Today marks International Museum Day: a day created to appreciate these institutions and reflect on their role in keeping history alive. This year’s theme is ‘The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine.’
2020 was a difficult year for us all. Sector after sector began to collapse and before we knew it, museums were closing their doors – many for good. But with great difficulties comes great change…
This global crisis has served as a catalyst for change; change in the way we think, act, and remember. We must use this time to rekindle our relationship with the past and the communities we share a lot of commonalities with.
Ever since its creation in 1977, ICOM has organised International Museum Day to engage with audiences around the world and demonstrate the importance of such institutions not only in reflection of our past, but also in our knowledge of the present and expectations of the future.
According to their official mission statement: “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures, and development of mutual understanding, cooperation, and peace among peoples.”
How can we learn from the past?
Museums hold the heart of our nation; our country; our world. They hold the forgotten histories of time and create beauty from them. But most importantly, they educate us.
Museums across the world provide an insight into the history of humankind, with one common element standing alone every time – polarisation. Since the dawn of time, conflict has raged the lands, dividing us by class, gender, race, age, and views.
“I find that museums have triggered all my curiosity surrounding history, people, and culture,” said Rene Horne, Public Relations Senior at Lamar University, Texas.
“history [is] hidden in people’s attics, filing cabinets, and memories”
Last year, the Museum of Oxford launched its Queering Spires exhibition to explore Oxford’s hidden LGBTQIA+ community and history. Co-founder of the project, Richard Howlett, described Oxford as having a “queer history to be proud of.”
He continued: “[It is a] history hidden in people’s attics, filing cabinets, and memories. We look forward to helping bring it to life through this exhibition.”
This exhibition launched during a period of unrest amongst communities in the UK as hate crimes in England and Wales doubled in just five years, with most cases going unreported.
History is not something we can just leave in the past, it is something that we must bring into our present and keep in mind for our future.
The importance of community
The Coronavirus pandemic has reiterated the importance of community. Months without physical human contact and only a screen separating our faces from that of our loved ones was excruciating.
Humans belong together – this is evident when we walk through the crowded corridors of our local museum.
Hartlepool born-and-raised, the Heugh Gun Battery Museum serves as a reminder to this town as to the sacrifices made by locals over one hundred years ago and the impact this had.
On December 16 1914, the German Navy bombarded the town of Hartlepool in the North-East of England. 130 innocent civilians were killed, with hundreds more injured. Dozens of buildings were destroyed and those that remained bore the scars of the lost. For 40 gruelling minutes, more than 1,100 shells rained on this industrial seaside town. But we fought back.
The Heugh Gun Battery was the only battery in the UK to hold its ground and fight back against the German Navy. Now this is community. Community that did not die in 1914, but that still lives on.
Speaking with travel writer and radio host, Shebs Alom, he also agreed with the significant link between history and community: “Local museums are able to provide a sense of community and we can celebrate the local history and culture.
“They allow us to preserve and promote our cultural heritage.”
The digitisation of history
History is not a constant medium; it is constantly fluctuating. What is the present today will be history tomorrow. But as the seasons change and the people with it, so much our representation of history.
Over the last few, technology has expanded on an exponential scale. Modern technology is transforming museum spaces in ways that we would never have imagined before. This is a feature that has been increasingly coined by arts institutions across the world.
“this cultivated sense of awareness was not built through social media”
The Detroit Institute of Arts for example has a Lumin AR Tour that adopts an augmented reality to offer an alternate approach to historical experiences. Introduced in 2017, this exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to use a digital device that when pointed at a sculpture or artefact, offers a detailed history.
Even without the high-tech equipment that an increasing number of museums have begun to adopt as of late, technology is still present in the background. From a television screening an old film to interactive display boards – technology is everywhere.
As Rene Horne reminds us: “This cultivated sense of awareness was not built through social media, as most are accustomed to learning through about other perspectives.”
How can we educate the youth of today?
The youth of today offer hope for future generations. What they learn and experience now will have an impact on how they see and treat our world in the future. That is why education is so crucial.
Offering interactive museum experiences and displays for children and youth groups is key to determining their view and perception of the future. History no longer has to be confined to the pages of an old atlas or encyclopedia. Instead, it can be reenacted; it can be visualised.
“So much information on display permits not just one visit but multiple to receive a unique insight on versed topics,” said Rene Horne.
“I am grateful for the influence of museums by dispelling ignorance in fields where I lacked knowledge and for persuading me to seek truth outside of my own.”
History does not have to remain in the past
History is a constantly changing medium. One day it is yesterday, the next it is today. History is warped by time, moulded into minute fragments of memory.
Museums are the key to sustaining this memory and educating existing generations and those yet to come. Our past may be our past, but it can also be our future.
Despite the difficulties of 2020, more than 83,000,000 people took to social media to celebrate International Museum Day 2020 – and this was on May 18 alone!
To access the full list of worldwide events, click here.
Madeleine Raine
Featured image courtesy of Andrew Neel on Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license is available here.