Museums are places that gather and display art, history and culture for the benefit of the public. They hold collections of objects that need to be cared for and interpreted so that people can learn about them. Most museums are non-profit and receive some of their funding from local or state governments as well as private donors. They often have more artifacts than they can display at one time because of space limitations. They may have to store or lend some of their collection to other museums to show them off temporarily. Museums have been collecting and displaying objects for thousands of years. They are usually run by professional staff who are experts in their field.
Many museums have been created to fill an economic need in their communities. For example, the Bilbao Guggenheim was built to revitalize a depressed region of Spain’s Basque country. Some museums also serve to inspire the public’s interest in their subject matter. For instance, an exhibit on World War II has the potential to teach visitors about the horrors of war and how it affected their own lives.
A museum is a non-profit institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, both natural and cultural. Museums are a crucial part of the cultural fabric of our global society.
There are many different types of museums around the world. Some are large and serve the general public while others specialize in certain subjects or a particular type of object. For example, there are museums that focus on ancient art, while others collect modern paintings or those that feature animals. Museums can be found in cities, towns and villages or even out in the countryside. Some are small, while others are quite large and have numerous exhibits.
The most common museum is the historical museum, which contains historical artifacts and documents. There are also art museums, science museums and technology museums. Some museums are dedicated to a single subject area, such as the natural history museum or the history museum. There are even museums that do not contain any artifacts, but rather tell a story or convey information through other means such as film.
Major professional organizations from around the world have offered definitions of what a museum is and how it should be run. One of the most comprehensive is that of ICOM, which states that a museum is ‘a non-profit permanent institution in the service of society and its development, opens to the public, which acquires, conserves, studies, communicates and exhibits the heritage of humanity and its environment, both tangible and intangible, for education, study and enjoyment.’ Museums can be very diverse in what they contain and how they present it to the public, but they all share the same fundamental objectives of preserving and sharing knowledge. There are also different ways that museums achieve these goals, including through exhibitions, publications, education and outreach programs.