International House Museums Days – 5 & 6 April

From South America to Southeast Asia: 27 countries and 260 institution involved

Boom in participation for the International House Museum Days

April 2, 2025 – The whole world united in the name of culture and memory. There are 260 house museums from 27 countries around the world that have joined the International House Museum Days dedicated to houses of memory and personages. This is the first edition of the initiative, promoted by the National Association of Case della Memoria (Florence, Italy) in collaboration with the ICOM Demhist (International Committee for Historic House Museums) and ICLCM (International Committee for Literary and Composers’ Museums), ICOM Italy, and the European Network of Houses of Illustrious Personalities.

The idea to create an annual event dedicated to house museums comes from the Italian institution National Association of Case della Memoria, which after three italian editions, took action to expand its scope by networking with similar organizations around the world. And many responded. The largest number of participants comes from Italy (143 in 19 regions),followed by Mexico (24), Russia (23), Latvia (13), Spain (12), Azerbaijan (6), Belgium and Brazil (5), Israel (4), Mongolia (3) and Netherlands (2).And also Malta, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia (2), Argentina, Ecuador, Philippines, France, Georgia, Greece, Indonesia, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, Taiwan, and Turkiye (1).

‘Thanks to the synergy between the institutions that have supported the National Association of Case della Memoria in this adventure we have succeeded in our goal of reaching a very large audience’ Adriano Rigoli, president of the National Association of Case della Memoria and of the ICOM-ICLCM committee declares. ‘Having 260 house museums, 27 countries involved, from South America to Southeast Asia, means a great teamwork, with the common goal of giving voice to the houses museums who represent the foundations of our collective memory.’

‘Thanks to the collaboration of the many organizations involved, from individual house museums to international institutions, we have achieved what I believe is an excellent result for the first year of the event on a global scale’ Marco Capaccioli, vice president of the National Association of Case della Memoria adds. ‘The numbers of participants speak clearly, now we hope to see many visitors involved, thanks also to the many initiatives that house museums around the world have organized for the weekend of April 5 and 6.’

Museum Geelvinck in Huize Kolthoorn in Heerde is institutioneel lid van DemHist (afkorting van Demeures Historiques, de ICOM-wereldkoepel van historische huizen) en ICLCM (de ICOM-wereldkoepel van literaire musea en musea gewijd aan schrijvers, dichters, componisten, kunstenaars en andere creatieve makers). En wij hebben aan de wieg gestaan van het European Network of Houses of Illustrious Personalities, een initiatief van de National Association of Case della Memoria in Florence.

Samen met 270 huismuseums in 27 landen, viert Museum Geelvinck in Huize Kolthoorn in Heerde de International House Museums Days op 5 en 6 april. Als huis, waar het schildersechtpaar Jan en Hedwig Kleintjes rond 1900 hebben gewoond, koesteren wij de herinnering aan en daarmee het werk van Jan en Hedwig. Komende zomer organiseren wij weer rondleidingen door het Grote Atelier en de tuin, zie www.kolthoorn.nl.