Saturday, May 24, 2008 Libre: Go visit the museum By Mel Libre Seriously Now
“THERE is waning interest in mu seumvisits because museums are always projected as dark.” This admission by Dr. Jocelyn Gerra, executive director of the Rafi Cultural Heritage Program, hits the nail on the head on why people do not find time to go to museums.
Unlike screen character Indiana Jones who is willing to risk his life and cross the seven seas just to look for artifacts, I would rather be in a library if I were to discover and understand past cultures and heritage.
Journeying to remote places and digging sites for an extended period of time requires not only professional expertise but also utmost dedication and courage.
The result is finding priceless treasures (although we know that some people merely want to profit from the venture). The artifacts are then exhibited in a museum.
The adventure that goes with finding an artifact may be as interesting as the artifact itself. Housing the narrative of the searches and the findings in a museum is an an attraction that can open the mind and uplift the spirit. But why aren’t people queuing up and buying tickets like what the fans of the latest Indiana Jones sequel are doing?
I have rarely been to a museum (except perhaps at the Sergio Osmeña Sr. museum and at Casa Gorordo). I took up my accountancy and law degrees and taught for a considerable time at the University of San Carlos. Ironically, I never took keen interest on the USC Museum right at the entrance of the main building.
Other than being dark, the museums I visited were dusty and the display lacked creativity. I am sure that if I went to these places again, not much change is in place.
A good study on museum operation is The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa in Wellington. Its mission: to be a forum for the nation to present, explore, and preserve the heritage of its cultures and knowledge of the natural environment in order to better understand and treasure the past, enrich the present, and meet the challenges of the future.
It has become a tourist attraction with 1,351,675 visitors in the 2006/2007 financial year. Two major touring exhibitions from overseas, “Constable: Impressions of Land, Sea and Sky” (July 5-October 8, 2006; 98,328 visits) and “Egypt: Beyond the Tomb” (Dec. 9, 2006 -April 20, 2007; 120,358 visits), contributed to the high number of visits.
Te Papa has created a highly informative web page (www.tepapa.govt.nz) that gives prospective visitors first hand knowledge about the institution, its activities and programs. It has taken advantage of technology and pop culture to make itself attuned to the wired generation.
The museum, therefore, takes away the cemetery-like environment from a museum and brings it to a level of a theme park. While government appropriation allows the museum to function, it obtains funding from corporate sponsors, grants from non-profit institutions and commercial revenue.
The management of five local museums should be commended for opening their doors to the public from 6 p.m. on May 30 to midnight of May 31. So go visit the Basilica del Santo Niño Museum, Fort San Pedro, Casa Gorordo Museum, Yap-San Diego Ancestral Home and the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Museum to see artifacts of Cebu’s rich history and to know better who we were as a people.
Still, if they honestly intend to revive public interest in their museums, they should learn from the operation of successful museums abroad and adopt innovative approaches to make the facilities less of a resting place of the past but a forum about a colorful history that contributes to a vibrant present.
