemplation. So, thinking poetically, a museum is like a large living tree, planted in a soil rich of heritage, memories and cultural identities. Research and investigation are its roots that seek the necessary to feed the tree. In its stem, the process of resignification and appropriation of the information brought by the roots takes place. Its branches support the content to be displayed on the leaves representing the exhibitions, that is, what is communicated to the public. The fruits of the exhibitions are the dialogues aroused from what is instigated. And finally, in this poetic comparison, the individuals are the birds. They contemplate the tree, feed on its fruits and admire its foliage, helping to maintain the existence of this cycle. (English)

#203 Brazil

Compreendendo os museus como instituições dinâmicas, vivas e de encontró intercultural, como lugares que trabalham com o poder da memória, como instancias relevantes para o desenvolvimento das funções educativa e formativa, como ferramentas adequadas para estimular o respeito à diversidade cultural e natural e valorizar os laços de coesão social das comunidades e sua relação com o meio ambiente; Compreendendo os museus como práticas sociais relevantes para o desenvolvimento compartilhado, como lugares de representação da diversidade cultural dos povos, que partilham no presente memórias do passado e que querem construir juntos uma outra via de acesso ao futuro, com mais justiça, harmonia, solidariedade, liberdade, paz, dignidade e direitos humanos. (Portuguese)

Understanding museums as dynamic, living and intercultural meeting institutions, as places that work with the power of memory, as relevant bodies for the development of educational and formative functions, as adequate tools to stimulate respect for cultural and natural diversity and to value the bonds of social cohesion of communities and their relationship with the environment; Understanding museums as relevant social practices for development shared, as places of representation of the cultural diversity of peoples, who share in the present memories of the past and who want to build together another way to access the future, with more justice, harmony, solidarity, freedom, peace, dignity and human rights. (Google Translate – English)

#204 Brazil

Os museus são instituições culturais garantidoras dos direitos à memória, do conjunto da população, no sentido da cidadania cultural dos indivíduos no sentido de preservar de forma democrática o patrimônio museológico , dos países, para sua difusão, educação, pesquisa preservando sua função social e politica das instituições e a cidadania institucional e das comunidades preservem seu patrimônio de forma participativa e democrática. São instituições estruturantes das politicas publicas culturais, sendo marcos fundamentais para o legados nacionais, locais, e universais de ações estratégicas identidades e das diversidades culturais. (Portuguese)

Museums are cultural institutions that guarantee the rights of the population as a whole to the cultural citizenship of individuals in order to democratically preserve the museological heritage of the countries for their diffusion, education and research, preserving their social and political function of institutions and the institutional and community citizenship preserve their heritage in a participatory and demorcratic way. They are structuring institutions of cultural public policies, being fundamental frameworks for the national, local, and universal legacies of strategic actions identities and cultural diversities. (English)

#205 Brazil

Consideram-se museus, as instituições sem fins lucrativos que conservam, investigam, comunicam, interpretam e expõem, para fins de preservação, estudo, pesquisa, educação, contemplação e turismo, conjuntos e coleções de valor histórico, artístico, científico, técnico ou de qualquer outra natureza cultural, abertas ao público, a serviço da sociedade e de seu desenvolvimento. Tendo como missão a conservação e preservação do patrimônio museológico dos países e comunidades de forma a difusão democrática do conhecimento produzido, visando a transformação social e a realização de sua função social como forma de garantir a direito à memória da população e as politicas publicas para o setor. (Portuguese)

Non-profit institutions that preserve, investigate, communicate, interpret and exhibit for the purpose of preservation, study, research, education, contemplation and tourism, collections and collections of historical, artistic, scientific, technical or artistic value are considered as museums. any other cultural nature, open to the public, at the service of society and its development. Its mission is the preservation and presevation of the muoseological heritage of the countries and communities in order to democratically disseminate the knowledge produced, aiming at social transformation and the fulfillment of its social function as a way of guaranteeing the right to the memory of the population and the public policies for the sector. (English)

#206 Brazil

Os são museus são pontos de memoria a serviço da sociedade, instituições que visam as ações museais compreendendo todas as formas e processos criativos de atividades comunitárias de registro, reconhecimento e valorização da memória local, realizadas e promovidas pelos territórios. Os museus pontos de memória, estruturam o conjunto de ações e iniciativas de reconhecimento e valorização da memória social, de modo que os processos museais protagonizados e desenvolvidos por povos, comunidades, grupos e movimentos sociais, em seus diversos formatos e tipologias, sejam reconhecidos e valorizados como parte integrante e indispensável da memória social países. Tem como objetivo principal contribuir para o desenvolvimento de uma política pública de direito à memoria (Portuguese)

The museums are points of memory at the service of society, institutions that aim at the museological actions comprising all the creative forms and processes of community activities of registration, recognition and valorization of local memory, carried out and promoted by the territories. Museums memorize points, structure the set of actions and initiatives for recognition and appreciation of social memory, so that the museum processes that are carried out and developed by peoples, communities, groups and social movements, in their different formats and typologies, are recognized and valued as an integral and indispensable part of social memory countries. Its main objective is to contribute to the development of a public policy of right to memory (English)

#207 India

A Museum is an essential non profit organization which depicts the socio economic cum cultural landscape of any society. (English)

#208 Chile

A place to ask, create, look, surprise, learn and be happy. An alternative way to happiness and self realization. (English)

#209 Argentina

El museo debe estimular la creación de una nueva ciudadanía mundial democrática, basada en la promoción de igualdades y de la protección del legado cultural de la humanidad. (Spanish)

The museum should encourage the creation of a new democratic world citizenship, based on the promotion of equality and the protection of the cultural legacy of humanity. (English)

#210 Togo

Un musée est une institution socio-culturelle, un lieu d’échange et de découverte. C’est un espace qui sert à sauvegarder et à transmettre le patrimoine et à révéler l’identité culturelle d’une population. (French)

