International Museum Day falls on May 18 this year, an annual event that celebrates museums as cultural hubs that promote mutual understanding. Increasingly, the roster of celebrations can be found online through virtual tours that eliminate the cost of travel. Many museums, however, offer free admission on May 18 alongside in-person workshops, performances, VR exhibits and heritage walks, among other events held all week long.

Organized by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), this year’s theme is “Museums Uniting a Divided World,” which celebrates museums’ connective qualities. “Rather than erasing differences, museums create the conditions in which they can be understood and respected,” reads a statement on the ICOM site.

Launched in 1977, International Museum Day expects participation from more than 37,000 museums representing 158 countries and territories.

How Museum Lovers Can Participate

If you’re looking for museum events in your city during the week-long celebrations, check ICOM’s interactive map for the complete list of cultural institutions on board.

During the week, TikTok’s “Museums Come Alive” series will offer a roster of live online programming that’s coordinated with museums around the world. Expect behind-the-scenes access to how museums operate and standout exhibits. To access, search #MuseumTok on the platform to view the International Museum Day hub.

You’ll find videos from creators specializing in museums as well as content created by some major players: the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, the Broad Museum, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Museum of Science Boston, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Children's Museum of Houston, among others.

The lineup will also include museums that might not be on many travelers’ radars. Case in point: one of the most impressive and unappreciated museums in the world: the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The monumental blue glass and white marble structure houses numerous halls. A must-see is the Golden Man—or what remains of him—which is extraordinary. Excavated in 1969 in southern Kazakhstan, the remains of the “Issyk Golden Cataphract Warrior” include a suit of armor fitted with 4,000-plus pieces of gold. The find dates to the 4th or 3rd century BC. The real deal is locked away in a state repository; a replica is on display in the museum.

For a closer look at the Golden Man, the TikTok series will host a two-hour livestream with Kazakhstan-based travel journalist Zhuldyz Rakhmet at 11 a.m. ET on May 18. The immersive tour will showcase various treasures and contemporary works.

Other TikTok museum livestreams include: the Museum of Modern Art, May 18 at 8 p.m. ET; Egypt’s Abdeen Palace Museum on the app’s TikTok Live MENA channel, May 19 at 8 a.m. ET; and the Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum, an interactive traveling exhibit that blends Pokémon with actual paleontology—May 20 at 7:15 p.m. ET. Watch a tour of the exhibit on TikTok Live US.

Google’s Extensive Free Digital Museum Experience

The Google Arts & Culture page affords another way to experience museums online. Although Google hasn’t partnered with ICOM this year, the platform last linked with them in 2020 during the global pandemic lockdown.

The Google page runs tours of curated collections and AR museum walkthroughs. Google’s “Experiments” page offers interactive art experience, including games that explore culture, visual guides to art, and quirky tutorials—like playing the viola with the help of a large purple bird.