If you're a smartphone-toting art lover with an Instagram account, any day is a good day to take a selfie in a museum. But January 17 is an "official" Museum Selfie Day, and it's being well-observed in Metro Vancouver.
Today is #MuseumSelfieDay! We challenge all the museums, art galleries and attendees in #NewWest #NewWestminster to join us with their selfies! #MuseumSelfie. pic.twitter.com/lqhMJplSnm
— FraserRiverDiscovery (@thefrdc) January 17, 2018
The premise is pretty simple: Post a selfie taken in a museum. The delightful by-product is supporting arts and culture, of course.
#MuseumSelfieDay at @ubc second stop: @beatymuseum ! I think this skeleton bodes WHALE for my mission for selfies. :D pic.twitter.com/xc6MDGTNHj
— Peter Musser (@the_musser) January 17, 2018
The Cannery Crew’s all here for #MuseumSelfieDay! #BCMuseums #Steveston pic.twitter.com/t2oWRVZRs4
— GulfofGeorgiaCannery (@gogcannery) January 17, 2018
The whole global social event is in its fifth year, and was started by the founder of the Culture Themes blog. Museum Selfie Day is meant to be simple fun--not a day to rant about museum policies (like "no pictures allowed") or hours of operation. And, hey, you don't even have to share a photo you took today.
The timing happens to be fortuitous this year, since in the news is the Google Arts & Culture app that lets (some) users upload a selfie to be matched with a doppleganger from art around the world. Sadly, the app only offers that feature in the U.S. (and not in states like Illinois or Texas, where photo recognition laws forbid it), which means Canadian users haven't been able to take part in that fun.
But we can still take part in #museumselfieday today! In B.C., several museums have shared their selfies, and are encouraging guests to do the same.
Take a look:
It’s almost time to wake up the #animals #tarantula @scienceworldca #MuseumSelfieDay pic.twitter.com/qfCAXQIlEl
— Andrea Durham (@museumdurham) January 17, 2018
Happy #museumselfieday to all my fellow museum friends! Here is an old photo of me fully repping the Vancouver Mounties in collection storage at the @BCSportsHall! pic.twitter.com/d2EVGz9GIK
— Kirk Sorensen (@kirksorensen28) January 17, 2018
Today is #MuseumSelfieDay! Introducing Meghan Stewart, the Assistant Curator of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Museum & Archives. #SeaforthHighlandersOfCanada #SeaforthHighlandersOfCanadaMuseumAndArchives#SeaforthArmoury #Vancouver pic.twitter.com/80qsNCi5nP
— Seaforth Highlanders (@seaforth100) January 17, 2018