The theme of this year's meeting was education in a small museum. Thanks to the conference presenters, we had the opportunity to see what a diversely focused education looks like in a museum institution, which counts the number of employees up to ten people. (This definition of small memory institutions is based on the publication entitled Small Museums by Jiří Žalman.) The first day of the conference was focused on foreign inspiration and education in small museums. I was very interested in the contribution of Rob Noordhoek from the Rotterdam Museum, where they try to present education through emotions and one's own authentic experience, especially of children's visitors. A colleague from the Norwegian Helgeland Museum, Janicke Kernland, spoke about the system of museum work in Norway. Thanks to her, for example, we found out what problems our Nordic colleagues have to deal with when they have to overcome the almost unimaginable distances between their museum branches. A colleague from the South Moravian Museum in Znojmo presented about the use of new trends and modern technologies in small museums. My contribution was also selected for the good practice education marketplace, in which I presented our successful Art Stops project to interested parties. This was followed by another block of presenters, and the end of the conference was dedicated to an informal meeting right on the premises of the Mělník museum. We could see it independently or with guides.
The second day of the conference also offered an extensive program to all the participants. We moved to the small village of Lhotka, where the Regional Museum in Mělník has its branch - Rock Dwelling and the Community Center Lhotka, which cooperates with the museum, resides there as well. Here continued another block of presenting posts dedicated to the theme Small museum and Community. I have to admit that I was interested in the presentation of all the organizations (Regional museum Mělník, Podbrdské museum, Masaryk Museum in Hodonín and the Municipal Museum in Klobouky near Brno) and their incredibly tenacious educational activities. After the final discussion, we moved on to a tour of the rock dwelling, which is located on the outskirts of the village. It was an amazing experience too! We ended our time together after lunch, which was prepared by colleagues from the Mělník museum in the community center. Even though the conference took place at the beginning of October (2nd and 3rd), the weather was kind to us and made it even more enjoyable to spend time with fellow educators who came to Mělník from all over the country. We are all already looking forward to the meeting that will take place next year in Hodonín!
The meeting took place under the auspices of the Commission for Work with the Public and Museum Pedagogy of the Association of Museums and Galleries and under the auspices of the UNESCO Department for Museology and World Heritage.
Pavlína Pitrová, October 2023
