Museum
A
museum is typically a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study,
education,
enjoyment, the
tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment." This definition is taken from the
International Council of Museums (ICOM) Statutes.
The
Museums Association definition (adopted 1998) is:
A previous Museums Association definition was::"A museum is an institution which collects, documents, preserves, exhibits and interprets material evidence and associated information for the public benefit."
The word "museum" comes from the
Latin museum, plural
musea, which is in turn derived from the
Greek mouseion, which refers to a place or temple dedicated to the
Muses (the patron divinities in
Greek mythology of the arts), and hence a building set apart for study, especially the
institute for
philosophy and research at the
Library established at
Alexandria by
Ptolemy I Soter c
280 B.C.
|
School children in the Louvre. |
Museums collect and care for objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and make them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in small cities. Most museums offer programs and activities for a range of audiences, including adults, children, and families, as well as those for more specific professions. Programs for the public may consist of
lectures or tutorials by the museum faculty or field experts, films, musical or dance perfomances, and technology demonstrations. Many times, museums concentrate on the host region's
culture. Although most museums do not allow physical contact with the associated artifacts, there are some that are interactive and encourage a more hands-on approach. Modern trends in
museology have broadened the range of subject matter and introduced many
interactive exhibits, which give the public the opportunity to make choices and engage in activities that may vary the experience from person to person. With the advent of the
internet, there are growing numbers of
virtual exhibits, i.e. web versions of exhibits showing images and playing recorded sound.
Museums are usually open to the general public, sometimes charging an
admission fee. Some museums have free entrance, either permanently or on special days, e.g. once per week or year.
Museums are usually not run for the purpose of making a
profit, unlike
galleries which engage in the sale of objects. There are governmental museums, non-governmental or
non-profit museums, and privately-owned or family museums.
It is said that there are more museums per person in
Finland than in any other country in the world.[
1]
Modern museums generally concentrate on a particular subject, and most museums belong to one or more of the following categories:
fine arts,
applied arts,
craft,
archaeology,
anthropology and
ethnology,
history,
cultural history,
military history,
science,
technology,
children's museums,
natural history,
numismatics, and
philately. Within these categories many museums specialize further, e.g. museums of modern art, local history, aviation history, agriculture or geology. A museum normally houses a core collection of important selected objects in its field. Objects are formally
accessioned by being registered in the museum's collection with an artifact number and details recorded about their
provenance. The persons in charge of the collection and of the exhibits are known as
curators.
History museums
History museums have concern over the knowledge of
history and its relevance to the present and future. The museums tend to cover specialized aspects of history at the local or state level; some are more general. Such museums contain a wide range of historical objects, including ancient artifacts, antique belongings, and rare models.
Antiquities museums specializes in more archaeological findings.
A common type of history museum is a
historic house. A historic house can be a stately home, the birthplace of a famous person, or a house with an interesting history.
Historic sites can also become museums, particularly those that mark
public crimes, such as
Tuol Sleng or
Robben Island.
Another type of history museum is a
living museum. A living museum is where people recreate a time period to the fullest extent, including buildings, clothes and language. It is similar to
historical reenactment.
Art museums
An
art museum, also known as an art gallery, is a space for the exhibition of art, usually
visual art, and usually primarily
paintings,
illustrations, and
sculpture. It is also sometimes used as a location for the sale of art.
The first museum in Europe was
The British Museum in London, which was founded in 1753 and opened free to the public in 1759. It was a 'universal museum' with art, history, and science collections, and a library. The science collections, library, portraits, paintings and modern sculpture have since been found separate homes, leaving history, drawings, and prints.
The specialised art museum is considered a fairly modern
invention, the first being the
Hermitage in
St. Petersburg which was established in 1764.
The
Louvre in
Paris, France was established in 1793, soon after the French Revolution when the royal treasures were declared for the people. The
Czartoryski Museum in
Kraków was established in 1796 by Princess
Izabela Czartoryska. This showed the beginnings of removing art collections from the private domain of aristocracy and the wealthy into the public sphere, where they were seen as sites for educating the masses in taste and cultural refinement.
Science museums
Science museums and technology centers revolve around scientific marvels and their history. To explain complicated inventions, a combination of demonstrations, interactive programs and thought-provoking media are used. Some museums may have exhibits on topics such as
computers,
aviation,
physics,
astronomy, and the
animal kingdom. Science museums, in particular, may consist of
planetaria, or large theatre usually built around a dome. Museums may have
IMAX feature films, which may provide
3-D viewing or higher quality picture. As a result, IMAX content provides a more immersive experience for people of all ages.
Natural history museums
Museums of
natural history and
natural science typically exhibit work of the natural world. The focus lies on nature and culture. Exhibitions may educate the masses about dinosaurs, ancient history, and anthropology. Evolution, environmental issues, and biodiversity are major areas in natural science museums. Notable museums of this type include the
Natural History Museum in
London, the
Oxford University Museum of Natural History in
Oxford, the
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in
Paris, the
Smithsonian Institution's
National Museum of Natural History in
Washington, D.C., the
American Museum of Natural History in
New York City, and the
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in
Drumheller, Alberta.
