Make the museum attractive

Children participate in portrait sketching activities at the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum. Photo: DOAN HAO LUONG

Creative and friendly cultural space

From a traditional exhibition space, in recent years, the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum has shifted to organizing a variety ofeducational and experiential activities. This not only helps the museum attract visitors but also contributes to raising public awareness and knowledge about national history and culture; at the same time, it opens up new opportunities for education and inspiration for the younger generation. The museum is now not only a place to "see" but also to "experience" and "interact". There, each individual can find a part of themselves in the flow of history and culture.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Trinh, Deputy Director of Da Nang Fine Arts Museum, said that the message of this year's International Museum Day is "The future of museums in the community is changing rapidly". This is a profound emphasis on the increasingly open, dynamic and connected role of museums with the community. Museums are not only places to preserve memories, but also creative and friendly cultural spaces, connecting the past, present and future. "With the desire to bring art closer to the public, especially the young generation, Da Nang Fine Arts Museum implements a series of rich, creative and accessible activities.

In particular, the “Color Festival” program includes art activities such as portrait sketching, calligraphy, sand painting, gouache painting, oil pastel painting, engraving and graphic printing, providing a fun and useful art playground for children, students, and tourists with the support of two talented young artists Ha Chau and Pham Anh, along with calligrapher Dang Oanh Gin and the museum's artists," Ms. Nguyen Thi Trinh shared.

Arriving early, artist Pham Anh said that he has been drawing street portrait sketches since his student days, but this was the first time he participated in an experiential activity at the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum. This activity helps children better understand street art and the work of artists, thereby inspiring their passion for painting.

Thanks to good communication work and organizing the event on the weekend, the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum attracted many students of all levels to participate. Ms. Le Thi Lai, Hoa Khanh Bac Ward, Lien Chieu District, excitedly said, today we brought the children to experience the activities at the museum, the children participated in drawing on the sand very enthusiastically. This is a meaningful activity that not only helps children become bolder but also gives them the opportunity to get acquainted with art subjects.

Nguyen Kim Ngan, a 7th grader at Phan Dinh Phung Secondary School, confided: “In addition to studying at school, when I come here to participate in calligraphy, I feel relaxed, my mind becomes light, happy and I forget all my fatigue”. Nguyen Hai An, a 3rd grader at Nguyen Van Troi Primary School, also shared: “I really like drawing on sand and feel very happy to participate in this activity with my peers at the museum”.

At the same time, the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum launched a digital exhibition space called “DNFam Online Gallery”. This is a step in the digital transformation strategy, helping to enhance the visitor experience, apply technology to the conservation work and spread the value of fine art heritage more widely to the community. The museum also organized a thematic exhibition “Graphic works of the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum”, introducing more than 40 typical works by domestic and international artists and exhibited in two forms, live and online, so that domestic and foreign audiences can access graphic paintings - a unique, expressive and creative art genre.

Design products to meet public needs

With the advantage of preserving a treasure trove of valuable heritages on the city's natural history and social history, Da Nang Museum regularly organizes educational experience activities related to local culture and history. Especially with the theme "The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities" of this year's International Museum Day, from May 13 to 15, Da Nang Museum launched the Extracurricular Hours program with the theme "Traditional Crafts of the City" at the children's exhibition area, attracting hundreds of students from Nguyen Thi Dinh Secondary School and Hoang Van Thu Primary School to participate.

In this program, students can visit and learn about the city's traditional occupations, especially participating in many interesting experiential activities such as: mixing Nam O fish sauce, making spring rolls to use with Nam O fish sauce... Through that, it arouses the love of history, awareness of preserving and promoting traditional heritage in the young generation, contributing to educating people, aiming at the goal of sustainable development and bringing positive changes in the community.

Meanwhile, at the Hoang Sa Exhibition House, the series of activities "Our silver sea is owned by our people" took place from May 15 to 25, attracting many people, tourists, especially students to visit and experience. The highlight of the series of activities was the thematic photo exhibition, displaying impressive moments recording the process of steadfastly fighting to protect the sovereignty of Vietnam's sacred sea and islands in the current period. In addition, visitors also had the opportunity to visit and learn about historical and legal documents, evidence affirming Vietnam's indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago introduced in the exhibition space.

To create a vibrant cultural space, strengthen community connections and inspire the spirit of love for the sea and islands, within the framework of the program, there are also many attractive interactive activities such as the game "Who will be the winner?", "A day as a young narrator", "Exploring the ocean with me", "Decoding crosswords", "Pieces of the homeland", thereby helping children improve their understanding of the topic of the sea and islands and foster their love for their homeland and country.

Student Hoang Sy Nhat, Faculty of Bridge and Road Construction, University of Technology (University of Danang) shared that each image, each page of documents is like a strong reminder of the blood and bones of our ancestors who were shed to preserve every inch of land and sacred sea of ​​the Fatherland. The experiential activities here help me understand more deeply about the history of sovereignty over the sea and islands. Ms. Huynh Thi Kim Lap, in charge of the Professional Department, Hoang Sa Exhibition House, affirmed: "With a lively organization, harmoniously combining traditional education and practical experience, the program "Our silver sea is owned by our people" has created an interesting space for learning and discovery, attracting the participation of a large number of students, youth union members and local people".

In order for museums to become attractive destinations associated with educational and experiential activities, it is important to understand the core needs of visitors, thereby designing suitable products, providing appropriate information and choosing engaging storytelling methods. This is an issue that museums in the city need to pay more attention to in the coming time to fully promote their role in organizing comprehensive educational and experiential activities.

DOAN HAO LUONG

Source: https://baodanang.vn/channel/5414/202505/tao-suc-hap-dan-cho-bao-tang-4006894/