Some believe the primary purpose of museums is to entertain people, while others believe their purpose is to educate. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Museums have existed for centuries. They are spread around the world in almost every country. It is believed that the first modern public museum was built in 1677. Since then, museums have contributed to the enrichment of mankind. The argument whether museums’ mission is to entertain or educate people remains to be a hot topic for discussion. Both points of view shall be addressed in this essay.
Firstly, some people believe that the purpose of museums is to educate people. Those people believe that visiting museums has a large benefit in informing the audience about culture, history, and science. For that matter, museums are designed in a formal setup, with organized tours and displays of artifacts but with no interaction with the audience. instance, the Egyptian museum has a collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts from nearly all eras. However, these are placed with tags for visitors to learn about them in a traditional tour with no room for interaction or entertainment. Another example of traditional museums is the museum of Islamic art, showing collections of selected Islamic artifacts, yet no entertainment tools are used during its tours and displays.
Alternatively, another group of people believe that museums should aim to entertain visitors. This group of people probably believes that the traditional setup of museums is no longer appealing, especially to younger generations and might result in decreasing museum visits. Some museums have adapted entertainment into their setup. For instance, the Franz Kafka museum in Prague shows the life and bringing up of the renounced novelist in a walk-through memory lane that makes the visitor feel as part of his life. The Rijksmuseum also brings the experience to their audiences’ homes by offering virtual tours of the famous museum.
To conclude, there are two views to museums’ mission. Some people believe that the sole purpose of museums is to educate people, while others believe that museums should be entertaining. I personally believe that museums should consider both approaches, in order to cater to the largest audience and remain competitive in a world where edutainment has become too attractive to overlook.