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Museums for Social Harmony
Posted on 18 May 2010 by
Every year since 1977 International Museum Day has been celebrated on or around 18th May. This year’s theme is: Museums for Social Harmony.
Museums are uniquely placed to build bridges and demonstrate associations and links that can improve knowledge and understanding in individuals and between individuals and cultures, thereby creating greater social harmony. This is especially so if museums are respectful and inclusive of others’ thoughts and show different perspectives in their exhibitions. Museums can be ambassadors. They can trigger social change.
Museums can play an important role in increasing understanding of the lives people affected by leprosy have had to live, not only through lack of knowledge, but also through the stigmatisation and discrimination they have had to endure. Museums about leprosy can represent persons affected by leprosy fairly, demonstrating how unfairly people can be treated due to lack of knowledge and erroneous beliefs. Such understanding can have an influence on future thinking, contributing to greater social harmony, helping to erase discrimination and stigmatisation.
Some leprosy museums around the world:
- St Jørgens Hospital Lepramuseet/The Leprosy Museum at St Georges Hospital, Bergen, Norway: http://www.bymuseet.no/?vis=80&spr=en
- Leprosy Museum and Graveyard, Tracadie-Shiela, New Brunswick, Canada:
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/CommunityMemories/AAWI/000b/Exhibits/English/index.html - Robben Island, South Africa: http://www.robben-island.org.za/
- The Acworth Leprosy Museum, Mumbai, India:
http://www.theacworthleprosymuseum.org/ - Culion Museum, Philippines:
http://www.ivanhenares.com/2009/10/culion-island-where-philippines.html - Lo Sheng Sanatorium, Taiwan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losheng_Sanatorium
- Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Hawaii:
http://www.to-hawaii.com/molokai/attractions/kalaupapanationalpark.php - In June a museum will be opened in Waikiki, Hawaii, about the life of Saint Damien and Mother Marianne Cope, who both went to Hawaii to help people there affected by leprosy.
Categories: News and Notes