A museum is a socio-cultural institution, a place of exchange and discovery. It is a space used to save and transmit heritage and to reveal the cultural identity of a population. (English)

#211 Canada

A museum is a non-profit, permanent, dynamic and responsive institution in the service of a living planet. It is a public place that welcomes all people, fosters cooperation, cross-cultural exchange and public understanding of human and environmental interdependence. The museum acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits arts and cultures, the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study, enjoyment and the promotion of social and climate justice. (English)

Un musée est une institution permanente, dynamique et responsable, sans but lucratif, au service d’une planète vivante. Il est un endroit public, ouvert à tous, qui favorise la coopération et les échanges interculturels et qui permet de bien comprendre l’interdépendance entre les personnes et leur environnement. Le musée acquiert, conserve, étudie, expose et transmet les arts et les cultures, le patrimoine matériel et immatériel de l’humanité et de son environnement à des fins de recherche, d’éducation, de délectation et de promotion de la justice sociale et de la justice climatique. (French)

#212 France

Mon nom est Musée, je suis une institution culturelle permanente sans but lucratif. Je suis dévoué à la société ; j’existe à travers elle et pour elle. J’évolue avec mon temps et je me dois d’être soucieux de l’environnement en ces temps de crises. J’ai le devoir de constituer une collection matérielle comme immatérielle, de la chérir, et de la diffuser. Ma collection est la prunelle de mes yeux : elle est inaliénable, imprescriptible, insaisissable. J’ai soif de nouvelles choses, c’est pourquoi la recherche constitue une part importante de mes activités afin de me renouveler.
 De ma collection permanente jaillissent des expositions temporaires, le plus souvent axées vers l’art contemporain. Toutes deux attirent en mon sein des publics d’horizons variés. Plus curieux les uns que les autres, petits et grands, venant à des fins d’éducation ou de loisirs. Je dois veiller au bon développement de mes publics et de réfléchir sur comment les accueillir afin de rendre leur visite unique. J’ai été créé pour transmettre un message patrimonial sur ce qui a été, sur ce qui est, et sur ce qui sera. Et ainsi susciter diverses émotions allant de la critique au rêve. Muséalement vôtre. (French)

My name is Museum, I am a permanent non-profit cultural institution. I am devoted to society ; I exist through it and for it. I evolve with the times and I must be concerned about the environment in times of crisis. I have the duty to constitute a material collection as immaterial, to cherish it, and to disseminate it. My collection is the apple of my eyes: it is inalienable, imprescriptible, elusive. I am looking for new things that is why research has an important place among my activities in order to renew myself. From my permanent collection spring temporary exhibitions, most of the times focused on contemporary art. Both of them attract audiences from various backgrounds. More curious than others, young and old, coming for educational or leisure purposes. I have to make sure of the good development of my publics and how to receive them with the aim of making their visit unique. I was created to convey a heritage message about what has been, what is, and what will be. And so arouse various emotions ranging from criticism to dreams. Museumly yours (English)

#213 United Kingdom

A place of building, which usually houses as an institutional, public space of multi-purpose. Expressing within the space, a select collection from archives; whether that be the museums own, or shared across institutions, selected or submitted to fit a pre-perceived theme and audience/public. The museum (in particular if large and central to a city) can also be seen as a space for research, study, education, cultural heritage/engagement, work, beverages, food, lectures, all with dedicated or flexible space for the listed functions. As a place with such a front of stage public position, the museum acts with acknowledgment of inclusion, sustainability and worldly community in tackling urgencies of the contemporary day. (English)

#214 Venezuela

The museum today is a means of social transformation, a space of interactions, meetings, exchanges, significant learning and educational mediation. It is a place that invites the participation of all the members of the community, who in a collective perspective seek to recognize, value, sensitize and reflect on the cultural, scientific and natural heritage of the containers that collect, preserve, investigate and communicate so that future generations, assume the changes presented by society. The challenge that the museum has to face in the 21st century is the change of the museological paradigm, which has to transcend its natural functions and inscribe itself in the search, and defense of its identity, a task that must be assumed within a globalized international context, without forgetting local and national aspects. It has to face them as a dynamic entity of inclusive participation and from a transdisciplinary and socializing vision, with ethical, responsible, committed, proactive, creative, innovative and transparent workers in the exercise of museum management. (English)

El museo en la actualidad es un medio de transformación social, un espacio de interacciones, encuentros, intercambios, aprendizajes significativos y mediación educativa. Es un lugar que invita a la participación de todos los miembros de la comunidad, que en un panorama colectivo buscan reconocerse,  valorarse, sensibilizarse y reflexionar sobre el patrimonio cultural,  científico y natural de los contenedores que coleccionan, conservan, investigan y comunican para que las generaciones futuras, asuman los cambios que le presenta la sociedad. El reto que tiene que afrontar el museo en el siglo XXI es el cambio del paradigma museológico, que ha de trascender sus funciones naturales e inscribirse en la búsqueda y defensa de su  identidad, una tarea que debe asumirla dentro de un contexto internacional globalizado, sin olvidar aspectos locales y nacionales. Tiene que afrontarlos como entidad dinámica de participación incluyente y desde una visión transdisciplinaria y socializante, con trabajadores éticos, responsables, comprometidos, proactivos, creativos, innovadores y transparentes en el ejercicio de la gestión museística. (Spanish)

#215 Kenya

A Museum is a permanent institution in the service of society (inclusive of its communities) and their development. It is inclusive, transparent and just and open to the public for purposes of discovery including self-discovery and expression.   It uses research, exhibitions, education and entertainment to interpret and communicate the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity. (English)

