Museums have the power to transform a non-referential object into terms of layers of meaning, Ambika Bipin Patel, President, International Council of Museums, and Head, Museum Department, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, has said.
She was speaking at a webinar on ‘The Power of Museums: Through Archaeology’, organized by the Archaeological Museum, Thrissur, in connection with International Museum Day on Wednesday.
Dr. Patel said that every item in a museum has a story, and museums can tell visitors about their cultural affiliations and value, provided the context is not manipulated.
Regarding the education function of museums, he said that interactive activities can be designed to enable self-learning for the children. For example, students may be provided with a background related to a collection and then left alone with the objects while performing activities such as quizzes, answering questions, drawing sketches, etc. In completing the activity, students will refer to the collection, allowing them to learn things they don’t usually do.
Storytelling can be another way to communicate with students, including those with autism or Down’s. Exhibits can be held in museum galleries, as is done in some museums abroad, featuring actors who explain the history of the object and the period in which students can also dress up and be part of the show. can and understand the object and its various aspects.
The museum, Dr. Patel, said may also hold video conferences with several schools that were not in a position to view it, as if they were at a remote location, to promote its collection at the same time as the students. benefited from it. experience. Transport collection in a bus going from village to village and staying there for a while was another example of outreach activity. Dr. Patel said that field visits, heritage walks and art appreciation were other ways to engage with the children.
Volunteer initiatives for cataloging or documenting are another area in which history or archeology students can contribute to their local museums if they experience a staff shortage, he said.
In the webinar, director of archeology E. Dinson, former director of the department S. Hemachandran and former director of Kerala Council of Historical Research P.J. Cherian participated.
International Museum Day was also celebrated at the Pazhassi Raja Museum in Kozhikode, where a sculpture-painting camp was organized. Art curator Johnny ML talks about the sculptures’ journey from studio to museums, while film critic and writer CS Venkateswaran talks on ‘museums and visitors’.
At the Koyikkal Palace Museum in Nedumangad, local historian Vellanad Ramachandran spoke on ‘Regional History and Museums’.
Events curtailed the month-long International Museum Day celebrations by the Department of Archeology starting on April 18, World Heritage Day.