The
National Technical Museum has a status of the central science and technology
museum of the Czech Republic and a scientific institution with documentation,
presentation, methodological, and information functions. The basis of its activities
are the collections that have been created as the nation's memory. They amount
about 58,000 filing items (comprising several times as high the number of individual
objects), majority of them being stored in depositories on about 13,000 m2 because
15% only of the collection objects are shown in permanent exhibitions. The collections
include such unique objects as astronomical instruments from the 16th century
used by Tycho Brahe, the first Czechoslovak car, some of the oldest daguerrotypies
in the world and many other unique items. The scope of collections and difficulties
associated with the care of them can be documented by about 100 railway vehicles
owned and partially operated by the National Technical Museum. The collections
also encompass a large archive of history of technology and industry including
3,500 running metres of archival items and the library with about 250,000 books.
The collections, archival items and and book funds are not only presented to
the public on permanent and temporary exhibitions but also through educational
and professional programmes; the publication activity of the Museum is oriented
in this direction.
The Media Library of the Museum has been established that makes it possible
to study written, audio and video sources on traditional as well as most up-to-date
digital multimedia.
The status of the National Technical Museum implies also its liabilities with
respect to the future. This relates not only to short-time planning of the
Museum activities within one or several years but also to establishing a strategy
of the institution with the outlook to 10 to 50 years. Here, it is necessary
to join the philosophical disputations on heading of the society, the discussions
evoked by the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, the entry
to the new millennium of the human mankind history. As it has been shown by
current disputations, the mankind expects not only technical but also spiritual
changes, the changes that would bring not only material but also spiritual
satisfaction of our needs, that would bring back the spiritual integrity of
man. Within this framework, the National Technical Museum reveals its activities
already today: through creating bridges between two cultural paths, between
science and technology on one hand and art on the other. This is facilitated
by creating a special gallery for presentation of tech-art: computer graphics,
video-art, multimedia presentations, kinetic art, as well as the directions
and tendencies associated with material technologies, such as paper art, textile
art, etc. The exhibition programme of the Museum also tenaciously supports
presentation of photographic art, a significant attention is paid to architectonic
exhibitions. A direct connection of technology and fine arts is design; here,
after establishing the collection department and arranging the exhibition
of industrial design, we will continue in introducing the evolution of the
Czech design art: after three exhibitions (the first one determined the period
1900 - 1940, the second one 1940 - 1960 and the third one was devoted to the
works from 1960-1980). Moreover, actual trends in design will be presented
and distinguished Czech and foreign designers will be introduced in separate
exhibitions.
Major part of disputations on the mankind future is oriented on reasoning on
development of information systems of the global network type associated with
general digitalization of data. Here, it should be stressed that the National
Technical Museum does not conceive this trend as an objective for itself but
as a tool for elaborating and improving its activities, beginning with care
of the collections (creation of a valid complex computer database of collections,
including video records of unique items), via presentation activity (multimedial
inputs and outputs on exhibitions, collective presentation of the National Technical
Museum on Internet) to editorial outputs (the Museum's own video records and
CD-ROMs, including not only scientific studies and catalogues but also accompanying
materials of exhibitions). New media and technique are finding their assertion
in the National Technical Museum even today. However, the enhanced vision associated
with the future is creation of the Museum of 4th generation: an interactive
continuous field of the cultural history where a Museum visitor can, through
"cyber-space" including virtual reality, transit from real exhibits
to the view of the society and the live style of particular period.
In the near future, the National Technical Museum shall face more concrete
and more prosaic tasks. In the care of collections, it is necessary to complete
the inspection of the whole collection fund, of a particular importance is
preparation and accomplishment of the design of construction of the central
depository. In the field of scientific activities, works will proceed in elaborating,
preparing and issuing the collection catalogues. An important task for the
years to come will also be finnishing and issuing of the Studies in technology
in Czech lands 1945 - 1992. These works should also become a base for systematic
acquisition policy of the Museum; here we count upon collaboration and coordination
with universities and Czech industry, the Partners' Club should also be helpful.
The orientation of presentation activities has already been discussed; the
nearest and for the Museum very important task is the opening of the new Railwas
Museum, what was officially founded by the Government of the Czech Republic
in January 2001 as a part of the National Technical Museum. We are just now
thinking about the Museum of Architecture as well and about the synthetic
exhibition World of technology - both of the should be realized - hopefully
- in a further future. Here, science and technology should be presented as
a continuous way of adventure of cognition from the invention of wheel to,
let say, the design of space shuttle, in the integrity and linkage to metamorphoses
of the whole society. A long-time schedule of the project is caused not only
by an obvious professional and financial challenge but also the fact that
realization of the exhibition is connected with building of a new pavillon
in the neighbourhood of the stone building at Letna. All the above mentioned
projects, including the already commenced contemplations on the central depository
and the new building of the Museum, should help the National Technical Museum
in keeping its position as a central institution also in the future and in
fulfilling its commission: the care of cultural heredity of the nation in
the field of science and technology.
Key Persons of NTM:
PhDr. Jitka Zamrzlova
Head of Department of foreign and public relations