#216 Spain

El museo es una institución viva, permanente, sin ánimo de lucro y con una decidida orientación social, en la que a las funciones tradicionales y, aplicando soluciones sostenibles, se incorporan otras nuevas que permiten definirlo como un centro generador de cultura, de comunicación y disfrute del patrimonio que promueve la colaboración y el trabajo en red, consolida y amplia lazos de cooperación y divulgación del conocimiento de manera participativa, dialogante, accesible e inclusiva utilizando las herramientas a su alcance, con especial atención a las nuevas tecnologías. El museo comparte con todos y cada uno de los visitantes la responsabilidad con respecto al patrimonio que custodia. (Spanish)

The museum is a living, permanent, non-profit institution with a decided social orientation, in which traditional functions and, applying sustainable solutions, incorporate new ones that allow defining it as a center that generates culture, communication and enjoy the heritage that promoves collaboration and networking, consolidates and extends cooperation and knowledge dissemination ties in a participatory, dialoguing, accessible and inclusive manner using the tools at your disposal, with special attention to new technologies. The museum shares with each and every one of the visitors the responsibility with respect to the heritage that it guards. (English)

#217 United Kingdom

A place of collective memory and experience represented by the material culture of our communities
Custodians of our natural and social history, the heritage and culture of all our lives bringing stories to life, connecting us to our past and the future and teaching us about the world around us and why it needs our care.
An engaging environment displaying evidence and stories of our path to current day.
Museums represent people and their things, ideas and traditions so that the past and present can be understood for the future
A safe space for everyone to engage with authentic objects that provoke interesting questions about what it is to be human.
A museum should give a sense of wonder, captivate, enthrall, fascinate and illuminate minds. To inform an inspired response. A place where ‘wow’s are whispered , ideas exchanged and lessons learned!
A place for everyone to discover the past, reflect on the now and think to the future
A committed global approach to sustaining and preserving history for the enjoyment of all
A place for sharing stories, ideas and connections where our heritage is looked after, cared for and made accessible for all.
Yesterday for today and tomorrow
Museums unlock the past allowing us all to glimpse into the future
A place for discovery, engagement, knowledge sharing and fun!
A location for an insightful look at history
A look into the past to inform, educate and entertain in the present; to help shape the future
To tell stories about what has been that will shape what is to come

#218 China

博物馆是机构态的以博物馆典藏为支撑、以博物馆专业性业务为结构节点、以知识构建及共享为主轴的博物馆制度。(Mandarin)

The museum is an institution which is organized in an institutional form and supported by museum collections, and the museum’s professional business as the structural node, and with the knowledge construction and sharing as the main axis. (English)

#219 Brazil

Museu é uma instituição quente, acolhedora, vibrante, pulsante, de personalidade amorosa, que difundi, o bem comum, a afetividade, entre os seres humanos e o seu meio ambiente. Tendo como missão a difusão de valores, mantendo os seres humanos unidos pela cultura e preservação do patrimônio museológico. (Portuguese)

Museum is a warm, welcoming, vibrant, pulsating institution of loving personality that diffuses the common good, the affection, between human beings and their environment. Its mission is the dissemination of values, keeping human beings united by the culture and preservation of the museological heritage. (English)

#220 Netherlands

Een museum presenteert een niet op toeval bij elkaar geselecteerde materiële en/of immateriële getuigenissen van de mens en zijn omgeving op zodanige manier dat de instelling in staat is de omringende gemeenschap en bezoekers een beleving mee te geven dat aanzet tot (educatieve) ontwikkeling, verbinding, verrijking en verwondering. (Dutch)

A museum presents a non-random collection of tangible and/or intangible heritage of humanity and its environment in such a way that it enables the institution to provide the surrounding community and visitors with an experience that boosts educational development, connection, enrichment and wonder. (English)

#221 Portugal

A Museum is an inclusive forum that inspires social, economic and political action(s) towards a sustainable future of interdisciplinarity for the conservation of Life stories of the species – Human and Non-Human. Manifested through culture(s) whether it be material and immaterial heritage(s), all represent the empowerment of societal environments. Museums have the ethical role of communicating knowledge(s) through research, conservation, preservation, documentation, exhibition that responsibly portrays Culture(s). (English)

#222 France

Le musée c’est la société (French)

The museum is society. (English)

#223 United Kingdom

A museum is a conversation societies have with themselves, and others, using artefacts, objects or ideas, to communicate and explore their understanding and perceptions of the world. (English)

#224 Spain

Un museo es el espacio físico propio de un lenguaje singular, independiente y autónomo llamado lenguaje museográfico, el cual emplea la tangibilidad de los objetos y de los fenómenos como recursos comunicativos. Como cualquier otro lenguaje, el lenguaje museográfico puede dedicarse a infinidad de objetivos comunicacionales, aunque uno de los más importantes y nobles es el de transformar la cultura de la sociedad a la que se debe, verificando regularmente hasta qué punto lo consigue. (Spanish)

A museum is the physical space of a unique, independent and autonomous language called museographic language, which uses the tangibility of objects and phenomena as communicative resources. Like any other language, the museographic language can be devoted to an infinity of communicational objectives, although one of the most important and noble is to transform the culture of society to which it is owed, regularly verifying to what extent it achieves it. (English)

#225 Spain

El museo es una herramienta fundamental para democratizar la cultura y hacerla accesible a todas las personas. (Spanish)

The museum is a fundamental tool to democratize the culture and make it accessible to all people. (English)

#226 Colombia

El museo es un lugar en construcción que propicia experiencias sensoriales, para reflexionar sobre la identidad y la memoria individual y colectiva mediante espacios polifuncionales, discursos y diálogos entre sus colecciones, trascendiendo el espacio y el tiempo. El museo es un organismo vivo, incluyente, activado por la participación de la sociedad, cuya apuesta es propiciar la construcción de un discurso a través de experiencias multisensoriales. (Spanish)

