The theme of this year's International Museum Day, celebrated last Saturday, 18 May 2024, read: "Museums for education and research"; it thus underlined the fundamental role of cultural institutions in providing an integral educational experience, and the day served to reaffirm the international commitment of many institutions and people around the world to build a more aware, sustainable and inclusive world.
Museums are dynamic educational centres that promote curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. Its contribution to research is recognised in 2024 in particular, providing a platform for the exploration and dissemination of new ideas. From art to history, science to technology, museums are vital spaces where education and research converge to shape our understanding of the world.
For International Museum Day 2024, the animation group of the Advisory Team of Salesian Missionary Museums wanted to join the international community and invite people to rethink education, imagining a future in which the sharing of knowledge overcomes barriers, and in which innovation knows how to meet tradition.
An exhibition was also presented during the formation day: "We also wanted to create an exhibition that is accessible and respectful of African culture and values, because we understand culture through a rights-based approach that refers to the ability of individuals and communities to enhance and preserve their cultural manifestations," explained Fr Reginaldo Cordeiro, contact person for the Missions Sector within the committee.
The result is of great impact for visitors, because the theme of the exhibition is very challenging from an emotional point of view, but the Ubuntu space promotes intercultural understanding and empathy between the visitor and the participants.
Once again, all this is the result of arduous research that serves to consolidate the knowledge of the heritage we preserve. It should not be forgotten that the credibility that the public places in museums is due to the fact that the proposals they make are well-founded and based on scientific studies, without which the added value of museums would not exist.
