Museums good platform for youth education – NGO president

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The Armenian Young Women’s Association, in collaboration with the cultural organizations of Ukraine and Georgia, has launched a joint cultural event in the frameworks of the Eastern Partnership Program.

The organizers held a news conference on Saturday to introduce the project entitled “New Spirit of Culture: Enrich Heritage with Art Life”.

The Association’s president, Lilit Asatryan, pointed out to two objectives - promoting cooperation among museums, and encouraging new approaches and programs to develop the museum art.

“Museums seem somewhat stable places having a static approach, but numerous examples around the world lead us to the thought that a museum is not a static area which houses expositions; it could rather be a very good platform for non-formal education, especially for the youth,” she said.

Asatryan explained that NGOs involved in such initiatives have an opportunity to involve many young people in the projects, providing financial assistance.

“The program has several components, particularly trainings, which will be conducted for several NGOs and museums in the Republic of Armenia to enable [participants] to seek and develop cooperation between NGOs. [Such efforts] could involve tourism companies as museums are, naturally, included in the basic concept of tourism development. The other key component includes those trainings which promote an experience exchange for representatives of the given country. This is a good opportunity to demonstrate our culture of exchanging experience abroad,” Asatryan added.

The program also envisages grants for museums to promote the implementation of additional interactive projects.

Alyona Afanaseva, the president of Ukraine’s Center for Youth Initiatives Totem, said the selected three countries have very interesting museums targeted only at tourists’ interests.

“The situation in all the three countries is very similar, so we haven’t been mistaken in our choice. A museum should not only be an archive housing rare items but also a cultural center,” she said.

The program receives support by the Ministry of Culture which finds participants and assists in awareness raising activities. But the Ministry does not provide financial assistance. The grants - €2,000 - €10,000 for each country – are allocated as part of the Eastern Partnership Program. The amount depends on the kind of program implemented.

The program, which was launched earlier this year, is to last through next December. Organizers say it will greatly contribute to developing and boosting culture in Armenia and bringing monuments closer to larger groups of the society.


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