Museums should be seen as more than just a storehouse for artefacts but as a bridge from the past to present, Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony said in his address at the recent Commonwealth Museums Conference at the Umana Yana.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release the conference attracted participants from the Commonwealth Association of Museums (CAM), Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom and is being held under the theme “Museums in Diversity.” Those in attendance included Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies Dr Rex Nettleford, and President of CAM Martin Segar.
Anthony said museums must be recognised as the “facilitator of cross cultural understanding, promote cohesion and foster a sense of belonging and identity.”
He urged Commonwealth leaders in the museum field to champion the cause of restructuring museums to make them more responsive and compatible using a “fresh, vibrant, people centred approach.” The minister also said the priority function of museums in society include promoting cultural education and internal cultural exchange, safeguarding the freedom of expression, artistic renewal and quality and enabling culture to act as a dynamic, challenging and independent force in society. Anthony also said it was important to equip museums with modern technology such as digital photography, film and Digital Videodisks (DVDs) to develop their capacity.
Anthony said the Guyana National Museum subscribes to the belief that it is “diversity itself that should be saved, not the historical content that each period has produced.” He then linked museums and ecosystems, pointing out that both needed protection hence Guyana’s drive to promote standing forests.
In keeping with this, the conference dedicated time to focus on environmental issues.
According to GINA, Nettleford supported Anthony’s views that museums should be seen as more than just “mausoleums” but “as educational tools to instruct the mind of viewers, particularly youths.” He said in order to implement this they needed to be equipped with the latest in modern technology.
Meanwhile, Segar presented to Anthony a book on the history of Parliament and a biography of James Douglas a Guyanese-born historical figure.
