A museum is a permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.
All tourism activities contain some element of culture, ranging from visits to specific cultural sites such as museums, art galleries, or cathedrals, to experiencing the atmosphere of the country.
The general mandate of most museums is to educate their visitors about the history, cultural and natural heritage of a city, region or a country or about a chosen subject of special interest, while also preserving these elements for future generations. And experts on this sector agreed that the main role of the museums should be to protect heritages and attract more tourists.
As to Mebratu Gebrewold, Tour Guide; Museums play a crucial role in preserving local culture. It can also be shared and understood by those from different cultural backgrounds. According to him; here are a few of the reasons museums are so essential for cultural preservation.
First and foremost, they document daily life. Recording everyday life within a culture is one of the most important pieces of preserving it. Daily life encompasses rituals, religion, foods, art, and any other facets that make a culture unique. Regardless of what type of museum it is, odds are it has some cultural artifacts, art, music, or technology displayed.
Secondly, museums educate others on local culture. In order for a culture to be respected and survive globalization, those of the dominant culture must be educated about minority cultures and their way of life. The best way to do this is through a respectful display of local culture in a museum.
Furthermore, museums are a wonderful place to take children for both fun and education. They offer hands-on learning with knowledgeable employees and visual aids to hold any childs attention and will likely give you other ideas on how to incorporate hands-on learning into your childs education once you leave.
Thirdly, they display alternative perspectives on history. Many mainstream history courses and books are biased, focusing on the perspective of the dominant culture and ignoring the thousands of minority cultures with fascinating history to be told. Museums display histories, timelines, and perspectives people may have never heard before, potentially altering the mindsets of people who have simply never been educated outside the mainstream culture.
Lastly, they connect those of different backgrounds. Two types of people will visit museums in search of information on other cultures: People with that heritage, and people interested in learning about that heritage who come from a different background. Museums focused on heritage and culture brings people together, creating a network of support for different minorities and groups, he noted.
Though it is difficult to know the exact number of museums in Ethiopia, approximately there are more than 100 museums that are organized by regions, religious sectors, cities and private individuals.
Approached by The Ethiopian Herald Abebaw Ayalew, Deputy Director at Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritages, his office in collaboration with The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is preparing the guiding rule in order to regulate museums found across the nation. This rule will be presented for the council of minister by the end of this month.
According to him, the guiding rule will give the authority for the office in order to regulate and account museums regarding the conservation of heritages. It has also standards to level the museums. It further certifies them in accordance with the museum’s collection.
Moreover after this guiding rule starts its operation, the office can give license, standard and conduct controlling activities among each museum. But, as to him, previously the office had only the mandate to give professional support share experience for museums. The Authority will be also responsible for all regional, national and international museums, he added.
Museums are the cultural institutions of a country. Over a period of time cultural institution have learned to interact with societies and communities and now are actively working with both tangible and intangible heritage. As per Abebaw, museums should involve both tangible and intangible cultural heritages in their institutional and educational activities.
In Ethiopia many communities live with their cultural knowledge, traditions, rituals, oral expressions and historical heritage. Museums are gradually recognizing the need to go beyond collection, conservation and education of tangible heritage. Museums need to adopt a new model to engage themselves with communities for a constant process of transformation through the collection of intangible heritage.
The Ethiopian herald June 6,2020
BY HIZKEL HAILU
