Museum visits are currently not possible due to Corona. Art education and the educational offers of the exhibition houses are also at a standstill. “An injustice,” says the director of the Minden Museum, Philipp Koch, calling this regulation in an interview with WESTFALENSPIEGEL.
Mr. Koch, the Minden Museum has been closed since November 2nd. What does this mean for your work?
I can understand the contact restrictions and museum closings. But I see an injustice in the area of cultural education. The mediation work of music schools and libraries or theater pedagogy may take place in schools or on site in the facilities under the hygiene and distance rules. There is no exception for the museums, although we have large exhibition and educational rooms, some with ventilation systems and hygiene concepts. The risk of being infected under these conditions is certainly lower than in some daycare or classrooms.
Why is the topic of cultural education so important to you?
Mediation work is the focus of the Minden Museum and is part of an overall cultural concept for the city of Minden, which has already received numerous awards from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. With projects, workshops and holiday games, we open up cultural experiences for children and young people in particular and offer important learning experiences. Most recently, for example, there was a project on the subject of monuments. Pupils from the Minden Ratsgymnasium did research on this topic in the urban space and in the museum.
The Mindener Museum in the old town. Photo: Museum Minden
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That can no longer take place. What impact do you fear?
My biggest concern is that we as a museum will be left behind in this area in the long term. Our commitment to cultural education and the mediation work by our museum educator were abolished with the stroke of a pen and without exception. That throws us and many other institutions back years.
Why has politics not paid more attention to this area?
The arts education in general and especially in museums is apparently not at the top of the political agenda. In doing so, we ensure educational equity in the sense of a preventive cultural policy. Studies show that only eight to ten percent of the population go to museums regularly; many people associate these institutions exclusively with a demanding and difficult culture. We, on the other hand, create links to culture for children who do not have these opportunities at home.
Can digital offers replace mediation work?
The Minden Museum offers a digital tour of the exhibition and now also has an Instagram channel. These are important ways for us to stay in contact with visitors and friends of the museum. The museum experience and our educational work cannot replace that.
Interview: Annette Kiehl et al
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