Museums
Museums, which are centers for conservation, study and reflection on Iraqi
heritage and culture, can no longer stand aloof from the major issues of our
time.
The definition of museums has changed course in the two centuries since they
came into existence. Today they are “non-profit-making, permanent
institutions in the service of society and its development, and open to the
public, which acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit, for
purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and
their environment”. They bear out a relationship with the past that attaches
value to tangible traces left by our ancestors, and aim to protect them and
even make them essential to the functioning of human society. Side by side
with the monumental heritage, such collections now constitute the major part
of what is universally known as the cultural heritage.
The musicological heritage is both an actor and an instrument of dialogue
between nations and of a common international vision aimed at cultural
development. The latter may vary considerably in nature and form, depending
on the historical and cultural context.
A museum’s primary purpose is to safeguard and preserve the heritage as a
whole. It carries out whatever scientific study is required to understand
and establish both its meaning and its possession. In this sense, it helps
in the preparation of a global ethic based on practice for the conservation,
protection and diffusion of cultural heritage values. A museum’s educational
mission, whatever its nature, is every bit as important as its scientific
work.
A museum also presents the interactions between culture and nature: an
increasing number of museums are focusing their interest on science, natural
science and technology.
Museums are attentive to social and cultural change and help us to present
our identity and diversity in an ever-changing world. The following museums
are in Baghdad: 1.Museum of national costumes and folklore. 2. The Baghdad
museum. 3. The war museum.4. National museum of modern art. 5. Museum of
Iraqi pioneers. 6. Museum of natural history.
Unfortunately, these museums were looted during the Occupation of Baghdad.
