For quite a number of times, we students would find in our calendar of activities for a school year visits to the museum. But how exactly should we respond when we enter the cold, well-maintained confines of a museum?
Museums are put up mainly for learning and access. Some museums are put up for inspiration, others for commemoration and some simply for information. A museum that holds the things that a former president used gives us a peek into the kind of lifestyle the president had when he was still alive. It can also tell us how times have changed since then.
Take for example the Beijing Arts & Crafts Museum in China. This was put up in 1987 in order to house more than 3, 000 art pieces that include China’s prestigious traditional arts and crafts of jade carving, ivory, antique porcelain, gold lacquer and other things that would tell its visitors of the mastery of the Chinese in the field of arts. It also showcases the plethora of precious minerals the country has. The collection also shows its viewers the amount of discipline and knowledge that were put into forming and crafting them. It almost imposes respect to the people who painstakingly and meticulously made them.
Regardless of the artifacts being preserved by different museums, each carries with it a theme that it wants to impart to its visitors. It is essential for a visitor to first try to figure out what could be the reason why the museum exists. Ask questions. You never know where your curiosity can lead you.
