The International Museum Day 2026, on 18 May 2026, has the theme “Museums connect a divided world”. The aim is to highlight the role of museums in promoting peace, unity and shared cultural heritage worldwide. To contribute to this, the GLAM programme of Wikimedia CH, the Museum of Communication in Bern and the PTT Archive invite you to experience, through a series of activities and a pop-up exhibition starting on 19 May, how culture can build bridges and foster dialogue.

18 May: Politics of Care

On 18 May, experts will come together for a panel discussion on the topic of the Politics of Care. Together, they will discuss how and why the care aspect should once again be given greater weight on the political agenda. Panellists include a representative from Wikimedia Brazil and Heike Bazak, Head of the PTT Archive.

19 May: Translating archive stories into artworks 

On 19 May, a pop-up exhibition opens at the Museum of Communication in Bern. On display are works by artists who, as part of the Cocreation project and at the invitation of Wikimedia CH, embarked on a journey of discovery through the PTT Archive. They drew inspiration for their artworks from the stories found in hundreds of historical telephone directories and the explanations provided by director Heike Bazak. “We wanted to take a different approach to presenting these hidden stories and making archival material more accessible to a wider audience,” explains GLAM Lead Sandra Becker.

Telephone directories: a mirror of their time

Now, a telephone directory is by no means an exciting novel. So what are the stories that can be gleaned from it? Heike Bazak doesn’t have to think long: “Telephone directories allow us to draw many socially relevant conclusions about the self-image of the respective era. In their own way, they document relationships between people and their communication.” These aspects range from economic development to romantic love stories. For example, the growth of the economic centres of Geneva, Basel, Bern, Zurich and St. Gallen is evident. “This is also the story of an innovative achievement,” says Heike Bazak.

Precursor to virtual matchmaking

New professions such as telephone operators began to flourish. In Switzerland, telephone switching was exclusively a woman’s job. In Italy, only men were employed to connect calls. Personal connections also arose during the ‘wiring’ process, resulting in friendships and even marriages. “It’s almost like a precursor to the virtual matchmaking services we know today,” reports Sandra Becker.

Virtual exhibition and edit-a-thon

All the artworks created in the workshop were photographed and the images uploaded to the Wikimedia Commons media database. In collaboration with the Research Centre for Virtual Exhibitions at the Chair of Computer Science at the University of Basel, these works will be brought to life in a virtual exhibition. To ensure this project is also documented on Wikipedia, the organisers are hosting an edit-a-thon at the Museum of Communication on 19 May.


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