The Horrendous Museum Scene

"Like I said, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is for me as the Oxford Museum is for Richard Dawkins… a spiritual home."
- Splendid Elles

This recent essay on creationism invading museums is written by a 15-year old freethinker who volunteers at her local museum. It resonates with my views on creationism, but for now the topic will be museums.

As much as I love them, I've never really considered museums as my spiritual home - a spot always occupied by the great Albion. But then again it has everything to do with the numerous museums and other places of learning he offers.

The good old Hull Maritime Museum for example, holds a very special position in my heart due to all those field trips and birthday parties. I distinctly remember the taxidermied polar bear in its glass case under the window, and the blue room hung with fishing nets and anchors to resemble the oceans deep - not to mention the gigantic whale skeleton sprawlled across the ceiling! It was a world of wonder and terror to a five-year-old.

The public today has every need for museums. Young people need to be enlighted. Older people need to be reminded of the wonders of our world. Last but not least, we need to secure our batch of scientists for a very challenging future!

Every self-respecting region should have a museum, or a science centre at least. It should have the following features:

• Exhibitions
• Interactive elements
• Distribution of educational materials
• Research capacity

I believe that they are of equal importance, and only in unison can they fulfill the role of a well-rounded public learning place. But it seems far from reality...well the reality over here anyway.

On a hike this February, I found out quite a few displeasing facts about the museum scene over here:

Me: You know this lack of museums...I mean, is there even a Museum of SZ?
Eric: Yes there's definitely a Shenzhen Museum. I've been there.
Me: Really? I bet it's boring. SZ hasn't got a long history for one thing.
Eric: It sure is boring. I bet you can't even imagine how boring it is.
Me: That can't be too hard...let's see...it consists entirely of scale models and picture displays?
Eric: Ha. Correction: there's ONE model of a rocket in the atrium, then it's on to THREE WHOLE STOREYS of picture displays!
Me: *chokes*

You actually call that a museum? Pur-leease. Even the teeny tiny Nantou Museum has artifacts and a projector and a mock archaeological dig site. They should really make more of an effort, since SZ is already known as a "Cultural Desert". A bit of poking around, and I found a journal in the library called Science Popularization, which has a section devoted to improving museums. It's not like no one is into the matter!

To think of it, I've been to many, many museums. (That didn't occur to me until now!) From tiny community museums to grand national museums, it's always inspiring to see the treasures of ages. It also awes me to see how people are devoting their lives to fields that may not pay well, nor be of sufficient public interest, but nevertheless enhance our existence as a species - we are, after all, Homo Sapiens, and we thrive to understand and explore.