Growth Of Museums Research Articles

Editorial

In the editorial for the last issue of Museum Worlds we commented on the growth of museums in every part of the world, and the allied expansion of museum studies. Both of us teach museum studies in our respective universities and are very well aware that the next generation of museum professionals is deeply committed to developing a curatorial practice that is engaged, ethically grounded, creative, and diverse. Our students regularly tell us that they are eager to learn from colleagues in all parts of the world and see this as an essential component of their professional development and their ability to critique what museums are and might be. As such, we are pleased in this issue to include reports, reviews, and articles from an enormous range of countries, and are especially pleased to publish the work of early career professionals alongside that of established colleagues. Taken together, we believe the projects, exhibitions, books, and other museum-based activities highlighted in this issue are a good indicator of the vitality of the field of museum studies, even in such challenging times.

Understanding the Potential of Indonesian Museums

This study aims to provide ideas and explanations of the potential development and growth by understanding the strength and opportunities of museums in Indonesia. Descriptive research is deemed best acceptable for the purposes of this study. The data set include museum regulations in Indonesia, namely the Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 5 of 2017 for Culture Promotion; Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia No. 66 concerning Museums; and museum statistical data. This research uses literature review as a data analysis approach by examining the documents that became research data, then assessing the potential for the development and growth of museums in Indonesia by identifying the opportunities and challenges. The results of the analysis are presented in the form of a narrative. The results show that regulations, the advancement of technology; as well as the Indonesian population, provide opportunities for museums in Indonesia to grow and develop in the future. However, the limited number of cultural heritage experts and the low interest of Indonesians in visiting historical sites make developing museums challenging.

Identification of key components of visitor education in a museum

ABSTRACTRecent changes in tourism and an increased interest in education and learning have led to the growth of museum visits in developing countries. The major objective of this study is to identify the key components of education and learning at the museum in order to enhance the audience's learning; and to investigate the tendency of audiences towards learning activities. This study was conducted at the Malek National Museum of Tehran, Iran. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this research and the data was gathered through questionnaire and interview form (a closed questionnaire for visitors of the Malek National Museum, Tehran, Iran and an interview form for professionals and experts in the field of museums). Data was analysed using a coding method and SPSS tools. The research findings illustrate that the most important factors in improving education and learning in museums can be classified into three groups: policy making, executive functions within the museum and executive functions in relation to the visitor. Audiences have a highly positive tendency to all key components which were suggested for improving education and learning in the museum.

Configuring image and context: Writing ‘about’ pictures

Humanities texts have been little studied in ESP, and the few analyses attempted have not always been as successful as those directed at the social sciences, life sciences and natural sciences. However, in largely post-industrial communities, the growth of museums and galleries (as well as the corresponding increase in museum studies programs) suggests that humanities texts in this sector might now warrant attention. Since, outside English-speaking countries, these texts about artworks or cultural artifacts are typically produced both in English and the local language, there is clearly potential here for ESP development. In this case study of a small corpus of one-page accounts of pictures, analysis shows that the interpretations are rarely organized in a general-specific or specific-general manner, but rather oscillate between reference to the micro image and the broader context, as in this 26-sentence example (Con = Context; Image = Im):▪This kind of patterning is teachable, as are more specific features, such as the exegetic role of comparisons, the subdued versus prominent employment of intertextual references, and the judicious use of parenthetical information and qualifying hedges. The article closes with an illustrative learner task designed to raise awareness of the oscillating pattern.