The museum is a place under construction that fosters sensory experiences, to reflect on identity and individual and collective memory through multifunctional spaces, discourses and dialogues between its collections, which transcend space and time. The museum is a living, inclusive organism, activated by the participation of society, whose objective is to promote the construction of a critical discourse through multisensory experiences. (English)

#227 Philippines

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, a platform for knowledge, cultural, and awareness exchange, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. (English)

#228 United Kingdom

A museum – now recognised in all its diverse forms (a keeping place, a cultural centre, a spirit house) – is centrally dedicated to promoting and safeguarding the human rights and responsibilities of all the peoples of the world, their cultures, societies and environments as well as the tangible and intangible heritage held in trust. (English)

#229 Burkina Faso

Le musée est une institution au service de la société et de son développement qui recherche, collecte, documente, conserve et met en valeur les objets et les éléments du patrimoine culturel et naturel, matériel et immatériel de l’humanité. Tenant compte des contraintes liées à l’environnement et aux communautés, l’institution muséale joue un rôle de réceptacle et de diffuseur professionnel de la diversité et des richesses culturelles. (French)

The museum is an institution at the service of society and its development that researches, collects, documents, preserves and enhances the objects and elements of the cultural and natural, material and immaterial heritage of humanity. Taking into account the constraints related to the environment and the communities, the museum institution plays a role of receptacle and professional diffuser of the diversity and the cultural richnesses. (English)

#230 Brazil

Museus são instituições a serviço da democracia e da difusão de seus valores de forma a construção de sociedades com sentido de direitos dos cidadãos e sua diversidade, preservando seus acervos, para as gerações futuras. (Portuguese)

Museums are institutions at the service of democracy and the diffusion of their values in order to build societies with a sense of citizens’ rights and their diversity, preserving their collections, for future generations. (English)

#231 Brazil

As instituições museais são orgão construidos pelos seres humanos com a missão da preservação de tudo que culturalmente é produzido pelos seres humanos, garantido, presente e futuro da memoria para as gerações futuras (Portuguese)

The museum institutions are bodies built by human beings with the mission of preserving everything that is culturally produced by humans, guaranteed, present and future of memory for future generations (English)

#232 Lebanon

Le musée est une institution à but non lucratif dont la mission est d’offrir au public l’accès aux différentes facettes du patrimoine matériel et immatériel qu’il acquiert, conserve, étudie, expose à titre de dépositaire et transmet aux générations futures. Il est tenu en tant que membre du grand réseau mondial de l’ICOM, de respecter et protéger les patrimoines des autres musées et ceci dans la mesure de ses moyens. (French)

The museum is a non-profit institution whose mission is to offer the public an access to the various aspects of the tangible and intangible heritage that it acquires, preserves, studies, exhibits as a depository and transmits it to future generations. As a member of ICOM’s global network, each museum has to respect and protect the patrimony of other museums to the extent of its means. (English)

#233 Germany

A museum is a place (either physical or virtual) that provides safe and inclusive spaces to harbor human creations or objects of interest, to enforce confrontations, to enable encounters, to provide experiences, to convey knowledge, to connect to history, to provoke discourse, to shape a vision of the future, to reflect on tradition, to create meaning, to start journeys, to satisfy hunger for knowledge and wisdom, to distract from the status quo, to attract curiosity and open minds, to mirror current affairs, to tell stories, to gather people, to sooth and comfort those in need, to clash cultures, to agitate emotional responses and acts as a steward for cultural memories and heritage. (English)

#234 Iran

موزه موسسه ای است که به شناسایی، گردآوری، نگهداری، نمایش و معرفی دستاوردهای دانش بشری ( اعم از فرهنگی، علمی یا صنعتی) می پردازد وبنا بر اهداف موسسه ای و سطح فعالیت سازمانی، در سطح بومی ، ملی و یا بین المللی برای  عرضه، توسعه و بهره برداری از دانش، فعالیت میکند. (Farsi)

A museum is an  institution which identifies, collects, maintains, displays and introduces the achievements of human knowledge (whether cultural, scientific or industrial). Based on the purpose of the institution and the level of organizational activity at the local, national or international level, The museum works for presenting, Development and exploitation of knowledge. (English)

#235 Netherlands

A museum is a space for tangible or intangible heritage, which provides opportunities for knowledge transfer, and is open to the public. (English)

#236 Greece

Μουσείο είναι η σύγκλιση πολύ-πολυτισμικών ιδιαιτεροτήτων μέσω του οποίου αναβιώνονται «ανθρώπινες υπάρξεις-δραστηριότητες» κάθε πτυχής πολιτικής, οικονομικής, κοινωνικής, ηθικές αξίες, σύμβολα, μνήμες. Αποτελεί τον συνδετικό κρίκο ανάμεσα στο παρελθόν, παρόν και μέλλον. Πρόκειται για ένα διαπολιτισμικό φορέα που περιλαμβάνει πολλαπλούς χώρους σε πραγματικό ή ψηφιακό περιβάλλον σχεδιασμένο και προσαρμοσμένο στις ανάγκες της κάθε εποχής. Αποσκοπεί στην απόκτηση, καταγραφή ,διατήρηση, έρευνα και διαχείριση πολιτισμών με σεβασμό και τιμή ώστε να προωθείται στον ανθρώπινο νου η συλλογική συνείδηση, αλληλεπίδραση και ενότητα. (Greek)

Μuseum is the convergence of multi-cultural peculiarities through are revived «human beings-activities» of every aspect, political, economic, social, moral values, symbols, memories. It is the link between the past, present and future. It’s about an intercultural institutιοn/structure that includes multiple spaces in a real or digital environment designed and tailored to the needs of each generation. It aims at the acquisition, documentation, preservation, research and management of cultures with respect and honor, so as to promote collective consciousness, interaction and unity in the human mind. (English)

