Museum as space for health and well-being

• Authors: Robert Kotowski

Abstracts

EN

Museums have always been regarded as centres of knowledge and culture, places where we can extend our understanding of the surrounding world. Today, next to their basic tasks, museums also perform various social functions, playing an important role in establishing bonds with people and taking into account their experiences. New roles of the early-21st-century museums go far beyond the up-to-now areas of the functioning of cultural institutions in society, with a transformation occurring in their activities targeted at the application of the collection’s emotional potential, narrative, space, and museum displays to have a therapeutic impact on the public suffering from civilizational ailments, all this conducted in cooperation with psychologists, pedagogues, and doctors. The activity in this respect has been yielding positive effects, and more often and in an increasing number proofs demonstrating museums’ therapeutic value as well as their substantial impact on people’s health and well-being have been observed. This new contemporary form of museums’ activity is called museotherapy. The definition of the concept prepared by Dorota Folga-Januszewska and Robert Kotowski has been published in the Dictionary of Museology published in two languages: by Routledge in English and Armand Colin in French. The paper aims at popularizing the knowledge of and disseminating so-far findings in museotherapy. Results of research in this respect conducted in various countries and museotherapy-related implemented projects have been presented in the article. All these may encourage museum curators to conduct classes in the discussed area.

Keywords

EN

museum; museotherapy; emotions; health; frame of mind

• Publisher: Krajowy Ośrodek Badań i Dokumentacji Zabytków
• Journal: Muzealnictwo
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 64
• Pages: 119-125

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Robert Kotowski

• Department of Research on Libraries and Other Cultural Institutions, Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies, University of Warsaw
• National Museum in Kielce

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

27725213