Paraguay is preparing for the eighth edition of Museums on Display with the Night of the Museums 2026. The event is set to take place on 8 May 2026 at 19:00 at the Cultural Centre of the Port of Asunción. The annual event brings together museums from across the country in a shared exhibition aimed at expanding public access to heritage and strengthening cultural memory.
The event is organised by Gloria del Pilar Velilla, 62, professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and member of several art associations. Furthermore, she is the current president of the Paraguayan Association of Art Critics (AICA), and director of the Night of the Museums 2026 project within the association.
This year’s edition aligns with the International Council of Museums (ICOM) theme, “Uniting Divided Worlds.” The adaption, Velilla explains, is “the theme of the river, because we are going to hold it at the Cultural Centre of the Port of Asunción. And in a way that is also a form of encounter, of arrival, of meeting people who come to Paraguay and who have also come during times of greater immigration. So that is a bit of our inspiration.”
Museums as reflection spaces
Beyond exhibition design, Velilla emphasises the broader social purpose of museums as spaces for reflection in an increasingly fast-paced society. “In a way that contemplation, that pause, is also a way of building awareness and respect,” she says. “We do not have time to analyse ourselves or think about ourselves as a society.” For her, the museum experience is not passive consumption but a deliberate interruption of everyday speed, encouraging collective awareness and self-reflection.
The initiative has also shown consistent public growth. In its previous edition, Museums on Display welcomed around 2,300 visitors. Gloria del Pilar Velilla describes this number as significant in the Paraguayan cultural landscape.
Building collective memory through access
A central goal of the project is strengthening collective memory through direct public engagement with museum collections. Velilla sees this as essential in a country where many collections remain unfamiliar to the broader public. “You cannot love what you do not know,” she says. “The first step is to make it known, and that in turn generates interaction with the public, which allows people to learn about it, love it, and respect it.”
Each Night of the Museums 2026 participants contribute a single object to a collective exhibition, forming a shared narrative that crosses institutions, disciplines, and histories. Rather than presenting museums as separate entities, the project builds a unified story between people, objects, and memory.
Technology as a bridge, not a barrier
This Night of the Museums 2026 also deepens its use of digital tools to enhance accessibility. QR codes and augmented reality features will allow visitors to engage more directly with exhibited works, offering additional layers of information and context.
The intention, according to Velilla, is not to replace physical experience but to expand it. “I would not say there is one standout piece, rather, everything together will form part of this exhibition,” she says. In this sense, technology becomes a bridge between audiences and heritage, particularly for younger visitors or those encountering museum collections for the first time.
Coordination across institutions
Behind the exhibition is a complex network of coordination involving multiple museums, curators, and institutions across Paraguay. “This is our first activity of the year in which all museums send one piece to create a large collective exhibition,” Velilla explains. “That alone is a major challenge in terms of production, coordination, and contact, as well as how curators interact to select a piece that fits the event’s theme. It also requires significant management work so that both public and private institutions understand the scope and scale of such an event. It is definitely not easy.”
The Night of the Museums 2026 will bring together around forty museums and cultural spaces from across the country, each contributing part of their collections to a single shared venue, alongside various cultural activities. Admission will be free and open to the public.
The curatorial team will be composed of museologists Alicia Elias and Javier Palma, and Leticia Alvarenga, who will develop the conceptual proposal in line with this year’s international ICOM theme, “Museums uniting a divided world,” framed within the guiding concept of “the port as a point of encounter.” Bringing together professionals who do not usually collaborate in this way is also, Velilla notes, one of the most dynamic aspects of the project. Volunteer involvement with the National University has further expanded the project’s collaborative dimension.
Moments that shaped the project
Looking back, Velilla points to early editions of the initiative as defining moments in Paraguay’s evolving museum culture. She recalls the early Night of the Museums events when public queues formed outside institutions, something she describes as previously “unthinkable.”
Another milestone came with the first Museums on Display in 2019, which had to be relocated at the last minute due to severe flooding near the original venue. “We had to change everything at the last minute. Thanks to arrangements, the National Museum of Fine Arts provided us with a space to hold that first exhibition. That was truly memorable,” Velilla says.
“And of course, the pandemic period was also very significant,” she adds, “it forced us to face an almost impossible challenge: how to maintain an activity whose essence is physical presence and direct contact with objects. Fortunately, the team was always very creative and managed to adapt it into a virtual format, when necessary, without ever losing the possibility of continuing the activity in both forms.”
Night of the Museums 2026
Both Museums on Display and Night of the Museums 2026 are scheduled for 8 May 2026, from 10:00 to 22:00. The event is continuing what organisers describe as a growing effort to expand access to cultural institutions across Paraguay.
For more information regarding the event follow Noche de los Museos on Instagram and read about previous Night of the Museums events in the Asunción Times.
