International Museum Day 2024 in Haifa and Kiryat • Free entry

Free admission to the Haifa Museum of Art, the Railway Museum, the Hecht Museum, the Herman Struck Museum, the City Museum, the National Maritime Museum, the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Madatech, Fisher House - the Municipal Museum, the First Ascension Museum and the Khan Museum.

As every year, and despite the complex situation, over 100 museums, from the north to the south, will open their doors to the general public and free of charge on the occasion of International Museum Day starting on Thursday, May 9, 2024.

The museums in Haifa and the surrounding area

Also in Haifa and the surrounding area, eleven museums and visitor centers will open their doors to the general public free of charge. In addition, the museums will hold tours and special trainings, gallery talks, creative workshops for children, exposure to current and new exhibitions and more inspired by the annual theme "Museums for Education and Research".

Raz Samira, chairman of the Israel Association of Museums and ICOM, tells Lehi Fe:

This year (2024), the International Day of Museums takes place in the shadow of the events of October 7 and the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip and the northern sector. We chose to celebrate Museum Day on May 9, the day Nazi Germany surrendered, with the aim of showing a united front of the museums for Israel's cultural resilience and the victory of spirit and culture, with a message of hope and unity. In addition, I will shine a spotlight on the museums that are on the conflict line in the north and south - who choose, despite the difficulty, to stand firm and continue vigorous activity.

The Israel Museums Association and museums throughout the country invite the general public to visit dozens of museums free of charge, on the occasion of International Museum Day, which will take place on Thursday, May 9, 2024.

Museums for education and research

This year, International Museum Day is being held under the theme: Museums for Education and Research, which emphasizes the significant importance of museums as dynamic educational institutions that foster learning, discovery and cultural understanding. 

The role of museums and cultural institutions in providing a holistic, inclusive and sustainable educational experience. With them and through them we will rethink education, about a future where knowledge sharing will overcome barriers; where innovation meets tradition. Join us and explore the wealth of knowledge museums have to offer.

International Museum Day

International Museum Day has been celebrated every year, for over 45 years, around the world during the month of May with the aim of increasing public awareness of the importance of museums' contribution to society, encouraging them to broaden their horizons and make accessible to the general public the fields of science, art, architecture, history and cultural heritage - the exhibits in museums. 

Last year 2023, about 75 museums from all over the country participated in the event, while this year over 100 museums from the north to the south and eleven museums and visitor centers in Haifa, the Kiryat and the surrounding area will take part in this special day.

A variety of activities for the general public:

In addition to free admission, the museums will hold a variety of activities for the general public:

• in science and technology There will be a guided tour that presents the museum from then until today - starting with the palm trees that Albert Einstein and his wife planted in the Technion garden during their visit to Israel in 1923, through the Technion's historical structure and its special connection to the establishment of science in Israel and the assimilation of the Hebrew language, and ending with the museum's selected exhibitions. 
• In Beit Fisher - the municipal museum In Kiryat Ata there will be a tour of the city and a guided visit to the museum housed in a magical building for preservation.
• In the Hecht Museum There will be a tour (on a variety of topics) followed by a visit to one of the laboratories of the School of Archeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. In addition, there will be an exposure to some of the studies being worked on at the university, which will be presented by researchers and lecturers from the academy. 
• at the National Maritime Museum  There will be guided tours of the various exhibitions and activities for children in the interactive space. 
• At the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art There will be a tutorial at the "Pairs" exhibition.
• At the Haifa Museum of Art There will be a tutorial at the exhibition "At Home: The House of Love and Anxieties".  
• In the Khan Museum In Hadera, the activity "Valor in the shade of the eucalyptus" will take place in the authentic and magical stone rooms of the museum and in the museum courtyard full of authentic agricultural tools in the shade of the eucalyptus tree. 
• The railway museum There will be guided tours of the museum and the surrounding Haifa East complex. 
• At the First Ascent Museum At Zichron Yaakov, Gilad Meltzer, art critic and curator, will present the archival photography project he has been working on since the events of October 7th. The project presents historical photographs of settlements surrounding Gaza.

The complete list of museums in Jerusalem and throughout the country that are open free of charge, hours of operation, and the various activities appear on the website of the Israel Museum Association and on the websites of the museums throughout the country.