#237 Germany

Das Museum dient als Commons (Gemeingut), als Assembly (Versammlung). Das Museum als Form der Versammlung hat die Aufgabe, die MuseumsbesucherInnen und ihre Gemeinschaft zu stärken, ihnen ein Ort des Wissensaustauschs und –erwerbs zu sein, und mit ihnen neue Formen der Kooperationen zu erproben. Das Museum ist eine Open Source Community, in der die Menschen gemeinsam kompetenter, kreativer und kenntnisreicher warden. Gemeinsam mit seinen BesucherInnen muss das Museum sich als Ort des Wissens, der Handlungsfähigkeit und des Denkens entwickeln. Es darf mit innovativen Formen der Demokratie, der Bildung und des Unternehmertums experimentieren. Das Museum muss nicht nur das kritische Denken ausbilden, es muss das Denken verteidigen. (German)

The museum serves as the commons, as an assembly. The museum as a form of congregating has to empower the visitors and their community, offer them a space for knowledge exchange and learning, and develop new forms of collaboration with its public. The museum is an open source community where people increase their competencies together, become more creative and knowledgeable. The museum – together with the citizens – evolves as a site of knowledge, empowerment and thought. It can experiment with innovative democratic possibilities, new forms of acquiring knowledge, and a new type of entrepreneurship. Not only does the museum have to support critical thinking, it has to defend thought. (English)

#238 Mexico

El museo es una organización sin fines de lucro que busca constituirse como un eje comunicador sostenible, encargado de facilitar experiencias, accesibilidad e inclusión de los diferentes actores sociales. Se desarrolla en un espacio de reflexión, diálogo, mirada crítica y discusión de las problemáticas contemporáneas, las cuales se reflejan en el patrimonio resguardado, preservado, estudiado y exhibido dentro del recinto. En todo este proceso, el museo despierta y explora nuevas formas de entendimiento por medio de la vivencia y el proceso de construcción del mismo. (Spanish)

The museum is a nonprofit organization that seeks to establish itself as a sustainable communicator hub, entrusted in facilitating experiences, accessibility and inclusion from the different social actors. Extending to a space of reflection, dialogue, critical scrutiny and discussion of today´s great challenges reflected within the enclosure in the sheltered, protected, studied and exhibited heritage. Throughout this process, the museum awakens and explores new ways of understanding by means of the living experience and the process of its construction. (English)

#239 Netherlands

Een museum is een betrouwbaar, meerstemmig, kritisch, transparant, uitnodigend, spannend, aantrekkelijk en informatief instituut dat materieel, immaterieel en natuurlijk erfgoed verzamelt, bewaart, toont, contextualiseert en kritisch onderzoekt, ook in het licht van de koloniale herkomst van objecten en het gegeven dat geschiedenissen van veel sociale groepen en gemeenschappen verborgen of onderbelicht zijn. Een museum is een contactzone die empathie, ontmoeting en nieuwsgierigheid stimuleert en die bezoekers stimuleert na te denken over hun plek in de wereld en in de geschiedenis en hun verantwoordelijkheid voor de planeet. (Dutch)

A museum is a reliable, polyphonic, critical, transparent, inviting, exciting, attractive and informative institute that collects, preserves, displays, contextualises and critically examines material, immaterial and natural heritage, also in the light of the colonial origin of objects and the fact that histories of many social groups and communities are hidden or underexposed. A museum is a contact zone that stimulates empathy, encounters and curiosity and that encourages visitors to think about their place in the world and in history and their responsibility for the planet. (English)

#240 Argentina

El museo es una institución destinada a la apropiación crítica del Patrimonio, creada y sostenida formalmente por un grupo humano que busca desarrollarse en la continua construcción del Bien Común. Es un lugar para el encuentro entre las generaciones presentes y sus diversas herencias, siempre en torno a la exposición pública de su acervo, enriquecida con diversas actividades complementarias. Es memoria activa que, en el ámbito de sus colecciones, busca interpretar y comprometerse con un crecimiento sostenible local y global, con el respeto a la diversidad cultural y con la interpelación de desigualdades sociales. Es la práctica más tradicional de la Museología, disciplina desde donde se disciernen y articulan sus funciones permanentes de investigación, conservación, exposición y participación colectiva. (Spanish)

The museum is an institution destined to the critical appropriation of Heritage, created and sustained formally by a human group who look for developing themselves in a continuous construction of the Common Good. It is a place for the meeting between the present generations and their diverse heritages, always regarding the public exhibition of their collection, enriched with various complementary activities. It is active memory that, in the area of their collections, seeks to interpret and commit to local and global sustainable growth, with all the respect to cultural diversity and with the interpellation of social inequalities. It is the most traditional practice of Museology, the discipline which discern and articulates its permanent functions of investigation, conservation, exposition and collective participation. (English)

#241 Costa Rica

Un museo es una institución cultural con o sin sus propieas instalaciones que forma parte de la sociedad en la búsqueda de su desarrollo y concientización, que dentro de sus actividades podría adquirir, conservar, investigar, generar, transmitir y exponer el patrimonio tangible e intangible para la educación, la investigación y el deleites; como un reflejo de la humanidad y sus retos en relación el entorno, desde un acercamiento crítico, transparente y responsable mediante sus acciones. (Spanish)

A museum is a cultural institution with or without its own facilities that is part of society in the pursuit of its development and awareness, that within its activities could acquire, preserve, investigate, generate, transmit and expose the tangible and intangible heritage for education, research and enjoyment; as a reflection of humanity and its challenges in relation to the environment, from a critical, transparent and responsible approach through its actions. (English)

#242 Italy

Il Museo è una istituzione collettiva e multidisciplinare, è responsabile della conservazione, dello studio e della condivisione di valori culturali. Contribuisce allo sviluppo sostenibile della società, promuove il piacere della conoscenza e il benessere della Persona e della comunità. (Italian)

