The Role of Myths and Mythology in Tangible Learning
The exhibition Heritage and the Power of Myths was created through the collaboration of nine Slovenian museums, an individual, and with the support of two universities. Each participant independently selected an object and a mythological story. We were guided by the idea that heritage is a treasure trove of knowledge and that myths are an essential key to understanding it. This resulted in an unusual exhibition that, in the spirit of modern museology, conceptually connects primary museum disciplines and heritage knowledge into a unified museological message: all folk knowledge, beliefs, and values are rooted in heritage and articulated through myths, rituals, and ceremonial texts.
The exhibition Heritage and the Power of Myths is an attempt to follow new museological paths based on combining knowledge and efforts to offer the public a broader and fuller view of the past. Our goal was to highlight the wealth of heritage knowledge "locked" within museum objects.
Through myths, we have challenged a different, deeper, and multifaceted perspective on how humans perceived the world in the past. In the end, we may be surprised to realize that humanity's understanding of the world in the past was neither inferior nor wrong. It was holistic and served the well-being of the community, placing the individual in a subordinate role.
It is no wonder that, for the modern egocentric individual, lulled by the endless comfort of the present moment, traditional knowledge seems entirely redundant. However, compared to modern empirical and technicist knowledge, it provided answers to questions about time and destiny, existence and life, meaning, transience, and death. Convivial and hermeneutic knowledge enabled humanity to survive, which modern knowledge now calls into question.
Verena Perko
Gorenjski muzej Kranj
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