Museum Concept from Past to Present and Importance of Museums as Centers of Art Education

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the concept of museum and the transformation of museums to centers of education in its historical development. Museum, as a concept, comes from the 9 muses each possessing a different ability and source of inspiration (Calliope- the muse of epic poetry; Clio-the muse of history etc). Open and enclosed spaces (gardens and inside temples) dedicated to these 9 muses were called museums in Ancient Greece. However, The Museum of Alexandria, established in 4th century B.C, was the first museum that presented collection, exhibition, preservation and classification missions for museums in the historical development. A comprehensive archive was developed in Alexandria by visiting all settlements in the Mediterranean to collect artifacts sometimes through copying sometimes by seizing by means of pillages. In this sense, the Museum of Alexandria is the temple of the thought to bring together all cultural indicators of the world in the same location.Medieval collections were the means to collect cultural treasures and to pursue what is different to display them. With the discovery of the New World and the resulting conquests to faraway lands, not only the land but also the universe of images of The Other was conquered. Museums with their Cabinets of Curiosity, that display everything that is extraordinary and rare, living and nonliving, are exalted to mysterious settings. Along with the Renaissance-the conveyor of the Ancient Greece and the messenger of the modern world view- museums transformed into visual encyclopedias established with a philosophy of classification and documentation rather than sorting the mysterious objects or the living things. In this sense, the museums have started to develop as service facilities that contribute to the progress of the society instead of settings that only collect and store objects. While Palazzo Medici built in 15th century laid the foundations of the modern museum, arts and science started to transform into academic structures. Now, the most precious artifacts of history are presented in the museum setting in a chronological order. The function of object based information usage started to be dominant in the 18th century along with the establishment of the institutional structure and the 19th century brought the provision of services to educate the working class that started to rapidly increase in the cities as a result of industrialization and the museums have obtained the mission of training citizens as well.As a result, museums stopped being the indicators of wealth for rulers and the bourgeois in the history and started to gain importance as educational institutions. Hence, modern museums are settings in which research towards the preservation of cultural heritage is undertaken on one hand and training, publications, knowledge-document centers, performances, meetings, discussions and workshops are provided on the other.