Here's How Museums Are Celebrating International Museum Day

(SPOT.ph) This weekend is International Museum Day (IMD) making it the perfect time to visit your nearest museum or gallery and bask in art, culture, and history. While IMD is designed to help you appreciate the role musuems play in shaping our past, present, and future, most people remember it as the time when most museums drop promos that waive entrance fees or conduct special events and workshops for little to no spend. True to form this year does exactly that and more with its theme of "The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities." We rounded up some of the different ways you can spend International Museum Day this weekend.

Also read: 
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10 Museums Around the Philippines for Your Bucket List

Here's a list of museums celebrating International Museum Day:

Yuchengco Museum

If you're in Makati this weekend make it a point to head to the Yuchengco Museum and spend an art-filled day perusing Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco's collection of art and historical artifacts. While the museum usually has a fee to enter and explore its many permanent and temporary exhibits like Architecture and Urban Visions: The Power of the Imagined, which spotlights unbuilt works by visionary Filipino architects. Pro tip: check the museum's website for any special workshops happening that weekend too.

National Museum

While visiting all three museums in the National Museum comp,ex in Manila (and all its regional and local satellite centers) is always free, for IMD the National Museum is throwing in free special guided tours to make it even more appealing to walk its halls. 

Head over to the National Museum complex on Sunday, May 18 and see all the artworks, historical, and anthropological displays in a new light as experts from the National Museum lead you through the exhibits and give brand new insight to the things we usually see cordoned off or kept behind glass boxes. Head over to the National Museum of Fine Arts at 10 a.m. for the first batch or at 2 p.m. for the second batch.

Best to head to the National Museum complex early. Aside from these tours, there's also going to be a free musical performance  by the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band at 9 a.m. at the National Museum of Natural History's courtyard, adding another cultural and artistic layer to the IMD experience.

Ateneo Art Gallery

University-based museums and galleries are also in on the IMD spirit, case in point the Ateneo Art Gallery within Ateneo's Katipunan campus. It's also hosting a free entrance day and offering a slew of film screenings this Sunday, May 18. The free entry promo and the film screenings are open to the public, so yes, even non- Ateneo students can peruse the art collections of the university. However, just make sure you pre-register online for the film screenings as the slots for the showings are limited. 

Metropolitan Museum of Manila

Go for a BGC trip tomorrow and make your way to The M a.k.a., the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Take part in an impromptu exploration of all the museum's galleries and exhibits at a discounted rate of only P200—a huge drop from the usual P550 price tag. Note that this special rate is only applicable to walk-in visitors on May 17 as part of The M's Art For All promo for May.

Note: This is a running list that will be updated as more museums announce their participation in this year's International Museum Day.

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