| If you want to understand
what makes a place
tick, visit a museum. These venerable institutions orient visitors
and engage locals.
Ready for a party? International
Museum Day is celebrated around the world on May 18 and
is promoted by the International
Council of Museums.
DEFINITIONS
A museum is a 'permanent institution in the service of society
and of its development, open to the public, which acquires,
conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes
of study, education, enjoyment, the tangible and intangible
evidence of people and their environment.'
- International Council of Museums
(ICOM)
A FEW WORDS ABOUT MUSEUMS AND MARKETS
Mexico's traditional
markets link the present with the past and the future.
A friend leads first-time visitors through Mexico City's Anthropology
Museum in Chapultepec
Park. He purposefully stops at the maquetas (models)
that depict markets held in the days before the arrival of the
Spanish. Take a look, he says. There is a great diversity of
products bartered, traded and sold.
A day or two later he takes his visitors to a traditional city
market. What do you think the visitors see?
Markets provide a living connection to the past. They impart
lessons that are both educational and nutritional. How do 'embed'
these connections in our travels?
Do museums really need four walls to be considered a 'museum?'
FEATURES
Walk
with the Weavers
An
Open and Shut Case - Melissa Biggs
Crossing
the Eco-Cultural Divide - Alvin Rosenbaum
Anthropology
Guide
FLICKR
World
Museums Collection
Museo
de Arte Popular
Mexico
City Anthropology Museum
Lost
City Museum
World
Museums Group
ONLINE
FLICKR
WIKI
Museums
Museos (Oaxaca)
Pop-Up Museum
ONLINE
WIKI
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Future
of Museums
|
