Museum of Belize celebrates 16th anniversary
Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the Museum of Belize and this year the occasion is being celebrated with high school and primary school students, Alexis Salazar, Director of the Museum says they are showcasing Belizean artists in different genres of Belizean art.
Alexis Salazar – Director
"We are opening a new exhibit today to commemorate the anniversary and we are inviting primary schools and high schools in to look at the different genres of art and they are seeing Belizean artists doing different genres in the exhibit."
Dalila Ical – Reporter
"Why for this 16th anniversary did you choose to focus on art?"
Alexis Salazar – Director
"It was a staff decision so what we did is that we as the staff said that the museum hasn’t done a lot of art displays and there is a sector of the Belizean community that appreciates art and we are not catering to it. So we did that and of course we want to have students come in and it is a part of the primary school curriculum so this will be adding to the hidden curriculum so they can come and see what the different genres of art are while they do their art classes. So it was a staff decision. We’ve been doing it for two months now with a local call for artists so we are getting people used to seeing art in the museum and now we have a temporary exhibit."
Salazar also explained how far the Museum has come since it first opened in 2002.
Alexis Salazar – Director
"From its inception to where it is now the staff has a greater technical knowledge of museology so the way they curate is up to par with how modern museums would curate so I think that is one main difference. Another one is that people are starting to come to the museum and seeing it as a community space whereas before it was just seen as a tourist attraction so that would be one of the big difference and now we are now doing more outreach with primary schools and high schools so it’s becoming a part of the community."
Dalila Ical – Reporter
"What can you find at the museum now today?"
Alexis Salazar – Director
"Today well of course we have the new exhibit, we have our enslaved exhibit that is up, upstairs we recently renovated the insect rooms so that is another new thing that you can see. We have the Jade room and Mayan Archeological Artifacts throughout the second floor but this year alone we’ve had four of five different exhibits come through the museum. So what I want to say is that if you come here on a three month basis you are going to see something new or something different which then makes the museum less stagnant so people don’t go and say well ‘it’s the same thing they are seeing every time so we try to change the exhibits as much as possible."
The collection will be on display for the next six months.
LOVEFM
National Collection on display as museum turns 16
The Museum of Belize commemorates its sixteenth anniversary with a special exhibit of pieces from the national collection of Belize. To mark the occasion, the Museum invited students for free guided tours to learn more about the artists and what the Museum offers.� Andrea Polanco tells us more.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
The Museum of Belize celebrates its sixteenth anniversary with Belize City students and a new exhibit. The primary and high school students toured the museum to learn more about Belize's history. As a part of the tour, they also got a close look at a collection of over twenty-five pieces of different genres of artmade by local artists.Director of the Museum of Belize,Alexis Salazar, explains how the exhibit was put together.
Alexis Salazar, Director, Museum of Belize
"We are opening new exhibit that features twenty-five plus Belizean art from the national collection of Belize. What it is, it's kind of an educational campaign geared towards primary and high school children for them to learn about the different genres of art. It is different genres of art so you will go in and see different genres; impressionism, photography and so on. Different genres that are in our collection, so we took it and gave them an example of what an impressionist paintings are and then we show Belizean artists who are doing impressionist paintings."
The collection from the national exhibit, which opened today, will remain on display until next week for guided school tours. These pieces include works of pioneers and established artists. Salazar explains that it is the Museum's plan to do more to promote art.
Alexis Salazar
"We haven't been displaying art as we should in the museum. So, what we decided to do is to create an educational campaign that has been going on for a series of months now but with lesser known artists. So, we did two call for artists and we have been displaying art in the museum so that people get used to it. Now we have more established artists, I would say, in the collection like Fernando Cruz, Gilvano Swasey - we have a new one from Gilvano that we just brought into the collection, Benjamin Nicholas, Pen Cayetano and a series of established artists who are known in Belize and some of them have their own art studios."
This kind of initiative is to complement the art teachings in school.
Alexis Salazar
"It is the same thing that they are learning these things. Art is a part of the primary school curriculum, so we want to assist in that what we call the 'hidden curriculum' for these students in their overall development. So, hopefully we can generate an appreciation for art and maybe we have some young budding artists who can see this as a venue as hey I can do something in art and there is a venue for my creativity at the Museum through NICH."
Andrea Polanco reporting for News Five.
Channel 5
Today the Museum of Belize (NICH) celebrates its 16th Anniversary in style with the opening of a superb collection of Belizean masterpieces featured in a exhibition entitled 'Belize: A Collective Exposition'. This exhibition is now open to the public for your viewing pleasure!