The Silesian Museum has been successful in the project undertaken with the support of the 2007-2013 Czech Republic-Poland Operational Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation.
By decision of the Euroregional Managing Committee for Euroregion Silesia dated 17 September 2009, financing was approved for ‘Open Gates to the Silesian Museum’ programme from the Microprojects Fund of the 2007-13 Czech Republic-Poland Operational Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation. The goal of the project is primarily to improve the exhibitions of the Silesian Museum (SM) with the aid of multilingual captions on exhibits and the creation of a range of multilingual, printed guidebooks to all exhibition premises of the SM for visitors from abroad. The project also aims to aid the exchange of experiences in museum presentation between Czech and Polish museologists.
Visitors from abroad are frequently faced with language barrier. The proposed project addresses discrimination against some visitors to the SM through the introduction of an informational system – guidebooks, brochures, leaflets and captions in all SM exhibitions. These materials will be available in four languages, these being Czech, Polish, German and English. The selection of languages is very deliberate, reflecting as it does the historical development of Silesia and the influence had on its culture by the Czech, Polish and German nations. The English version of the texts serves as a supplement to this, in the most widespread language of communication. All materials in all four languages shall then be available to all visitors. The aim of this project is to broaden the range of visitor attractions and increase the knowledge of inhabitants of the Czech-Polish border region. The project aims to effectively harness the potential of the SM exhibitions within Euroregion Silesia. The cultural and natural heritage managed by the SM does not currently provide a full-value service to all visitors. This project allows visitors from Poland to gain deeper knowledge of the culture and history of and nature in Silesia. Project synergy also focuses on visitors from other parts of the Czech Republic, as it is one of the ambitions of the SM to promote an undistorted view of history, nature, culture and society in Silesia. The project supports the mutual partnership of inhabitants of the Czech-Polish border region. The project will be realised between January 2010 and June 2012.
The first specialist event of the project was a two-day workshop (28-29 April 2010) with Polish experts with the theme ‘Improvement of Museum Presentations for Visitors to Silesia from Abroad’. The primary aim of the meeting was discussion on and the exchange of experiences of Polish and Czech museologists in the field of presentation. The event also aimed to propose options for presentation that would make the exhibitions of the SM accessible to foreign visitors to the greatest extent possible. Workshop discussions led to concrete proposals for overcoming the language barrier, which frequently limits visitors from abroad in their experiencing of museum exhibitions and displays.
Guides to download:
The Petr Bezruč Memorial and The Petr Bezruč Chalet
The Hlučín-Darkovičky CS Fortification Complex
Article last updated: 23.02.2015
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