What's new at the MIH in 2020

For 2020, the MIH has completely revised its programme of regular events.

While the traditional guided tours on the first Sunday of the month are still on the programme (10:30-12:00), the “Sur le coup de midi” noontime visits, which have occupied the Wednesday lunch break for the past six years, are being replaced by three other regular events:

  • Museum Park Afterwork events: every last Thursday of the month (except December), this is an opportunity to (re)discover the exhibitions and collections in a relaxed and festive atmosphere while enjoying a drink with colleagues or friends. These encounters will be enlivened by guided tours, performances, music, workshops and many other surprises.
  • MIH escapades: the museum offers free extra-muros themed visits at each change of season. The first outing, corresponding to the spring equinox on Friday
  • March 20th will provide a chance to discover the chromatic clock named Entre chien et loup (twilight) on the Pont de la Promenade under the guidance of one of its designers. This will be followed by presentations of the Carillon at the summer solstice (June 20th), the Esphor clock at the autumn equinox (September 22nd) and a visit to a forgotten workshop at the winter solstice (December 21st).
  • Bell tower night: time change in the spotlight! The MIH invites the public to accompany its watchmakers for the last resetting of the bell tower clocks of the town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Night tours on Saturday March 28th and October 24th at 11 p.m. (prior booking required).

At the dawn of this new year, in order to appeal to a broader range of more specific audiences, the MIH is offering guided tours for youngsters, coupled with creative workshops. Five 90-minute workshops are aimed at children, enabling them to build an object that they can take home with them at the end of the activity: Clepsydra (4-10 year-olds); Sundial (8-12 year-olds); Volta Battery (10-12 year-olds); Decorate your dial (6-10 year-olds) and Dress up your clock (8-14 year-olds).

Tactile tours have also been set up for visually impaired visitors. Lasting two hours, they enable them to discover the museum, its particular museography and its collections in a sensory way, and to understand by touch how a mechanical clock works.

Finally, in order to enable people of modest means to visit the museum even though the entrance fee could be a deterrent, the MIH has set up a “solidarity ticket” system. Any visitor can deposit in a piggy bank all or part of the amount of an additional entrance fee for the benefit of a future needy visitor. The MIH thus intends to offer an alternative for certain people who would otherwise have to renounce the idea of visiting the museum due to financial reasons.

January 23, 2020