The Museum is a collective and multidisciplinary institution, responsible for the conservation, study and sharing of cultural values. It contributes to the sustainable development of society, promotes the pleasure of knowledge and the well-being of the person and the community. (English)

#243 Greece

Museums are like moving planets. Museums change lives and community ties. The ideal museums are open and safe places in which different individuals and communities can interact by sharing and exchanging skills and knowledge. Ideal museums can be museums on the road that travel within hyper-diverse cities or/and in the countryside, aiming to collect and connect stories and through stories connect people with museum objects and collections. Museums are like kaleidoscopes. Crystals are the people, spaces and objects. Curators and visitors are moving them. For museums to become kaleidoscopes we need to keep on questioning (English)

#244 Australia

Museums are dynamic institutions, working in active partnership with, and for, diverse communities to collect, preserve, research, interpret, exhibit and enhance understandings of the tangible and intangible world. Museums address all aspects of the social, cultural and natural world in the past, present and future. They are safe communal and collaborative spaces – physical, virtual and conceptual – in which to explore ideas, share stories, educate, challenge assumptions and seek ethical, sustainable solutions to global problems.

#245 United Kingdom

The world’s museums are a legacy of art, science, curiosity, generosity, greed, exploitation, and so much more. Today, we have a duty to use that legacy for the the benefit of all. Museums should be safe places for understanding to develop, challenging inequity, ignorance and arrogance. (English)

#246 Zimbabwe

Is a place of engagement where communities comes into an active contact with their objects through shared authority with curators who are facilitators and not experts. Such a museum should conserve and present objects informed by their biographical connections derived from narratives of source communities.

#247 Malaysia

A museum is a non-profit, social institution that collects, preserves, documents, researches, interprets and exhibits the tangible, and intangible heritage of humanity, without compromising its integrity. A museum also holds space for its people. It is a safe place for participatory social exchanges — to look, feel, imagine, contemplate, connect, converse, challenge and be challenged without being judged or discriminated. It has to be inclusive and represent diverse perspectives for people to understand what humanity was, what humanity is, and what a better humanity could be. (English)

#248 Albania

Nje muze eshte nje hapesire multidimensionale, e krijuar prej njeriut ne sherbim te shoqerise. Muzeu grumbullon dhe pasqyron, analizon dhe shpreh gjithe permbajtjen historike te dualitetit universal njerezor-natyror. Muzeu ka mision kryesor ruajtjen dhe shperndajen, me metoda shkencore dhe paraqitje emocionale tek shoqeria njerezore. Ne plotesine e tij muzeu eshte balanca perfekte e paraqitjes se kohes midis te shkuares qe egziston dhe te ardhmes qe do te vije. (Albanian)

A museum is a multidimensional space, created by human mankind in the service of society. The museum collects and reflects, analyzes and expresses all the historical contents of the universal human-nature duality. The museum has the main mission of preserving and distributing, with scientific methods and emotional presentation to society. In its completeness the museum is the perfect balance of time concept, between the past that exists and the future that will come. (English)

#249 Romania

Muzeul reprezintă corespondentul material al unui organism cultural care funcționează prin intermediul capacității proprii de acțiune a elementelor sale. Produsul metabolic al acestui organism este reprezentat de reconfigurarea valorilor unor obiecte sau fenomene. În acest context obiectele și/sau fenomenele converg în ansambluri datorită unei centralități culturale generate de o anume comunitate locală într-un anume episod istoric. Prin urmare obiectele și ansamblurile pe care le formează devin sisteme de referință pentru cultură. (Romanian)

The museum is the material correspondent of a cultural organism that functions through its element’s own ability to act. The metabolic product of this organism is the reconfiguration of the values of some objects or phenomena. In this context, objects and phenomena converge into ensembles due to a cultural centrality generated by a local community in a certain historical episode. Therefore, the objects and assemblies that they form become reference systems for culture. (English)

#250 Greece

Museum (the): a non-profit institution or “cultural embassy” that studies, documents, protects and promotes the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of various geographical regions and eras, using both traditional and interactive exhibition methods. More importantly, using its exhibits as a mean, it can sensitise, inform and stimulate the public on ethical social, environmental and political challenges faced in due course. The diversity of the public and its diverse view is pivotal towards a better understanding of the role of the museum, past societies and future challenges.

#251 Japan

A museum is a site, concrete or immaterial, where the heritage of humanity and its natural environment is preserved, curated, and researched to inform, educate, guide, and entertain people of all ethnicities, beliefs, ages, genders, and languages. (English)

#252 Ireland

Le musée est une institution chargée par la société d’ élaborer des relations essentielles entre les membres de cette société et le patrimoine matériel et immatériel de l’humanité et de son environnement, dans un cadre non lucratif, par les processus d’acquisition, de protection, de conservation, d’exposition et par sa démarche en matière de recherche, d’investigation, d’esprit critique, d’ouverture à la participation et aux diversités individuelles et sociales. (French)

A non profit institution charged by society to create meaningful connections between its members in all their individual and collective diversities and the tangible, intangible, cultural and natural heritage of humanity, through processes of acquisition, protection, conservation, exhibition, as well as research, investigation, critical thinking and participation (English)

#253 Spain

El museo es una institución permanente y viva, sin finalidad lucrativa y gestión transparente, al servicio de la sociedad y su desarrollo, abierta a todo tipo de públicos. Adquiere, conserva, investiga, comunica y exhibe para fines de estudio, educación y disfrute, testimonios representativos materiales e inmateriales de la cultura humana y su evolución, de la naturaleza y su entorno. Una de sus misiones principales es mostrar con rigor museográfico y didáctico conjuntos y colecciones de valor histórico-artístico, científico y técnico, o de cualquier otra naturaleza cultural, manteniendo el equilibrio entre conservar y difundir. Hace partícipe a la ciudadanía de valores como la sostenibilidad, el respeto cultural, adquiriendo una nueva dimensión de compromiso social, respetando el multiculturalismo, las vivencias y experiencias humanas más diversas, y la participación activa de la sociedad, siendo eje vertebrador de la cultural actual, turística o minoritaria y un lugar de memoria y encuentro. (Spanish)

