Follow the Museum and Become Part of It
The Georgian National Museum is giving its visitors the chance to learn more about curatorial work and preparation of exhibitions, see what is inside the museum funds, how the restoration processes take place and what happens in those science labs. The behind-the-scene journey is possible now via the Museum’s new Instagram page @georgiannationalmuseum.
“About 10 years ago we conduct the first Museum event, but the only participants came from museum field. Now I’m happy to see so many guests here,” said David Lordkipanidze, Director of the Georgian National Museum, at the presentation of the Instagram page this week. “With new technologies, we try to link our rich history with future opportunities. We make our history accessible to people all over the world. The main point is that the Museum belongs not only to us, but to all people,” he added.
Representatives of the PR Department of the Museum, who were initiators of this project, admitted that they did not want merely to open an Instagram page but to create an exhibition with the participation of five young and popular Georgian photographers each of whom have their own unique view of what a museum is.
“Visiting museums and filming its spaces is part of my professional life,” said Levan Maisuradze, Georgian photographer and participant in the project. “Even so, I was excited to participate in this project as I was granted with more possibilities, like free access to all the museum spaces [Open Air Museum of Ethnography, Tbilisi History Museum, National Gallery etc.] and the chance to see and capture them from the different angle.”
Along with Maisuradze, artists Louisa Chalatashvili, Davit Tchalidze, Dina Oganova and Nata Abashidze-Romanovskaya also took photos.
Through their works the photographers tried to show a new side to the Museum: they captured familiar exhibits from a new angle, showed places that were previously inaccessible to visitors, so integrating visitors with the museum. Additionally, Dina Oganova showed people who often go unnoticed. Her profession, she says, is to capture people, so when she entered the Museum she had no doubts – her heroes would be the Museum staff.
“I think they are a huge part of the National Museum Most had worked all their lives there and they are really happy. I was surprised that they are so passionate and involved in their work- young and old,” said Oganova.
The Instagram page of the National Museum is the first Instagram-exhibition in Georgia. According to Ana Verulashvili, Head of the PR Department of the Georgian National Museum, a special feature of this exhibition is that all photos were handled only by Instagram’s filters and presented in the Museum via the Instagram interface. In addition, to make the exhibition more interactive, the organizers offered visitors the chance to choose the best photo using heart stickers (which means “Like” in Instagram speak).
“Using modern technologies and social media to connect museums and their visitors is a very diverse experience and interesting process. In the modern world, time is a very valuable asset. With the growing accessibility to the Internet, we receive more information and I think an Instagram page is a good opportunity for modern museums to attract new visitors,” said Davit Tchalidze, Georgian photographer and participant in the project.
Natalia Davlianidze, of the PR Department of the Georgian National Museum announced that from now everyone could become a photographer of the Museum. Every person who posts a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #museuminfocus will have the opportunity to present their work on the official Georgian National Museum Instagram page. “From now on we will post different behind-the-scenes photos of the Museum, as well as we look through our visitors’ photos. We aim to make people more interactive and involved in our history and the life of the Museum,” she said.
Eka Karsaulidze