Training Needs and Perspectives for Communicating inside the Museum:

the Contribution to the MU.COM. Project for the Development of the

“Museum Communicator”

Regional History Museum “Acad. Yordan Ivanov” – Kyustendil

BULGARIA

A main trend in the processes of renovation of contemporary museum activity is the creation of valid guarantee conditions for participation of all museum subjects in the development of the principles and aims of the communication museum policy. The socio-communication functions of the museums are fundamental for their modern development. Thus they are a basic component of the modern culture system leading to socio-communication policy, which gives greatest opportunities to people to communicate with the cultural, historical and natural heritage.

Regarding the museums’ social role to preserve the society’s historical and cultural memory, the communication policy should be focused on the formation of such an attitude towards the cultural, historical and natural heritage that leads to its adequate study, protection, preservation and lasting development. The communication museum policy is completely dependant on the social museum attitude, which is a definite state of the social museum consciousness. In this sense, the social museum consciousness is identical with the totality of views and attitudes of all socio-museum subjects. That’s why it is so important to have publicly expressed social museum attitude for the implementation of a successful museum policy.

Introductory

In general, the Museum is a mediator and communicator of different cultures: Thracian, Roman, Byzantine, Slavonic-Bulgarian, Ottoman, Modern Bulgarian. It protects and examines cultural monuments of different religions – paganism, Christianity, Islam and keeps close relations with Jewish society groups. It also communicates with national institutions such as the Bulgarian Academy of Science, the Ministry of Culture, the National Institution on Protecting the Immovable Monuments of Culture, etc.

According to its profile the Kyustendil museum is historical and multidisciplinary with the following departments: Archeology (Prehistory, Antiquity, Middle Ages); Numismatic; Ethnography; Folklore; History of the Bulgarian lands (15th –19th century); New and Modern History; Library and Scientific Archives; Atelier for conservation and restoration work; Photo atelier. As a result of one hundred and ten-year research and collective work there are over 140 000 fund units treasured in museum’s safety vaults. They belong to different periods of time: Prehistory, Antiquity, Middle ages, Ottoman and Bulgarian Renaissance Epochs, etc. The specialists working at the museum are varied – there are archeologists in Prehistory, Antiquity and Middle Ages, numismatist, ethnologists, historians and restorers.

The Museum Profile

The Museum’s collaboration with other organizations contributes to the museum’s communication with the public and has already established good practices in popularizing the museum contents. Herewith are given some of them as a contribution to the MU.COM. Project.

Traditionally, the Regional History Museum in the town of Kyustendil collaborates with the other cultural institutions, schools and NGOs in the town, as well as with other Bulgarian museums. It also keeps a favourable relationship with the Sofia University’s History Faculty and jointly organizes scientific conferences in Kyustendil, which are held annually and up to now number 17.

The Museum Communication

To communicate its activities the museum works with national and local media and uses its website (http://www.kyustendilmuseum.primasoft.bg) and facebook in internet.

Good Practices of the Kyustendil Regional History Museum in

Communicating with the Public

Events Organized on the Night of Museum

Representing the Market Place of the Old Kyustendil Town - 16th of May 2009 The action included: • Involving young people to take part in the event by dressing them with national folk costumes and civilian clothes from the beginning of 20th c. to walk around the “market place” at the museum’s yard; • Motivating children and students to visit the museum exhibitions by playing a game called “Open the History of Your Native Town”. They had to collect 7 talons from each of the museum’s exhibitions and guess the 7 key words in order to raffle for a present. • Driving a phaeton inside the Museum’s yard; • Taking photos in front of a restored ancient chariot;• Folk dancing;

There were various workshops arranged inside the museum yard representing the real ones from the beginning of the 20th c., such as:

• Pottery's • Basket making’s • Embroidery’s • Crochet-works’• Knitwear’s• Inn (Eating house)

Good Practices of the Kyustendil Regional History Museum in

Communicating with the Public

Events Organized on Other Occasions

Revue Spectacle – 1st of September 2008 The Museum treasures and promotes the local distinctive culture of the Kyustendil region, its traditional crafts and customs. A part of this ethnographic wealth stored at the museum funds was spectacularly presented in a summer evening at the museum’s lapidarium.

The variety of traditional Bulgarian female, male and children’s costumes was shown in a really attractive way by the museum’s ethnologist who explained the meaning of each

garment for the respective age.

The Herbs’ Day – 24th of June 2010

Presenting different herbs with their healing and magic power by young girls and children dancing around a herbs’ fire. It is believed that on the 24th of June the power of herbs is the strongest and different rituals are played for health and prosperity.

Last year, on the day before Christmas Eve the Museum organized a performance devoted to the Christmas Days at the museum’s yard. There were represented traditional Bulgarian rituals connected with Christmas. They were implemented voluntarily by people from different town’s organizations, with which the museum keeps good collaboration.

Christmas Eve at Museum - 23rd of December 2010

Events organized by the Kyustendil Municipality in cooperation with the Kyustendil Regional History Museum

The museum effectively communicates with the Kyustendil Municipality and in particular with its Culture Department. It naturally has established a favorable relationship that has resulted to the organization of several events so far.