Museum of Contemporary Art by Artists

Museum of Contemporary Art by Artists

On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and 'The Unilever Series'

Since the opening Tate Modern in 2000, the vast space of the Turbine Hall has hosted The Unilever Series. Widely acclaimed artists Louise Bourgeois, Juan Munõz, Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Bruce Nauman, Rachel Whiteread, Carsten Höller and most lately Doris Salcedo accepted the invitation to ‘tackle’ what is arguably the biggest museum space in the world and realized what is invariably held to be their ‘biggest work ever.’ The Unilever Series is not the only large-scale installation series. In recent years, we witnessed the worldwide launch of ever-larger art commissions for increasingly vaster spaces, resulting in all the more colossal artworks. Only recently, Paris announced its own yearly art commission for the central nave of the Grand Palais, suitably entitled Monumenta. The essay examines The Unilever Series in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, and discuss it within the global leap in scale and massive expansion of the art and museum world, of which the London institution and its vestibule in particular are the most blatant exponents. While it is certainly true that the spectacular expansion of art installations has occurred in tandem with a profusion of large international exhibitions and ‘destination’ museum of inordinately vast proportions, the assumption that large exhibition spaces demand an art of size is too simplistic. By examining the institutional, spatial and material disposition of the Turbine Hall, I will demonstrate that it is far more than a plain and abstract emblem of the global inflation and growth of museum and exhibition spaces. It’s a distinct architectural exponent of this tendency that essentially in and of itself has informed the inflation of the artworks that have been commissioned for it.

On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and 'The Unilever Series'

Since the opening Tate Modern in 2000, the vast space of the Turbine Hall has hosted The Unilever Series. Widely acclaimed artists Louise Bourgeois, Juan Munõz, Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Bruce Nauman, Rachel Whiteread, Carsten Höller and most lately Doris Salcedo accepted the invitation to ‘tackle’ what is arguably the biggest museum space in the world and realized what is invariably held to be their ‘biggest work ever.’ The Unilever Series is not the only large-scale installation series. In recent years, we witnessed the worldwide launch of ever-larger art commissions for increasingly vaster spaces, resulting in all the more colossal artworks. Only recently, Paris announced its own yearly art commission for the central nave of the Grand Palais, suitably entitled Monumenta. The essay examines The Unilever Series in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, and discuss it within the global leap in scale and massive expansion of the art and museum world, of which the London institution and its vestibule in particular are the most blatant exponents. While it is certainly true that the spectacular expansion of art installations has occurred in tandem with a profusion of large international exhibitions and ‘destination’ museum of inordinately vast proportions, the assumption that large exhibition spaces demand an art of size is too simplistic. By examining the institutional, spatial and material disposition of the Turbine Hall, I will demonstrate that it is far more than a plain and abstract emblem of the global inflation and growth of museum and exhibition spaces. It’s a distinct architectural exponent of this tendency that essentially in and of itself has informed the inflation of the artworks that have been commissioned for it.

Heritage conservation in the Pacific Islands

An examination of literature concerning the Pacific island states reveals the links between conservation and the political, economic and cultural context. The role of conservation is influenced by new definitions of the mission of museums and cultural centres. Conservation fits within a context with a heavy emphasis on community services. Families and members of the community may have a role. Institutions may contain an unusual diversity of collections and the effect of the tropical environment is recognized. There is a strong history of international co-operation, both within the region and with other nations (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, France) and international organizations (ICCROM, UNESCO, the Pacific Islands Museums Association, organizations for archives). There is documentation of the growth of museums and upgrading of preventive conservation in the past 10 years. Most training has been achieved by means of short courses and internships. Conservation is usually only one component of technical and professional positions that include many other diverse roles. Issues of repatriation and access to collections elsewhere in the world are of growing interest.

Archaeological work and the growth of museums in Japan

Dr Michael Loewe, University Lecturer in the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge, has kindly given us this account of a recent study visit to investigate Japanese archaeology and museums.

The function of local natural history collections

A conference on this theme was held at Liverpool on 22nd and 23rd September 1977, jointly organised by the Biology Curator's Group, Geological Curator's Group and Systematics Association. Abstracts of the papers presented appeared in the December Museums Journal. The following notes attempt to highlight some of the points of interest to our members. J. Bateman started the ball rolling with a consideration of the origin of natural history collections, touching upon such issues as the psychology of collecting, developments in curatorial procedure and the social background to the rise of public museums. The importance of the professional curator in the growth of museums, and the problems arising out...