What does the word “exhibit” mean? Most people know that this term refers to a museum or exhibition. This is a subject put up for review. However, this interpretation is not entirely accurate. The concept considered by us really comes from the Latin exponatus - “exposed”. But this is only one of the signs. Let's talk more about what an exhibit is.
This is not just a subject.
Residents often think that museums are designed to entertain us visitors. However, in fact, one of their main functions is the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage and its inclusion in the context of modern culture. How to get reliable knowledge about the past? Only by studying artifacts of that time - real documents, objects, images, buildings. The museum is a repository of such artifacts, which are commonly called museum objects. Part of the collection is not any old thing, but only possessing certain properties. It should serve as a source of information, be outwardly attractive and historically reliable, capable of causing an emotional response. Foreign experts call this set of properties “museality”. The value of the artifact depends on its severity. Thus, an exhibit is an item that has museality.
This is not every museum item.
The largest museums in the world store a huge number of items. So, the collection of the Paris Louvre totals 300-400 thousand masterpieces. The Hermitage has 3,000,000 works of art. And the Museum of Natural History in London boasts a collection of 70 million botanical, zoological, mineralogical and paleontological objects. However, most of them are kept in special conditions in the museum funds, properly restored and preserved.
And the exhibit is a museum item that was selected for presentation to the public. As a rule, it most possesses the properties listed above, and is characterized by good preservation. However, these may not be genuine objects, but copies, reproductions, reconstructions, models, models, holograms. Such materials allow you to save a valuable artifact or get an idea of the lost realities. The exhibit is the main structural element of the museum exposition.
Varieties
Museums store a variety of items. As in any household, order is also needed here. Artifacts are classified, divided into types and groups. What can be museum objects?
- Real. They are made by human hands from metal, wood, glass, fabric and other materials and have a utilitarian value. Examples include weapons, furniture, dishes, coins, clothes, toys, and so on.
- Written. The main source of information are words, letters, numbers. These include chronicles and chronicles, books and newspapers, documents and statistics, magazines and correspondence.
- Fine. Pictures, films, photographs, plans, drawings, diagrams, maps, sculptural works, graphics.
- Sound. They can convey the voice of a famous person, the intonation of an outstanding poet, reading his poem, the performance of a musical work. Recording can be made on wax rollers and cylinders, records and magnetic tapes, CDs.
A new look at museum objects
In the third millennium, a museum exhibit is not just an ancient object dusting itself behind glass. Cultural workers understand that in the age of the Internet, the development of technologies and new ways of mastering the information inherent in the Next generation are rampant, approaches to organizing museum space must change dramatically. Otherwise, guides will be bored for months among the richest collections.
Today's exhibits are becoming more interactive. In the most interesting museums they strive to influence all the senses of the visitor. An example is the exhibition organized in 2012 at the Israeli Museum of Childhood. She demonstrated how aging occurs.
Before the start of the tour, the group was photographed, and after a while, children were shown artificially aged 70 years on the screen. At the ticking of the clock, visitors walked along a winding corridor, on the walls of which they read questions: “How old are you?”, “How old are you feeling?”, “Do you look younger or older than your age?” In a room filled with interactive imitations, sightseers climbed the stairs in heavy shoes. With age, people lose muscle mass, and it is really difficult for them to walk. A special device made visitors' hands tremble while they inserted the key into the keyhole. The excursionists tried to book movie tickets on the phone, but the apparatus was designed in such a way that it seemed to them that a drop of water was stuck in their ear - this was an imitation of senile hearing problems.
Such expositions are not quite usual yet. However, it seems that the future of museums lies precisely in the skillful combination of existing collections and modern interactive installations.