Modern Museum Management: Major Trends in the Museums of Berlin and Leipzig
December 22, 2013, 06:00
November 24-30 – An expert group working on the Foundation initiated project, “The Germans of Kyrgyzstan’s History,” visited Berlin and Leipzig to explore various museums’ activities and management styles. The Goethe Institute and the German Embassy in Kyrgyzstan supported the trip.
The trip to Germany was planned as part of the “Germans of Kyrgyzstan’s History” project, in which a group of museum experts will organize a museum exhibit of towns, cities, and regions of Germany.
Upon returning to Kyrgyzstan, the expert group began giving workshops and presentations on the German museums’ activities as well as conducting a survey on museums here.
December 20 – The expert group presented, “Modern Museum Management: Major Trends in the Museums of Berlin and Leipzig,” at the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts.
The presentation was made with the generous support of museum, university, and NGO staff members. The “People’s Council of the Germans in the Kyrgyz Republic,” the German House, and representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism attended.
* An important objective of modern Kyrgyzstan is to map the histories and cultures of all the ethnic groups who, for historical reasons, were forced to emigrate to Kyrgyzstan.
During the current era of mass migration, young people need to know not only their own ethnic history, but also the histories of people from the other ethnicities who have lived here, labored, and made intellectual and spiritual contributions to the country.
In times of economic crisis, culture can play a vital role in the rise of a national consciousness; uniting all in peace, stability, and mutual understanding.
Therefore, “The Germans of Kyrgyzstan’s History” seeks to aid in the formation of a tolerant, open, and free society based on intercultural dialogue and interethnic understanding.
Given the problems of modern museums in Kyrgyzstan – low funding, poor equipment, lack of investment, ignorance of world trends in museum management, and weak motivation for staff to work under current economic realities – the Roza Otunbayeva Initiative believes strongly in the mission of the group of museum experts that designed the exhibit.
The trip to Germany was a great opportunity for the group to become familiar with modern ideas on management and exhibition, and to bring those ideas back to Kyrgyzstan. The group will use what it learned in Germany to organize the exhibition of “The Germans of Kyrgyzstan’s History.”
The “German’s of Kyrgyzstan’s History” exhibition will be held in various parts of Kyrgyzstan and Germany.
We would like to thank the Goethe Institute for their support in organizing the trip. It was a great contribution to the project and also the development of Kyrgyzstani museum professionals.
We hope that the exhibit will contribute to the movement towards international open society and partnerships without boundaries. We also look forward to future cooperation with German museums and specialists in the field of museum management.
Almazkan Naizabekova
Project Coordinator, “The Germans of Kyrgyzstan’s History”
0555 799 345