By Lloyd Makonya
Zimbabwe – (News Of The South) – Every year, International Museum Day (IMD) is celebrated around the world on May 18 under a given theme that aims at promoting museum issues in society.
Mutare Museum joins the rest of the world in commemorating such an important day in the existence of museums.
The 2014 theme “Museum collections make connections” aims at renovating traditional methods of engagement adopted by museums in order to remain relevant to their stakeholders. Museums are constantly facing changes in the industry that force them to rethink their traditional mandate and find new ways to engage visitors in more accessible collections. A number of activities have been lined by various departments at Mutare museum this Sunday to commemorate IMD, that seek to give the public an insight not only to museum collections but how the museum is using its collections to showcase to the world its role in transforming our diverse cultural landscape by acting as a cultural bridge to an ever changing environment.
As important story-tellers of a community’s cultural heritage and collective memory, museums contribute strongly to the development of their society by connecting visitors to different types of collections. The theme could not have been more suitable for Mutare Museum as it will be celebrating 50 years of existence come September this year. Having officially opened its doors to the public on the 13th of September 1964, Mutare museum is tangible evidence and a proud product of the regional museum concept, covering the eastern parts of the country (Manicaland). Today, Mutare Museum stands out and boasts as being the nation’s leader in transport and antiquities collection.
ONE of the key roles that a museum plays is that of being an educational resource. Exhibitions in a museum in many ways illustrate various educational concepts through the use of visual aids that are fundamental in educating our pupils. Whilst it is agreeable that materials in the classroom have the advantage of being accessible, materials seen on field trips such as trips to the museum often have far greater impact because of the novelty of getting out of the standard classroom setting.
Memorable experiences of various courses have led to many individuals remembering field trips museums included for a long time. Mutare Museum has had various educational temporary and permanent exhibitions on display such as the Ngoma Lungundu and the Diamond exhibition which evoked the religious, geological and scientific aspects of the school curricula
It is however unfortunate that even though museums are packed with possibilities for illustrating various concepts, they often are not used to their fullest educational potential. In the face of the economic hardships facing the nation the prime excuse from educational institutions has been the logistics and costs of taking a class to a museum which is viewed as cumbersome, but we should hasten to note that, the value of museums to the education of the students cannot be overemphasized.
Mutare Museum has also embraced the digitization of the educational component by purchasing a projector, audio and visual media components together with documentaries on various subjects such as Zimbabwe’s liberation war history, geographic and scientific documentaries. This is an effort to complement the wholesome teaching process of the school curriculum. The geology section in the Beit gallery of Mutare museum illustrates various geographic concepts such as tectonic plate movements and soil geology which aid the student in adapting to the concepts explained in the textbooks. A trip to the museum offers an opportunity for teachers to come up with a variety of creative ways to teach their classes and qualified personnel are on hand to help according to the academic levels of the visitor.
In addition, English teachers can use the museum as a tool to poke the student’s creative writing skills, by having them describe various unfamiliar objects they would have seen in the museum. Art classes utilize the museum in a similar vein, with students expressing their creative talents, illustrating the specimens in the museum and their artworks can be displayed in the children’s educational corner which is a specific section set aside for that purpose. The use of a museum in the education system is only limited by the creative efforts of the teacher. A trip to the museum can be a tremendously valuable educational activity for students regardless of the subject being taught.
Makonya Lloyd is a Marketing Officer at Mutare Museum
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