Museums in Transformation Process
International Conference
November 24 – 26, 2003, Brno, Czech Republic
The transformation of the museums in Macedonia
under the changes in the new law of culture
Gute Mladenovski
Director of Natural History Museum of Macedonia
Skopje, 12.09.2003
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Introduction
For the role of the museums in the society there are several definitions. According to
IKOM the museum is a non-commercial, permanent social institution open for the
public, and has a goal to collect, conserve, research, information and organise
exhibitions with scientific, educational and recreational character. In the legislative for
museum activity in the Republic of Macedonia, museums are defined as institutions
for systematic research, collection, scientific processing, protection, preservation,
publication and presentation of the museum materials and work. In Republic of
Macedonia as a result of protection and presentation of the rich cultural and natural
heritage a wide museum network was created.
The modern world today undergoes great socio-political and economic changes, of
which Macedonia is also a part. The transition of socialist system towards market
economy system has not only reflected on the society as whole, but has also affected
the museum work, management and structure of the cultural institutions and its role
in the society. Today, as a result of the transition museums in Macedonia suffer from
limited financial budgets, absence of professional staff and modern material and
technical equipment. The present situation leads to reduction of the museum
capability to fulfil its role in society. Evidently, that the transformation of the museums
is needed, which will enable them to enter the new modern era on a firm legs.
Consequently, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in order to support and
foster the process of museum transformation is preparing a new legislative for
museum activity, as a part of the law for culture. The new law for culture provides for
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decentralisation of the museums, meaning their future financing not from government
budget, but their full financing from the local communities all over Macedonia. These
changes in the legislative for museum activity are on one hand a potential danger
and on another a great challenge for their successful transformation and will the
central topic of discussion in this paper.
Major challenges
The major challenges that await the museums in the transformation period are the
following:
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The economic recession of the region severely affects the financial situation of
the local communities in Macedonia. The financial weakened communities as
a result of non-liquid factories and enterprises, high level of unemployment
and inflation, do not have the necessary financial capital to invest in public
non-profit institution as such museums. The museums in Macedonia with the
transfer of their financing on the community level are losing their advantage of
secure and regular financial capital. Some of the communities in Macedonia
are extremely poor leading to gradual extinction of the museums that are
under their financial budget. Such a situation in the museums under local
communities will force the museums to transform and find new creative
solutions in order to reach their ultimate goal their financial independence.
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New labour law forbidding new employments in the museums. The
government of the Republic of Macedonia with its measures for financial
stabilisation of the economy introduced a new labour act forbidding new
employments in the public sector, including the museums. This negatively
influences the staff structure of the museums. The older and experienced
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museum staff was retired and could not be replaced with new capable staff.
Such a deficit in the museum staff negatively affects the successful functioning
of the museum as an institution of vital importance.
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Very low cultural consciousness of the public for museum activities. In severe
economic conditions the visiting of museums is extremely low and the
alternative source of financing through entrance fees is almost eliminated.
Furthermore, the limited number of the museum audience makes local firms
unwilling to sponsor museum activities. Consequently, the museums are left
only with the minimal financial capital from the government because the
alternative sources of financing can be hardly realised.
The challenges of the new law for culture demand a timely and adequate
transformation of the museums, without which the museums will not be able to
successfully fulfil their role in society.
How to manage museum transformation?
In order to answer to the major challenges of their transformation museums have to
make radical changes.
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Rising of the cultural consciousness of the museum audience. This measure
requires educational campaign on national level, which will start with the
youngest museum audience (children with preschool age) and incorporate all
possible museum target groups. Such a project must allow the youngest to be
able to participate in the museum activities, creating their own exponents and
informing themselves about the museum work and its significance to the
society. Museums will then organise exhibitions with the exponents created by
the children, which will attract the attention of their parents, friends and wider
public. Thus, love for the museum will be created in an early age and will
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result in increase in the museum audience over time. In order to sustain the
public interest, such projects should be constant, introducing new ideas and
exhibitions inspiring the public to regularly visit such manifestations.
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Museum staff training. In order to enable the museum staff to go hand in hand
with new world trends and the transformations in the society, an appropriate
training program is needed. This can be best achieved though international
projects through which the museum staff will be educated about the new
trends and ways in presentation and preservation of the museum material.
Furthermore, the exchange of knowledge and experience on a international
level will widen the horizons of the staff for modern museum activities.
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Technical and technological modernisation of the museums. For successful
and modern work of the museums in Macedonia, significant modernisation of
the equipment is necessary. The access to the World Wide Web and other
new technologies will enable the museums to better inform themselves about
the newest developments in museology.
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Creation of a contact with the private sector. Together with the increase of the
standards of the museum work and increase in the museum audience the
interest of the private sector for sponsorship of museum manifestation will
boost. The financial capital acquired through sponsorship will enable gradual
financial independence of the museums from the weak government and local
community budgets. Such a practice which is popular over the world has to be
introduced in the museum in Macedonia as well.
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Conclusion:
Today, the museums in Macedonia faced with a turbulent transformation have
reached a critical point for their development and survival. The transformation should
enable museum financial independence through their modernisation, modern ways of
presenting museum activities, museum staff training, improving the international
museum network with other institutions. In order to achieve the necessary level of
modernisation for successful transformation, the government should find the
necessary financial capital and invest in the modernisation of the museums. In that
way, the readiness of the museums to embrace changes and transformation will be
increased and will represent their initial and crucial step towards their financial
independence.