ABOUT 200,000 visitors, including art and cultural enthusiasts, are expected to attend the 28th national-level International Museum Day Festival (HMA) 2024 at the Dewan Sri Pinang from May 13 to 23.
The HMA 2024, themed ‘Museum for Education and Research’, marked Penang’s inaugural hosting of this prestigious festival.
Penang Museum and Art Gallery director Haryany Mohamad said the prestigious event is expected to draw some 1,000 museum practitioners from across Malaysia and regional institutions from neighbouring and international countries.
She said various programmes, seminars, workshops, cultural and art exhibitions are slated to be held during the festival.
“This also includes traditional cultural performances such as dikir barat, boria, ghazal parti, ronggeng and many others.
“We also have around 40 exhibition booths that will be set up by museum practitioners across the country. This also includes museums from Indonesia and Singapore.
“All festivities are set to take place at Dewan Sri Pinang, from 10am until 10pm. In short, we want the HMA 2024 to become a unique experience and impact the public.
“We want the HMA 2024 to be a platform for the community to explore and witness the creative contributions made by museums to the country’s development,” Haryany told Buletin Mutiara during an interview session at Penang State Museum and Art Gallery yesterday (May 8).
She also mentioned that the festival will be officiated by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow on May 18.
Haryany added that a smart app known as HMA 2024 has also been developed for visitors to get updates on the festival.
“As a host, Penang is the first state to develop such an app for the festival.
“It is important for visitors to download the app as all programmes and pre-registration can be made through the app.
“The app also provides the schedule of shuttle bus services during the festival.
“The public can download the app via Google Play Store and Apple App Store,” she said.
Haryany mentioned that there will also be a Museum Fun Walk on May 18 in conjunction with the festival.
“The 5km fun walk will be held at Youth Park at 7pm.
“The best part of this fun walk is that participants need to dress in their pyjamas for the walk from Youth Park to Botanic Gardens.
“Registration is still open. For further details and registration, interested participants can do so at https://howei.com/event_details/museumfunwalk2024 ,” she added.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad