| Abstract [eng] |
The object of this thesis is the relation between museums and society in Lithuania. The purpose of this work is to investigate the current potentials of Lithuanian public museums to comply with the society needs. The basic work tasks are to explore historical and theoretical conceptions of public museum and the understanding of museum in Lithuania in general, to look at museum as an institution, to analyze the legal model of Lithuanian museum administration, to determine the relation between the museum communication and society, furthermore, to explore the relation between museum and society with the help of the annual statistical Lithuanian museum activity reports and considering the number of visitors, distinguishing such museum communication functions as exhibitions, education and publishing from 1992 to 2005. While performing the research of the conceptions of museum and its changes, the evolution of museums unfolds marking the gradual transformation of museum from the particularly limited publicity, i.e., collections available only to the very narrow circle of people and the representatives of the high society to almost unlimited publicity museums, i.e., current institutions that enable attending of museums and obtaining all the information required to all the broad society. Although the institutionalism of current museums set specific rules and the procedure of museum work, which partially limits the access to museum valuables determining the visit hours, the nature of the exhibited valuables etc., yet museum publicity is regulated by the laws. Having investigated the theoretical guidelines of Lithuanian public museum establishment, activity and raised objectives, the role of public museum in the society as the promoter of science, education and political ideas development and later of ethnic culture becomes more obvious. Starting from collection processes as of XVI century until the public museums prosperity period museum activity and the niche occupied in the society life was directly related with the knowledge expansion and spreading of the specific principle ideas. Likewise, the functions performed from the beginning of museum existence are also significant. In a museum one can satisfy curiosity, have entertainment, relax, enjoy the esthetic surroundings of the cultural valuables and spend time with interest and pleasure. Using the documents’ analysis and comparative methods it was concluded that following the majority of the analyzed and compared ratios museums gradually become more open and more easily accessible to the society, their input into the expansion of the information society increases. Museum activity in Lithuania from 1992 to 2005 gradually gained wider scope: year by year Lithuanian museums acquire more and more showpieces, the number of exhibitions and other events arranged and excursions organized grows, the number of the published catalogues and other publications until 2002 increased, whereas later these results started reducing slightly. The number of visitors is growing annually, which leads to the conclusion that museums activity in Lithuania is relevant to the society, while the increasing number of visitors in museums prove their direct influence on the society. Pursuant to the contents of the annual statistical reports about museum activity in Lithuania prepared by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania it may be summarized that museums gain more and more attention in the national level as well. From 1992 to 2005 the number of criteria for the assessment of museum activity significantly increased. This thesis may be useful to museologists and museology students researching the current status of Lithuanian museums as well as museum employees working directly with the visitors and museum managers organizing museum work. |
