Communication Aspects of the Georgian National Museum

摘要

The Georgian National Museum (GNM) is an administrative umbrella organization which covers research institutions, National Gallery and the major museums of Georgia. It was established in 2004, though its history goes back up to 1852, when the first Museum in the whole region of the Caucasus - Museum of the Caucasian Department of the Russian Imperial Geographic Society was founded. The Museum of the Caucasian Department exhibited culture of the whole region of the Caucasus and had rich collection of natural history. Caucasian Department was followed by openings of various museums, though due to constant political changes (usually reflected on cultural institutions as well) their functioning was not stable. Still, museums in Georgia met the demands of various audiences offering different exhibitions using techniques that were adopted in that period. However, since 19th century up today, the paradigm of museum communication drastically changed from a strict approach: "look but do not touch" to a friendly and interactive surrounding, where education is combined with joy and entertainment. Museums all around the world narrate history/art/science through its exhibitions. GNM also faces some major changes and one of the priorities is to create communication strategy that includes scientific and curatorial as well as managerial processes, where creation of the story line for communication is one of the key elements. For preparation of the exhibits so that they become the main channels of cultural communication we need to understand what type of the institution we are and what we have to offer to our stakeholders.