The Bread Festival - 14th of August Annually, the Museum’s yard hosts the participants in the Bread Festival organized in the name of Virgin Mary on 14th of August. Children, students and adults make different types of ritual bread and exhibit them along the yard. On this day lots of people visit both the bread and the museum exhibition.

The Ulpia Pautalia Ancient Festival - 4th – 6th of June 2010 Moments of the ancient town of Kyustendil’s history (ancient Pautalia) from the Roman epoch (end of the 1st – end of the 5th c. AD) were represented in the Museum’s yard such as:

The Gladiators’ Wrestling

Roman Wedding

Demonstration of

Roman dishes

and Roman male and female garments

Temporary Exhibitions as

A Way of Communication with the Common Public The Museum’s Ethnographic Exhibitions

Because of the lack of enough exhibition space for a permanent ethnographic exhibition and in order to be presented the rich ethnographic fund of the Kyustendil museum, there were organized several temporary ethnographic exhibitions during the last years. Being various and displaying different subject themes they stimulate the interest and increase the knowledge about the Bulgarian material and spiritual culture of the wide audience.

Home – The Bulgarians’ Sacred Place - an ethnographic exhibition exhibited in March 2008

The Human Circle – A Moment and An Eternity – an ethnographic exhibition exhibited in December 2009

Visiting Exhibitions at the Museum When the Bikini Underwear Were Knickers. The Bulgarian Women’s Underwear A Century Ago – the Plovdiv Ethnographic Museum’s exhibition exhibited in June 2009

The exhibition was opened with a revue of women’s underwear and dresses from the beginning of 20th c.

This attractive exhibition is an example of the museum’s communication with other geographical regions in Bulgaria, in this case the Thracian.

The Archeological Collection of the Numismatic Museum – Ruse exhibited in the beginning of 2010

Since it’s a private collection, it is an example of the Museum collaboration with the first in Bulgaria eligible private museum.

The Village – A Maiden, The City – A Dissolute Woman by the Regional History Museum – Ruse. A really curious and attractive exhibition presenting Bulgarian erotic images in traditional and modern environment exhibited in March, 2009.

Training and improvement the qualification of tourist guides-animators and front-deck assistants at the Tourist Information Centres in the regions of Kyustendil (Bulgaria), Kratovo and Kriva Palanka (FYR of Macedonia)

After the Action “Together along The Holy Places of the Osogovo Mountain” (December 1st, 2006 to November 30th, 200) granted by EU PHARE Neighbourhood Programme R Bulgaria – FYR of Macedonia 2004, Project Ref. No. BG2004/016-786.01.02.01.12. The training was held at the Conference hall of the Kyustendil Regional History Museum on 7th, 8th and 9th of November 2007. The training comprised of two modules:

• The First one included 6 academic hours – formal basic training by a professional tourist guide trainer. • The Second one included 12 academic hours – training in promotion of cult monuments, places and sites on the territory of the Kyustendil region and the municipalities of Kriva Palanka, Kratovo and Probistip. The trainers for the Bulgarian objects were museum specialists, a consultant in the history of art and architecture and for the Macedonian objects – the cross-border partner consultants.

Outputs: 50 guides trained.Generaly, 60 people took part in the training.

Тraining experience

Instead of conclusion

Conclusions made after the implemented training:

1. The training of tourist-guides and animators after the Project BG 2004/016-786.01.02.01.12 provoked the interest of the representatives of the concerned parties concerning the presented information about the subject theme theory on one hand, and on the other about the huge data base collected during the Project implementation and presenting one side of the cultural heritage of the region that hasn’t been much popular at all. 2. The training duration has been considered with the information presented and discussed regarding its contents and quality.3. The held seminar is representative to people and organizations interested in Project implementation.4. The level of organization concerning the themes presented and the available individual materials and documents correspond to the seminar objectives5. The participants are interested and inclined to attend forthcoming seminars laid down in the Project implementation.

Тraining experience

Instead of conclusion

The conclusions were made on the base of a questionnaire filled by the participants (14 of 60 persons) as a feedback.

The questionnaire includes the following questions:

• Was the gained information useful and sufficient? • Did the spared time deserve? • Was the training duration sufficient to cover the proposed subject theme? • Was the training representative to the organizations and the persons who were interested in the Project implementation? • Evaluate the level of the training organization?• Was the venue suitable for the training implementation? • Are you interested in attending other training? • Are you interested in taking part in a next training with you own presentation?

Тraining experience

Instead of conclusion

The training needs for communicating inside the Museum are:

– To develop professional communication strategies; – To develop new training programmes for students to increase their museum

knowledge; – To increase social consciousness on protecting and preserving the cultural,

historical and natural heritage; – To develop people’s museum consciousness; – To increase the number of visitors;– To promote cultural, historical and natural heritage for tourism development.

Instead of conclusion

Training needs

Thank you for the attention!