SKD Museum Lab

Interactive Museum Project for the Dresden State Art Collections

In order to make it possible for students of different ages to actively experience how a museum collection is created, architect Ruairí O’Brien developed the “Museum Lab” as an extracurricular learning opportunity for students on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the Dresden State Art Collections in 2010.

Extracurricular learning venues have complemented and extended primary instruction in schools since the beginning of the reform education movements. As important mediators of cultural education, museums represent special out-of-school learning venues. To enable students of different ages to actively experience how a museum collection is created, Ruairí O’Brien developed the “Museum Lab” as an extracurricular learning opportunity for students on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the Dresden State Art Collections in 2010.

The centerpiece: an interactive sculpture

The centerpiece of this special learning environment is an interactive sculpture designed by O’Brien, which served as an experimental collection and presentation surface. In five successive workshops, different groups of students dealt with the themes of “Creation,” “Desire,” “Inquisitiveness,” “Confrontation,” and “Radiance,” thus working through the developmental stages of a museum collection in a playful, compressed form.

Learning big things on a small scale

Each group first dealt with the results of the previous group’s work and then worked on them further. The students experienced “in fast motion” what it means to create a complete work over several generations and to deal responsibly with cultural heritage. This gave them a playful introduction to the institution of museums and allowed them to reflect on the role and significance that museums have for themselves and for society.

More info at: www.skd-museumslabor.blogspot.de