‘New museology’ is the concept of modernising museums and making them more interesting and interactive for the visitors. The District Six Museum is a good example of new museology because it is a relatively new museum that was started and run by the community, not the state and it is very different to older museums. It is very appropriate to have a museum like this in South Africa, because what happened in District Six should not be forgotten and museums like this one encourage people to visit them and find out more about what has happened. Part of new museology is to teach people more about what happened in the past by using more interactive displays; the District Six Museum does this by using a range of interesting and interactive displays. In traditional museums all the displays are behind glass and you are not allowed to touch anything. The items on display are often animals or artefacts are from very far away or have been donated by a wealthy collector. The displays are not changed very often. In more modern museums the displays are not only insect and animal from far away. They have a much wider range of items on display and many come from people who have something they think the museum would like. Not all of the displays are from far away; many are from people very near to the museum. The displays are more interactive and are not all behind glass. Some of the displays are regularly updated and they are more interactive. New museology is the modernisation of museums. New museums are made to be more interactive and more interesting for the visitors. Displays in the museums are no longer covered in glass and people are encouraged to look more closely and interact with displays. The museums are brighter are the displays... ... middle of paper ... ...ible to prevent it from happening again. It is important for the people of District Six to be able to tell other people what happened and to be able to show people what life was like for them before Apartheid. The museum was a form of protest against what happened. The District Six Museum is a very good example of New Museology. It has a range of displays which are not in a set order (doesn’t matter which display you look at first), often updated and interactive. It makes use of audio and visual aides to make the displays more interactive. The museum is run by the community not the state and is in a building that was once part of District Six. It is very appropriate to have a museum like this in post Apartheid South Africa so that people will never forget what happened during Apartheid and so that people who were affected by apartheid can tell others what happened.
As indicated above, the exhibit is theme-based, centered around a historical period of time. Because of this, there is a large proportion of text, revealing background history, in relation to the actual artifacts. In my second, more thorough run-through, I certainly found myself reading more than looking at "things". In fact, it seems as though the exhibit only tells the true chronological history to those patient enough to read all of the text. A less thorough visit to the exhibit will undoubtedly result in a skewed view of the past. I will address this issue later in the Critical Assessment section.
Baxandall, Michael. "Exhibiting intention: Some preconditions of the visual display of culturally purposeful objects." Exhibiting cultures: The poetics and politics of museum display (1991): 33-41.
Duncan’s (1991) analysis of western museums is defined through the theme of “durable objects” as a criterion to judge the heritage of American and European art as a ritual of the modern state. In this manner western art museums are built like “temples” as a symbolic and figurative representation of greatness of western culture throughout the world: “[They] are more like the traditional ceremonial monuments that museum buildings often emulate—classical temples” (Duncan 90). This interpretation of American/European museums defines a dominant source of cultural heritage that ritualizes
At the begging, the idea that I had to visit a museum for my assignment did not make me feel happy and amused. It was the opposite. I was thinking that it would be really stupid and boring going there, spending my day looking at some expensive “drawings”. However, when I saw the museum as a building, it really impressed me. The structure and architecture was really beautiful. As I was looking for the pieces of works that I had find information about. I was attracted by other gorgeous paintings as well. I saw paintings and sculptures from different cultures, which I never had heard before. My day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was really a pleasure and fun. Apart from pleasure and fun, I got an idea of art which is very important to anyone of us.
Having a place to take a glance at the beauty of history or observe similar things of your own interest is very nice, a museum does the job just right. Many things must be considered before a person can responsibly and safely secure a new work of art or an artifact for a museum. Cost, variety and safety are the first three factor that comes to mind when are dealing with artifacts that displayed in a museum. Is important to be cautious when we are dealing with art works, not to damage or misplace them so our posterity have a chance to look at what we looked at.
In Stephen Weil’s essay, he argues “the museum’s role has transformed from one of mastery to one of service” (Weil, 196). According to him, museums have changed their mission from one that cultures the public to one that serves
Items displayed in museums hold historical significance and are representative of society’s culture. Preserving valuable collections for education and enjoyment is a primary role of museums. While fulfilling this role, the architecture of the museum is also an important factor. Historical buildings are converted into museums and architects must consider the use of the space and the museum’s purpose during their initial design. Other museums are built with a clear purpose in mind. As museums are designed, many characteristics are determined. Display and storage spaces as well as visitor services impacts museum’s functionality. Based on the function of a museum, architectural requirements are different.
In order to understand in greater depth the work currently done by Museum Educators for visitors to enjoy and make the most out of their experiences within museums, the following analysis aims to identify the central issue within the art education process, through description and reflection on the representative theories, methods and strategies applied in art educational programs of visual arts museums. The aim is to understand the nature of learning and how it is relevant to achieve the mission statement of a museum in order to attract their audiences and develop new audiences in the surround community.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B., 2004, From ethnology to heritage: The role of the museum, In: B.M. Carbonell,, 2012. Museum Studies: An anthology of contexts. Oxford: Blackwell publishing. pp. 199-205
This report targets the Romanian Government and it examines the positive and negative aspects of the free admission to museums policy which is considered to be implemented in this country. The main focus of this report is on how an increase in the demand for museum tickets will boost the economy of Romania, by allowing people to visit museums for free. Throughout the report, other examples of other countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden will be used in order to explain how free admission to museums will have a positive impact on Romania as well.
There are many different definitions of museum but will state one here from the most common site to access Wikipedia.
A museum gives us insight on the culture from an out standing point of view, and the things we are shown are supposed to be looked at from the outside. The people who decided what things to exhibit did not belong to that community saw it, and decided what they considered is different to what we are used to, and what we would be interested in learning from that. The display of things in a Museum are things that we look at as something that is outside from normal. In contrast to the movie or movies, where scenes substantially show how the person felt and dealt with situations and tools from their own perspective, with their own knowledge and experience and through different means such as real images, sounds, language and others produces a different knowledge on the racial discourse. When looking at exhibitions in museums the other culture is unknown, and almost uncomfortable to us, but in movies we can be standing in their
Museums are places where history can be revisited. There are many museums in the world dedicated to one particular subject, and have exhibits only on that one subject.
When first arriving at the museum it was an old styled, rustic, building that was not very modern, which I think fits into the theme of the museum. The outside of the building had history, similar to how the inside of museum is filled with a history. There was also an impressive statue of former president Theodore Roosevelt. I thought it was an interesting display, but Theodore Roosevelt was an advocate for the preservation of national parks and the conservation of animals, moreover, I thought it was a great tribute to him. I think the outside of the museum shows how rich the history of the world is and there is so much to learn. The past has been polished for the people of the present to understand and admire. Overall, I felt every exhibit was easy to understand and not intimidating; subsequently, it was easy for children and adults to look at.
It will be looking through the history of the museum, the purpose of it creation and the events that it has withstood that we can see that the development of technologies and the preservation of the museum being vital to creating a value museum experience.