An exhibit is not just an object!

What does the word "exhibit" mean? Most people know that this term is associated with a museum or exhibition. This is a subject for review. However, this interpretation is not entirely accurate. The concept we are considering really comes from the Latin exponatus - "exposed." But this is only one of the signs. Let's talk more about what an exhibit is.

It's not just an object

The townsfolk often think that museums are created in order 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 of 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 referred to as museum items. 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 authentic, capable of evoking an emotional response. Foreign experts call this set of properties "museum". The value of the artifact depends on the degree of its expression. Thus, an exhibit is an object that has a museum.

This is not every museum subject

In the world's largest museums, a huge number of objects are stored. So, the collection of the Louvre of Paris has 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 subjects. However, most of them are kept in special conditions in museum funds, properly restored and preserved.

And the exhibit is a museum item, which was selected for presentation to the public. As a rule, it has the highest properties listed above, and is characterized by good safety. However, these may not be genuine items, 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

In museums are stored a variety of subjects. As in any economy, there is also need for order. Artifacts are classified, divided into types and groups. What museum items can be?

1. Real. They are made by the hands of a man from metal, wood, glass, fabric and other materials and have utilitarian significance. Examples include weapons, furniture, utensils, coins, clothes, toys, and so on.
2. Written. The main source of information are words, letters, numbers. These include chronicles and chronicles, books and newspapers, documents and statistics, journals and correspondence.
3. Fine. Pictures, films, photographs, plans, drawings, schemes, maps, sculptures, graphics.
4. 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 done on wax rollers and cylinders, plates and magnetic tapes, CDs.

A new look at museum items

In the third millennium, the museum exhibit is not just an ancient object, dusting behind the glass. Workers of culture understand that in the age of the Internet, madly developing technologies and new ways of mastering the information inherent in the "Next" generation, the approaches to the organization of the museum space must radically change. Otherwise, tour guides will be bored for months in the richest collections.

Today's expositions are becoming more interactive. In the most interesting museums seek to influence all the senses of the visitor. Such an example can serve as an exhibition organized in 2012 in the Israeli Museum of Childhood. She clearly demonstrated how aging is happening.

Before the excursion, the group was photographed, and after a while they demonstrated on the screen artificially aged for 70 years of children. Under the ticking of the clock, visitors walked a winding corridor on the walls of which they read the questions: "How old are you?", "For how many years do you feel?", "Do you look younger or older than your age?" In a room filled with interactive simulations, On the stairs in heavy shoes. With age, people lose muscle mass, and it is really difficult for them to walk. A special device made the visitors' hands tremble, while they inserted the key into the keyhole. The excursionists tried to order tickets to the cinema by phone, but the device was designed in such a way that it seemed to them that a drop of water was stuck in the ear - so the senile problems with hearing were simulated.

Such expositions are not quite common. However, it seems that the future of museums is precisely due to the skilful combination of existing collections and modern interactive installations.