Creative Workshops - Workshops in the Museum and their Meaning Recently, even in our conditions, the so-called creative workshops for visitors, which are primarily aimed at child visitors, either as part of an exhibition scenario, museum program (museum with school and play, school in a museum), or as a holiday program of individual museums. The methodology of workshops has already been developed abroad, especially in the Scandinavian countries, but also in the neighboring Czech Republic. An example is the Open Museum Gate program, implemented by the Open Society Foundation in Prague, which in 1997-2002 focused on the possibilities of expanding the activities of regional and city museums in the Czech Republic. The program focused on two main areas: "developing the educational function of the museum and creating a relationship between the museum and the local community and the related operation of the museum within civil society". (1) The publication issued on this occasion contains methodological material on the possibilities of various programs within the framework of cooperation between museums and schools in various fields (art, history, regional history, traditions...). Museums with an archaeological program were also involved in the project - Villa Nova Uhřínov with the program "Window to the Past - Artifacts", "Iron Metallurgy" - Orlické Hory (2); Central Bohemian Museum, Roztoky u Prahy with the program "Searching for the past" (3); Museum of the city of Ústí nad Labem with the program "Primitive Village" (4); The West Bohemian Institute for the Protection and Documentation of Monuments in Pilsen with the program "Days of open probes - presentation of the national cultural monument Hradiště Hůrka in Old Pilsen". (5)
All projects are aimed at school youth, who can verify the acquired knowledge of history in practice through creative workshops. Creative workshops are part of tours not only in open-air museums and museums in nature, but castle and stone museums are no exception. The main idea is to carry out certain activities that took place in the past based on the given interpretation. The aim of such activities is the development of manual activities (e.g. preparing meals on an open fire, manual work, plowing with a plough), reconstruction of spiritual life in the past (e.g. during creative workshops in camps in the form of model stories), dramatization and raising historical awareness. (6)
Museums set up creative workshops for exhibitions and expositions. Even a professionally installed exhibition can be brought closer to the visitor (depending on age, mentality, etc.) through a creative workshop and a differentiated approach. Every museum can also be a children's museum - a museum as a school and a game should provoke a person to think, be curious and want to know more. With the intention of creating entertaining events in the museum, we must not slip into commercialism and must stay on a cultural level. (7)
In 2005, SNM launched the "School in a Museum" project. SNM – Archaeological Museum offers several variants of educational and creative programs that are aimed at kindergartens (Why do archaeologists dig in the ground?, Archeology through the eyes of children, Prehistoric graffiti), elementary schools (Following the footsteps of prehistoric man, Everyday life of medieval man, Let's play archaeologists, Creative workshops focused on experimental archeology procedures) and high schools (Architecture of the oldest civilizations, How was life in the Middle Ages). Individual programs are adapted to the age of the visitor and follow the school curriculum. In this way, children - students can verify the acquired knowledge in practice. (8)
The importance of creative workshops (workshops) should be seen mainly in their ability to influence the visitor's sensory perception (tactile - smell - motor skills), to fix skills, consolidate and repeat already known information or add new ones. Creative workshops in museums are also suitable for disabled visitors (physically and mentally disabled), because they allow using play and dramatization to make the necessary information accessible.
Not only the SNM - Archaeological Museum opens up new possibilities for the presentation of archaeological sources in the form of educational programs, but also other regional and city museums reflect on this method of information transmission. The department of museum pedagogy is a common job position in most museums of Western and Northern Europe (Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, etc.), as well as on the American continent.
Museum pedagogy is understood as a modern interdisciplinary science, which is primarily based on the ideas of pedagogy and museology. (9) Several museologists deal with its issues and methodology. Among many, we can mention, for example, Fridrich Waidacher, Zbynk Z. Stránský, Jozef Beneš or Vladimír Jůva.
Author: PhDr. Stanislava Gogová, PhD. Department of Museology, Faculty of Arts, University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra Used literature: Brabcová, A. (ed.): Museum gate open. Prague, 2007. Bay, J.: Presentation of Danish historical workshops. REA 5, 2006, pp. 49-50. Číž, M.: Every museum can be a children's museum, Children, young people ... and museums? III., Proceedings from the conference of the same name. Brno, 2003, p. 11 - 14. Gogová, S.: Archeology and museum presentation. Nitra, 2011. Jůva, V.: Children's Museum. Educational phenomenon for the 21st century. Brno 2004. www.snm.sk
(1) Brabcová, A. (ed.): The gate of the museum is open, p. 14. (2) Brabcová, A. (ed.): The gate of the museum is open, p. 361 - 363. (3) Brabcová, A. (ed.): The gate of the museum is open, p. 364 - 365. (4) Brabcová, A. (ed.): The gate of the museum is open, p. 366. (5) Brabcová, A. (ed.): The gate of the museum is open, p. 369 - 370. (6) Bay, J.: Presentation of Danish historical workshops, p. 49. (7) Číž, M.: Every museum can also be a children's museum, Children, young people...and museums? III., p. 11. (8) www.snm.sk. (9) Jůva, V.: Children's museum. Educational phenomenon for the 21st century, p. 108.