International Museum Day 2026
International Museum Day 2026: Museums Uniting a Divided World
18 May 2026
During a time of increasing financial pressure on individuals and entire sectors, and conflicts around the world, it is easy to look at the world as divided. Museums across the globe are often seen as a ‘safe haven’ away from the busy outside world. Studies have shown that spending time in museums can improve mental health and wellbeing. While The Ruskin building on Lancaster University campus is closed for refurbishment, we are proud to have worked with many individuals and institutions to bring new audiences to the Collection, and we will continue to do so. It has been inspiring to see how differently people interpret the Collection and how it is used. Works from The Ruskin Whitehouse Collection have featured in exhibitions and publications around the world, covering themes from depictions of Italy in travel literature from the 15th to the 19th centuries (National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh), to Ruskin’s shell studies and shell collections (Brantwood, Lake District), and to 200 years of climate change as represented in art (The Huntington, Los Angeles), to the reassessment of Pre-Raphaelitism (Museo Civico San Domenico, Forlì, Italy), to Ruskin, Proust and the Arts (Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain ), and the influence of photography on painting (MuMa, Le Havre, France).
We have also been working hard to digitise the Collection, and to develop a number of interactive experiences using Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). We have worked with student members of Lancaster University’s Innovation Team to develop and test these experiences. One of the key themes represented in the VR and AR experiences was climate change and changing environments. The Ruskin – Museum & Research Institute is a hub of knowledge and resources embedded into the cultural landscape of the Morecambe Bay area. Despite deeply polarised views globally on this subject, we believe it is vital to communicate the urgent need for climate action to a wide audience. The Collection provides visual and written observations by Ruskin from the 19th century on changing weather and increased pollution in the North-West. ‘We live in an age without honest confidence enough in itself to carve a cherry-stone with an original fancy, but with insolence enough to abolish the solar system, if it were allowed to meddle with it,’ he once said. In 2025 we tested our VR and AR experiences online and with audiences across the UK and internationally, including in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where prospective University students and their families engaged with the Collection via these digital means. It was rewarding to see how engaged people of a range of ages, nationally and internationally, were with the Collection and its evocations of landscapes, skies and seas. ‘The sky is for all,’ wrote Ruskin, ‘And yet we never attend to it, we never make it a subject of thought.’ Using AR, we showed visitors images of the daguerreotype titled ‘Chamonix. Mer de Glace, Mont Blanc Massif’ (Frederick Crawley & John Ruskin, 1854), one of the earliest surviving photographs of a glacier, and a photograph of the same glacier in recent years.
The VR and AR prompted discussions about climate change, nature and protecting our ecosystems for future generations and uniting people through a common goal. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining with us as we continue our work.