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Museums are treasure houses of the works of nature and
man. From the very beginning of human civilization, man
had a tendency to acquire things of his choice and to
preserve memories of them for the future generations.
Every museum, therefore, is the symbol of human
heritage.
The Latin word ‘museum’ is derived from the Greek word ‘museion’.
In Greek ‘museion’ means a temple dedicated to the
‘Muses’, the Greek goddesses of arts and sciences. They
are recognized as daughters of ‘Zeus’, king of the gods.
The ‘Muses’ are nine in number and each one of them
represents separate branches of arts and sciences in
Greek mythology.
In modern times, with the growth and development of our
civilization, so also technology – various branches of
studies have emerged. Museology or the scientific study
of museums, deals with the growth, organization and
management of museum. The International Council of
Museums (ICOM) defined Museology as “Museum Science”
or “the study of the history and background of museums,
their role in society, specific system of research,
conservation, education and organization, relationship
with the physical environment and the classification of
different kinds of museums.” It also views it as “the
branch of knowledge concerned with the study of the
purposes and organization of museums”. ICOM has also
defined the term ‘museum’ as a “nonprofit institution,
in the service of society, which acquires, conserves,
communicates and exhibits for purposes of study,
education and enjoyment, material witnesses of evolution
of nature and man”. Hence, Museology is specific to
museum and it covers all the aspects of museum.
The history of Museology is very old. It is estimated
that Museology is at least hundred years old. Museum
professionals all over the world developed the science
of museum before ICOM defined it. The importance of
museums are growing day by day, and so also of Museology.
It is fully justified to have a separate branch of study
concerned exclusively with museum. A good number of
institutions are engaged in the study and development of
Museology, both in India and abroad. ICOM has set up a
separate committee – International Committee for
Museology (ICOFOM). It is a permanent forum and has
been organizing regularly seminars on different aspects
on Museology. Now Museology has become an academic
discipline. Foreign as well as some Indian universities
have included it in their curriculum. In the western
countries it is a popular discipline, though for India
it is somewhat new.
Though it is widely accepted as a separate discipline,
there are some fundamental differences regarding its
nature. One school of thought accepts Museology as an
applied science and considers other disciplines such as
Archaeology, History of Art, Anthropology as the basis
of it. But it is seen that these disciplines can in no
way help the core issues of Museology such as
collection, conservation, documentation, classification,
interpretation and presentation. It is a fact that
earlier the field of museum was dominated by
disciplinary professionals like those of Archaeology,
History of Art, Anthropology, Botany, etc. But now
Museology can handle all the aspects of museum for its
interdisciplinary approach. The second school of thought
considers Museology as an independent science. It is the
study of those features that are common to all museums.
As an independent science it views the problems of
museum in a different way. And the term ‘New
Museology’ has emerged as a complete independent
discipline. It involves the whole community in the
preservation of its heritage through ‘Community
Museum’, ‘Ecomuseum’ and different community
development programmes. In the near future, we hope,
Museology will be able to visualize the whole world as
one community.
(Navajyoti Saharia, Research Scholar,
National Museum Institute, New Delhi 110 011,
Navajyoti20@rediffmail.com) |
