Museums celebrate their international day on May 18 with the organization of events revolving around a topic. The 2018 one is 'hyperconnected museums'. In a society where everything is connected, museums join the trend through videos, interactive panels, live performances... The goal is to create a more didactic and entertaining environment that helps to enhance the value of cultural heritage and bring it closer to the public.

Experts linked to two important museums in Spain, the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (MAN) and the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, recently spoke about the identity and challenges of these institutions at the Institute for Culture and Society of the University of Navarra. They intervened in the workshop 'Resignifying heritage', organized at project 'Creativity and Cultural Heritage'.

One of them was Miguel Ángel Elvira, Full Professor , who directed the MAN from 2000 to 2004. It is the most visited state museum in the last five years, with more than half a million visitors per year.

In relation to the topic of the International Museum Day 2018, Professor Elvira was sample in favor of including technological advances. But "not of a mere click that takes me to a still image with text", but something more interactive that brings value. For example, he points to a MAN video on the origin of Greek mythology that he considers "fabulous" for explaining something that is complicated.

This Full Professor of the Complutense University of Madrid points out that museums function differently depending on their subject and this affects the versatility of the exhibition of the collections.

He recognizes that an archaeological one has a "tremendously expensive" and "difficult to change" assembly. It works "at the stroke of a showcase with an impressive security" with which each change must be well thought out, because it can take many years to undo. On the other hand, in his opinion, a museum that houses paintings can change its appearance easily, relocating the canvases in a less complicated way.

However, it shows that archaeological museums have the advantage of hosting recreations. Miguel Ángel Elvira recalls that during his time at director of MAN, the center hosted storytellers and artists who taught how to make pottery, and even a Roman legion that fought against the Arevacians appeared in the courtyard of the building.    

All these initiatives go hand in hand with another challenge, avoiding overly long explanations. "The core topic is to let the pieces speak," he emphasizes, so there is no need for "a 30-page history lesson" on each conference room. The fundamental solution he proposes is to choose well the main pieces to be highlighted and to accompany each one with "five lines" of explanation.

The Full Professor refuses to give advice on how to visit a museum, although he recommends that the public "approach any of them to see what it tells them, nothing more". He assumes that it is a matter of going with "freedom of criteria" and attending to enjoy all the particularities of a complex museum, like reality itself.

MAN, a reflection of Spain's status

The MAN is precisely this: a complex museum, like reality itself. Miguel Angel Elvira says it is a mirror of the status of the country. "What Spain means (homeland, nation, as a whole) is complicated and that is reflected in the museum," he explains.

He confesses that this institution had problems defining itself from its inception. At first it housed pieces that were not destined for the Prado, or were obtained from the disentailments. Other pieces from the Museum of Natural Sciences were also included, such as Egyptian sculptures, and from the National Library Services "everything that was not books, such as coins" was taken. But how do you make sense of all this?

The main conflict lies in whether the Archaeological Museum is a "museum of Spanish archaeology or a museum that has the nation to collect pieces whereverthey come from". He, like director, wanted it to be the second option. He argues that otherwise the "Greeks, Etruscans and Byzantines", which are very interesting for history, are left out. At present the MAN houses on its top floor what does not come from Spain.

"It is a magnificent museum. But it is difficult to make a history of Spain without including, for example, Portugal," explains Full Professor. However, other more distant areas, such as the Canary Islands, are included.

The difficulty of the MAN, from Elvira's point of view, is that its own entity has serious political problems of a conceptual nature, reflecting the reality of Spain's problems.

On the other hand, the big stumbling block is what is understood by archeology. The current idea of this discipline "is nothing like the idea of those who started the MAN". For them it was ancient or old art, "objects that illustrate us when studying history". This description included things like coins or pieces of churches. The current concept, on the other hand, is "a science dedicated to excavation and interpretation of what is found". Thus, there are ancient pieces that from today's perspective do not seem to fit in this museum.

Some currents proposed changing the name of the site in order to better justify what it contains. However, the expert is not in favor of this because he believes that any degree scroll given to the institution will raise the same problems. "One does not ask oneself why the Louvre has that name or whether it should be changed; with the MAN the same thing should happen."