The museum is a permanent and living institution, without lucrative purpose and transparent management, at the service of society and its development, open to all types of public. It acquires, preserves, researches, communicates and exhibits for the purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material and immaterial representative testimonies of human culture and its evolution, of nature and its environment. One of its main missions is to show with museographic and didactic rigor sets and collections of historical-artistic, scientific and technical value, or of any other cultural nature, maintaining the balance between conserving and spreading. The museum participates in the citizenship of values such as sustainability, cultural respect, acquiring a new dimension of social commitment, respecting multiculturalism, the most diverse human experiences and experiences, and the active participation of society, being the backbone of the current culture, tourist or minority and a place of memory and encounter. (English)

#254 Sweden

A museum is a non-profit, permanent organisation that contributes to society and its development by promoting knowledge, cultural experiences and freedom of opinion. A museum is accessible to the public with aims to acquire, conserve, research and make available the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, representation, study and enjoyment. (English)

#255 Italy

Il Museo è un’istituzione permanente, senza scopo di lucro, accessibile, che opera in un sistema di relazioni al servizio della società e del suo sviluppo sostenibile. Effettua ricerche sulle testimonianze dell’umanità e dei suoi paesaggi culturali, le acquisisce, le conserva, le comunica e le espone per promuovere la conoscenza, la responsabilità, il pensiero critico, la partecipazione e il benessere della comunità. (Italian)

A museum is a permanent, accessible, non-profit institution, which operates in a system of relations to serve society and its sustainable development. It researches, acquires, conserves, communicates and exhibits the heritage of humanity and its cultural landscapes. It promotes learning, responsibility, critical thinking, participation and wellbeing in the community. (English)

#256 Germany

Ein Museum ist ein Verantwortungssystem, das durch menschliche Initiative oder natürlich entstandene Gegenstände zusammenträgt, der Öffentlichkeit in bestimmten realen oder virtuellen Räumen gestaltet zugänglich macht und ins Bewusstsein bringt und dabei in der Regel auch die Zwecke der langfristig bewahrenden  Sammlung sowie der Forschung verfolgt. (German)

A museum is a system of responsibility, which is collecting objects of natural or  human origin, which shows these objects in real or virtual rooms designed to he public, bringing them in social consciousness and which regularily has purposes of longtime conservation and research. (English)

#257 Netherlands

A museum is a permanent institution responsible for safeguarding tangible, intangible and digital evidence of our past and present, for making it accessible today, and for ensuring its availability in the future. Museums provide and safeguard documentation and information about their collections, equipping society with information justified by authentic sources about all aspects of the world we live in, following the appropriate tools and methodologies for the documentation and management of information assets. Such collections of information are available for inclusive and participatory research, to enable social development and in doing so increase human well-being. (English)

#258 Iran

موزه یک نهاد اجتماعی ایمن با کارکرد ارتباط با طیف گسترده ی مخاطب نا همگون است که با رویکردی انتقادی جنبه های متصور وجود ِدستخوش تغییر دائمی، از تاریخی طبیعی زمین گرفته تا جنبه های ملموس و ذهنی زندگی و مرگ بشر را در عین نگهداری و حفاظت، به مثابه «وجود موزه ای» برای جهان بیرون از خود ، به اشتراک می گذارد. به این منظور با یاری دیگر حوزه های علوم ،دانش ها و فن آوری، موزه به شکلی رسمی یا غیر رسمی، بومی یا جهانی و یک سویه یا تعاملی، در فضایی مجازی یا ملموس، با توجه به نیازهای مخاطب ، زمینه ساز ارتباط و تعامل است . همچون «زبان» که روشن ترین تجلی وجودش «خود زبان» است، می توان گفت که موزه نیز با استفاده از امکانات دو محور «همنشینی و جانشینی » در نهایت «خود ِ موزه» را هم رسانی می کند. با این وصف، موزه شناسی نیزساختار و روشی زبان شناسانه دارد. (Farsi)

The museum is a safe social institution to connect with the wide range of heterogeneous audiences for sharing imaginable aspects of existence including the natural history of the earth to the tangible and subjective aspects of human life and death With a critical approach, meanwhile maintaining and protecting them as “museum’s existence”. To achieve the goal, with the help of other fields of science and technology, the museum try to make contextualization officially or informally, indigenously or globally , in one-way or interactive form, virtually or tangibly  in harmony whit audience’s needs to contact and interaction. The same as” language itself”, as the most obvious manifestation of language existence, the museum also, by means of the two-axis ” syntagmatic and paradigmatic”, ultimately exhibits the “museum itself”. In conclusion, the museum also has a linguistic structure and method. (English)

#259 United States

A museum is a not-for-profit entity in the service of society and its development of its community.  It is open to the public and will acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.

