the event. The winners of the "Me in my museum" contest were Yonit and Efrat, from Israel, whose picture was taken in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In many countries, International Museum Day is the occasion to celebrate museums and their activities. For instance, each year, the month of May is Museums Month in Guatemala, organised with the Ministry of Culture of Guatemala. This year, the theme was New challenges and new inspirations. In Brazil, the week of 14–20 May is the opportunity to organise museum activities over several days, and the 18th is celebrated as a national holiday. For the 10th edition of National Museums week, activities such as exhibitions, conferences, guided tours and workshop were organised in Brazilian cities. Museums as well as heritage institutions provided dance performances, music, theatre, poetry contests and more. In Peru and Bolivia, International Museum Day is followed by the Long Night of Museums. Visitors have both day and night to visit museums and the event is celebrated in both countries every year. In Lithuania, the year 2012 was declared as the Year of Museums, in honour of the bicentenary opening of the first public museums in the country. The Museu do Falso (Viseu, Portugal) opened on 18 May 2012, for International Museum Day. Visitors were able to discover the unique Museum of History, made from contributions by contemporary artists, working under the premise of Simulacrum: What if a given event occurred differently from how it did?. This aimed to serve as a hub for cultural actors and citizens. In Côte d’Ivoire, IMD 2012 was celebrated in the structure of the Palais Royal of Abenguru. Local institutions and ICOM Côte d’Ivoire organised various events including discussions, game contests for students and guided tours. About 1,500 people joined in the celebrations with important political and cultural actors from the country. Hans-Martin Hinz, President of ICOM, launched the event from Bahrain, with the visit to the National Museum's exhibition Tylos: Journey Beyond Life that recounted burial rites and customs in the ancient history of Bahrain. He then experienced the mobile museum Enkiru, an extension of the exhibition specifically geared for children aged 7 to 11. Finally, he participated in a workshop devoted to emerging museum professionals organised by the National Committee of Bahrain, in partnership with ICOM Arab. Meanwhile, the ICOM President personally thanked Chinese and Argentine museums by sending them a