Ravi Roy

IMPORTANCE OF MUSEUMS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

By-Ravi

“It's not a museum. It's not a place of artifacts;it's a place of ideas."

-Jeanie Kahnke

Creative, new &logical ideas are always preferred. New innovations & discoveries are always desirable and are offered a warm welcome. And museums are the bridge of many historical,architectural, cultural, scientific,philosophical and multidisciplinary ideas, between many generations of our past. It is quite important for us to look into our past to achieve the future goals of development,because it is said that , those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. So, we can understand the importance of museums in the better development of the contemporary society.
                                     The word ‘museum’ originates from a Greek word ‘Musa', who is the Greek goddess of art, literature and science. It is an institution that conserves the collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific importance. Museums acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit the heritage of humanity and environment. Early museums were the private collection of wealthy individuals and institutions, displayed often in wonder rooms also known as ‘ cabinets of curiosities'. Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum, built by Princess Ennigaldi at the end of the Neo Babylonian Empire in 530 B.C.E. is of the oldest known museums containing the artifacts from the early Mesopotamian civilisation. The contemporary world has more than 55000 museums in 202 countries ,according to the International Council of Museums. There are many types of museums at present;such as, art museum, science museum, natural history museum, children's museum and many more. Virtual museum, wax museum, sports museum and some more types are in light currently. India has established her first virtual museum recently in Varanasi, which presents the history of Varanasi and the story of emergence of the Ganges virtually using various ways of telecast, podcast and multi-dimensional light effects.
                               The Louvre Museum is the world's largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris, France.It received 9.6 million visitors, making it the most visited museum in the world, in2019. It's collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.A big crowd visits the museum daily but the most of them stand before the most famous painting of the Leonardo Da Vinci, the Mona Lisa painting. Visitors feel everything they have studied in the world history. They observe and analyse the ways followed by their ancestors to tackle the hard days, to fight for their rights, etc. and find out the solutions of the contemporary problems faced by them. The great art works inspire the people to do difficult works with a new zeal and perfection. Other art and historical museums also have got the similar importance in contemporary society. They also build a bridge between ideas and cultures of generations and play a big role in shaping contemporary society.
                                        Science museums are important to develop a scientific approach towards all the works of the society. Research studies have even shown that science museums can have important impacts on science literacy of the greater community served by that museum, and can impact public understanding, attitudes and behaviours toward science and technology.We can experience mind sharpening games over there. They also impart the knowledge of celestial bodies on an interesting way. Raising awareness to protect our environment can also be done by these museums in a effective way.
                                           University museums are established mainly for studies and research works. Scientists, scholars, professors and students work in artifacts, science, agriculture, medical and technologies. We can find rare and extinct plants and seeds in agriculture museum. These museums are the main source of innovations and discoveries for the contemporary society.
                                         Military and war museums showcase the weapons, vehicles and aircraft used by the military over the years, bringing the contemporary society closer to a side of the history of a country that some may not be familiar with.It is the experience of lifetime to know about the wars a country fought reading about bloody battles, courageous acts of soldiers, arms and armies of that time, which always inspires us.Their story fills our blood with a new energy of patriotism and guides the society to work hard as of war level in which so ever activities they are involved. Every country has some or more war museums. If you are fascinated by India's military history, you should definitely pay a visit to the military museums in India that stand today.They are Indian War Memorial, New Delhi;Cavalry Tank Museum,Ahmednagar; Jaisalmer War Museum; Air Force Museum, New Delhi and three Naval museums in Goa, Vizag and Andaman and Nicobar. These are quite fascinating to visit.
                                                  Sports, Wax and Virtual museums are the new forms of museums gradually becoming popular in contemporary visitors. Sports museums are the collection of sporting memorabilia. Fanattic Sports Museum New Town Kolkata is the first sports museum in West Bengal. India already had various sports memorabilia collections in cities like Pune and Chennai but their collection was confined only to cricket, hockey and football. Fanattic Sports Museum however goes beyond those three sports and celebrates other sports like chess, swimming ,golf and others. Wax museums inspire the visitors by many architectural works of wax. Wax idols of great players are also kept in sports museums. India had got her first virtual museum recently near Maanmahal Ghaat in Varanasi. Visit to these museums are quite fascinating and refreshing.
                  Museums have got so much importance in the contemporary society, but the question rises if all the sections of the society do get the same opportunity to visit museums. Definitely not. Much of the economically and socially weaker section has not heard this name even. Now, it becomes impractical to think of the role of museums in development of the contemporary society , because a large part of the society consists of the weaker section. Museums play an important role in the mental development. So, some ways should be found to access the museum to the weaker section also. Government can allocate funds to arrange their trips to museums for the mental development of the whole society. But, the farmers cannot leave their fields and animals at the cost of the trip and daily wage labourers and workers cannot leave their work , because these things are lifeline for them. It can cost much if they leave their work even for a day. So, we can find a way out in which both the aims are fulfilled. We can think of moving museums, but they have security issues. So, mobile virtual museums can be the best possible solution. It would insure the inclusive development of the contemporary society. India has only one virtual museum that too is immobile. To prepare mobile virtual museums is the need of the hour. They can play a great role in the development of the society of the lower strata. It can impart knowledge effectively in far rural areas even with wide accessibility. Government can also hold meetings of elite classes and concerned officers to find more ways out.
                                   Hereby, we get that museums are not just repository of history and explainer of past in the contemporary world, but it is an important source of cultural exchange, education, enjoyment and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among the people.They tell the story of man the world over and how humanity has survived . They promote a fairer, more equal and more socially just society, so it's accessibility to all sections of the contemporary society is quite important for the complete development of the society.