#260 Japan

博物館は人類共通の財産である「標本」を保管し、その意義を研究し、人類にとって新たな概念を生み出していくところである。その意義を一般市民に提供し、知的財産を共有していくことも博物館の重要な役割である。 (Japanese)

Museums are the place where specimens, which are the common treasures of mankind, are housed, and the meaning of specimens are studied, producing a new concepts for mankind. It is also an important role for museums to disseminate the importance of specimens and new concepts to the public, and to share such intellectual properties with the public. (English)

#261 Cameroon

Un musée est une institution permanente à but non lucratif au service de la société voir de l’humanité pour son développement, il acquiert, conserve, étudie, restitue, transmet, crée et  expose les témoins Humains et Naturels de l’Univers, à des fin d’étude, d’échange, de partage, d’apprentissage et de délectation et ouvert aux publics. (French)

A museum is a permanent non-profit institution at the service of society or even humanity for its development, it acquires, conserves, studies, restores, transmits, creates and exposes the Human and Natural witnesses of the Universe, for the purposes of study, exchange, sharing, learning and enjoyment and open to the public. (English – Google Translate)

#262 Canada

Museums connect the past to the present & speculates the future by inspiring dialogue, encouraging innovation, embracing inclusivity & sustainability, celebrating creativity & developing restorative experiences in a collaborative environment. (English)

#263 Sweden

”Ett museum är en permanent verksamhet utan vinstintresse som bidra till samhället och dess utveckling genom att främja kunskap, kulturupplevelser och fri åsiktsbildning. Museet är tillgänglig för allmänheten och verkar för att förvärva, bevara, utforska och tillgängliggöra materiellt och immateriellt vittnesbörd med en jämställd representation av människan och hennes omvärld i utbildnings-, fördjupnings- och rekreationssyfte.” (Swedish)

“A museum is a permanent, non-profit operation that contributes to society and its development by further knowledge, cultural experiences and free opinion cultivation. The museum is accessible to the public and acts for acquiring, preserving, exploring and making available material and immaterial testimony, with equal representation of humanity and its environment, for education, exploration and recreational purposes. ” (English)

#264 United States

A curated gathering of unique voices committed to telling stories that inform, educate and uplift our collective evolution  in continually emergent design spaces. The stories are told through diverse mediums including but not limited to image, language, object, sound, and performance able to be experienced by our senses, with respect to the ancestors and hope for our descendants. (English)

#265 Hungary

A múzeum egy olyan, a köz számára nyitott, értékőrző közösség vagy személy által létrehozott, lehetőleg intézményesített entitás, amelynek feladata, hogy felgyűjtse, megóvja, megőrizze, dokumentálja és objektív, semleges módon – mindenkori politikától, ideológiától, propagandától eltávolodva – publikálja az emberiség és a természet fizikai és eszmei értékeit, emlékanyagait. Küldetése, hogy a rábízott értékeket eredeti, autentikus valójukban az emberi közösség számára megfelelő és méltó körülmények között bemutassa, és az ebből levonandó következtetéseket a mindenkori társadalomra bízza. (Hungarian)

The „Museum” is an open-to-public, possibly institutionalised entity, established by value preserver communities or individuals, with the task of acquiring, collecting, protecting, preserving, documenting and publishing objectively, and in a neutral way – separating from ever-current ideologies, political agenda and propaganda – the tangible and intangible artifacts and heritage of humanity and nature. Its mission is, to exhibit these entrusted values in their original, authentic realities under appropriate and worthy conditions for the human community, and leaving the conclusions to be drawn to society. (English)

#266 Spain

Un Museo no puede seguir mostrando orgulloso sus pertenencias, insensible a sus ocultaciones. Los dispositivos del Museo cumplen una función que no se entiende sin darle una oportunidad a los silencios. Un Museo debe mostrar el canto de sus objetos tenores y, desde luego, los acallamientos que prodiga. Pero son dos actividades muy diferentes. Los objetos se pueden mostrar, pero los silencios tenemos que coponerlos. Nuestra propuesta es desarrollar la idea de Museo en la dirección de un Compositorio de Silencios.En el espacio no hay que esforzarse mucho porque todos los museos tiene que tener un Compositorio de silencios o, mejor, todos los museos deben evolucionar hasta convertirse en un compositorio de silencios nacido de su propios objetos. (Spanish)

A museum cannot keep proudly showing its belongings, insensitive to its occultations. The museum’s devices fulfill a function that cannot be understood without giving silences a chance. A museum must show the singing of its tenor objects and, of course, the strands that it lavishes. But there are two different activities involved in the museum. Objects can be shown, but silences have to be put together. Our proposal is to develop the idea of a museum in the direction of a Composition of Silences. To build the museum’s space we do not have to work hard because all museums have to have a Composition of Silences or, better, all museums must evolve into a composer of silences born of their own objects. (English)

#267 Japan

The museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its sustainable development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment through the involvement of the widest possible range of people in society, for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. (English)

#268 Spain

Museums are houses that hold and present dreams, feelings, thoughts and intuitions that take shape through images, colors, sounds and shapes. The museums are bridges, doors and windows that open and communicate worlds, times and people. Museums are memory, they are resistance, they are gender equality, they are accessibility, they are multicultural and they are transversal. Affection, fraternity, reciprocity, love, joy and poetry are involved. (English – Google Translate)

Os museos son casas que gardan e presentan soños, sentimentos, pensamentos e intuicións que toman corpo a través de imaxes, cores, sons e formas. Os museos son pontes, portas e xanelas que abren e comunican mundos, tempos e persoas. Os museos son memoria, son resistencia, son igualdade de xéneros, son accesibilidade,  son multiculturalidade e son transversalidade. Neles involúcranse os afectos, a fraternidade, a reciprocidade, o amor, a ledicia e a poética. (Galician)

#269 France

The Museum is a meeting place between a collection and public, managed by a team of professionals who are in charge of studying, documenting, enriching, conserving, disseminating and enhancing the collection, tangible or intangible, that they preserve, with due respect for the cultures and people they represent. It is based on a global code of ethics that guides both the scientific and cultural project proposed by the museum and its operating rules, administrative and financial. (English – Google Translate)

Le Musée est un lieu de rencontre entre une collection et des publics, géré par une équipe de professionnels qui ont la charge d’étudier, documenter, enrichir, conserver, diffuser et valoriser la collection, matérielle ou immatérielle, qu’ils conservent, dans le respect des cultures et des personnes dont ils sont les représentants. Il s’appuie sur une déontologie globale qui guide tant le projet scientifique et culturel proposé par le musée que ses règles de fonctionnement, administratives et financières. (French)