Open-air museums
Open air museums collect and re-erect old buildings at large outdoor sites, usually in settings of re-created landscapes of the past. The first one was
King Oscar II's collection near
Oslo in
Norway, opened in
1881. In 1891
Arthur Hazelius founded the famous
Skansen in
Stockholm, which became the model for subsequent open air museums in
Northern and
Eastern Europe, and eventually in other parts of the world. Most open air museums are located in regions where wooden architecture prevail, as wooden structures may be translocated without substantial loss of authenticity. A more recent but related idea is realized in the
ecomuseums, which originated in
France.
Other museums
A number of different museums exist to demonstrate a variety of topics. Music museums may celebrate the life and work of
composers or
musicians. The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
Cleveland, Ohio is a good example. Others include live music recitals such as the
Handel House Museum in London.
A recent development with the expansion of the
web, is the establishment of
virtual museums, typically with no counterpart in the real world.
Museums targeted for the youth, such as the
Miami Children's Museum, often exhibit interactive and educational material on a wide array of topics. The
Baseball Hall of Fame museum is an institution of the sports category.
Interpretation centres are modern museums or visitors centres that often uses new means of communication with the public.
Mobile museums
Mobile museum is a term applied to museums that make exhibitions from a vehicle, such as a van. Some institutions, such as
St. Vital Historical Society and the
Walker Art Center, use the term to refer to a portion of their collection that travels to sites away from the museum for educational purposes. Other mobile museums have no "home site," and use travel as their exclusive means of presentation.
The museum is usually run by a
director, who has a curatorial staff that cares for the objects and arranges their display. Large museums often will have a research division or institute, which are frequently involved with studies related to the museum's items, as well as an education department, in charge of providing interpretation of the materials to the general public. The director usually reports to a higher body, such as a governmental department or a
board of trustees.
Objects come to the collection through a variety of means. Either the museum itself or an associated institute may organize expeditions to acquire more items or documentation for the museum. More typically, however, museums will purchase or trade for artifacts or receive them as donations or bequests.
For instance, a museum featuring
Impressionist art may receive a donation of a
Cubist work which simply cannot be fit into the museum's exhibits, but it can be used to help acquire a painting more central to the museum's focus. However, this process of acquiring objects outside the museum's purview in order to acquire more desirable objects is considered unethical by many museum professionals. Larger museums may have an "Acquisitions Department" whose staff is engaged fulltime in this kind of activity. Most museums have a
collections policy to help guide what is and is not included in the collection.
Museums often cooperate to sponsor joint, often traveling, exhibits on particular subjects when one museum may not by itself have a collection sufficiently large or important. These exhibits have limited engagements and often depend upon an additional entry fee from the public to cover costs.
Early museums began as princely collections of art and rare or curious natural objects and
artifacts. These were often displayed in so-called wonder rooms or
cabinets of curiosities.
The first public museums in the world opened in
Europe during the
18th century's
Age of Enlightenment:
*the
Museo Sacro, the first museum in the
Vatican Museums complex, was opened in
Rome in
1756*the
British Museum in
London, was founded in
1753 and opened to the public in
1759 Sir Isaac Sloan's personal collection of curios provided the initial foundation for the British Museum's collection.
*the
Uffizi Gallery in
Florence, which had been open to visitors on request since the 16th century, was officially opened to the public
1765*the
Belvedere Palace of the
Habsburg monarchs in
Vienna opened with an outstanding collection of art in
1781These "public" museums, however, were generally inaccessible to all but the aristocracy. It was extremely difficult to gain entrance. In London for example, prospective visitors to the British Museum had to apply in writing for admission. Even by 1800 it was possible to have to wait two weeks for an admission ticket. Visitors in small groups were limited to stays of two hours.
The first truly public museum was the
Louvre Museum in
Paris, opened in
1793 during the
French Revolution, which enabled for the first time in history free access to the former French royal collections for people of all stations and status. The fabulous art treasures collected by the French monarchy over centuries were accessible to the public three days each
"décade" (the 10-day unit which had replaced the week in the
French Republican Calendar). The
Conservatoire du muséum national des Arts (National Museum of Arts's Conservatory) was charged with organizing the Louvre as a national public museum and the centerpiece of a planned national museum system. As
Napoléon I conquered the great cities of Europe, confiscating art objects as he went, the collections grew and the organizational task became more and more complicated. After Napoleon was defeated in 1815, many of the treasures he had amassed were gradually returned to their owners. His plan was never fully realized, but his concept of a museum as an agent of nationalistic fervor had a profound influence throughout Europe.
The design of museums has evolved throughout history. Interpretive museums, as opposed to art museums, have missions reflecting curatorial guidance through the subject matter which now include content in the form of images, audio and visual effects, and interactive exhibits. Some of these experiences have very few or no artifacts; the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, being notable examples where there are few artifacts, but have strong, memorable stories to tell or information to interpret. Notable international
museum exhibition designers include
Ralph Appelbaum Associates,
C&G Partners,
ESI Design,
Burdick Group.
* Tony Bennett,
The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics, Routledge, 1995.
*
List of museums*
List of notable museums and galleries*
List of transport museums*
Art museum*
Art gallery*
Muse*
Museum News *
Virtual Library museums pages (VLmp)
*
International Council of Museums (ICOM)
*
The .museum top-level domain (Dot-museum)
*
MOLLI (Museum On-Line Learning Initiatives)
*
Great Museums in the World*
Museums in Argentina*
Museums in China*
Museums in Greece*
Museums in Turkey *
UK Museum Guide*
US Historical Museums Guide *
American Association of Museums*
Art Museum Partnership*
A short history of Museums
