Museums began as “cabinets of curiosity” in wealthy people’s homes who could afford to collect items of rare historical or scientific value and share them with their friends. Then, universities and other research institutions began displaying some of their collections, often still only for private viewing by special appointment but also increasingly for the general public as time wore on. And slowly, some other institutions opened for the general public to view and learn about their collections.
Originally, these museums for the particular public had a specific goal: teach the common public about a specific topic that this institution was the expert on. You might call it a “white tower” institution of intellectuals or one in which its sole purpose was in order to “fill the empty vessel of the public with knowledge. ” These museums focused solely on presenting information with often no interactive elements or space for the audience to share their views, presenting an one-sided, top-down approach.
However, in the past few decades, a change has been occurring in the museum world, with a good ever-growing focus on community, interactivity, plus cross-directional learning. Museums started allowing visitors to touch items inside their own walls and interact with them to understand the concepts better. Museums started asking audiences to discuss their experiences and even leave them upon display with regard to other visitors. Today, museums serve because community gathering places with the goal of sharing knowledge on specific topics. There are different types of museums, each along with its own areas associated with focus plus its preferred way of presenting info to the general public.
Types of Museums
There are several different types associated with museums around the globe today, each focusing on various topics and subtopics. Within general, the different types of museums include the following:
Art Museums
These types of museums concentrate on artwork, sometimes of a particular style, medium, region, era, or another theme, but sometimes the focus is broad, including multiple styles and media. These may also be called galleries instead of museums. The most popular/ best art museums consist of:
1- The Louvre
The particular Louvre is the world’s most popular museum, with an average of over 9 million visitors yearly and more than 500, 000 pieces of art.
Featuring some associated with the majority of famous artworks in the world, which includes the “Venus de Milo” and, of course , the Mona Lisa, this art gallery is the must-see both for that amazing art plus the building itself being a former castle and the iconic glass pyramid.
The Louvre will be at Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France. It’s so busy that you’ll need to book a timed entrance ticket if you don’t want to stand in line regarding hours.
2- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met in New York City is one of the world’s finest art museums and it’s also the largest, along with about 6 million site visitors per year plus more than 2 mil works associated with art.
It is one of those museums that has so much in order to see, you will need the guided tour to get your bearings.
The particular Met is at 1000 5th Avenue, New York, NY, 10028.
3- The Victoria and Albert Museum
The V& A is the world’s biggest design, applied arts and decorative arts museum, with over 2 . 3 million objects.
It draws about 3. 3. million guests per year and focuses on Queen Victoria plus Prince Albert’s love and patronage from the arts plus sciences.
The Victoria and Albert Museum is at Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom.
4- The particular Tate Modern
This art gallery features masterpieces of international modern artwork, including those by Pablo Picasso plus Salvador Dali.
Drawing almost 5 mil visitors annually, it’s one particular of the finest art museums in the planet.
It has become such an icon of Greater london that most river cruises include a mention of the Tate in their commentary.
The Tate Modern is at Bankside, London SE1 9TG, Usa Kingdom.
5- The particular National Gallery of Art
The particular National Gallery of Art draws over 4 million visitors each year who flock there to see more compared to 130, 500 works focusing on the development of Western Artwork.
It houses the only painting simply by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas, Ginevra de’ Benci. This is another artwork museum that has so much to take in that a guided tour will help.
The National Gallery of Art is usually on Constitution Avenue North West, Washington, DC 20565.
6- The Nationwide Gallery
The National Gallery in London focuses upon Western European paintings with more than 2, 300 artworks, including da Vinci, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Botticelli, Rembrandt, and Monet.
It draws over six million website visitors per year on average.
The National Gallery is in Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN, United Kingdom.
Different types of museums around the world:
History Museums
History museums focus on remembering and honouring the past, frequently with a specific concentrate on a particular time period, area, or even individuals.
These include historic homes and historic societies with exhibits open to the open public.
Military and war museums, such as all those relating to the particular World Wars, are furthermore quite common.
Living history museums are usually a particularly interesting subsection in which live performers immerse visitors in historic experiences such as crafts, often within historical buildings.
The many popular background museums consist of:
7- The Nationwide Museum associated with American History
This iconic museum is part of the Smithsonian complex.
It features over a few million artifacts from the history of America, including Lincoln’s top hat from the night of the particular assassination and the flag that will Francis Scott Key drew inspiration from to write what became the national anthem.
Attracting almost 5 million site visitors a year, it’s one of the world’s most popular history museums.
The particular National Museum of American History is definitely at 1300 Constitution Avenue North West, Washington, DC 20560.
8- The Acropolis Art gallery
This particular Athens icon focuses on the archaeological results from the Acropolis of Athens from your Greek Bronze Age, the Roman period, plus Byzantine Greece.
They have the glass floor gallery that allows people to view the particular continuing excavation of the web site.
The particular Acropolis Museum reaches Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, Athens, Portugal.
9- Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum
The mausoleum showcases the excavated terracotta warriors that will Emperor Qin commissioned to accompany him within the afterlife, along with other traditional artifacts.
Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Web site Museum can be in Lintong District, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China, 710612.
Science/Technology Museums
Science museums are often broad, concentrating on various subsections, including paleontology (dinosaurs), physics, biology, engineering, technology, meteorology, astronomy, aeronautics, and more.
Today, they are usually known for being some of the most online museums along with hands-on activities and discovery, though additional types associated with museums have increased their particular interactive offerings as well.
These might also become called science or finding centres instead of museums.
Zoos, aquaria, and various other similar animal-based educational centres are sometimes grouped under the technology museum banner.
Probably the most popular/ best science and technology museums include:
10- The National Air and Space Art gallery
This museum is certainly section of the Smithsonian complex plus features historical and interactive experiences regarding human flight and spaceflight.
With regarding 7 mil visitors yearly, it regularly ranks since one of the world’s best and most popular museums.
It is at 600 Independence Method South West, Wa DC 20560.
11- The Shanghai in china Science and Technology Museum
Drawing about three or more. 5 million visitors a year since its relatively recent opening in 2001, it concentrates on the popularization of technology and the particular intersection associated with nature, humanity and technologies.
The Shanghai Science plus Technology Museum is at 2000 Shiji Boulevard, Pudong, Shanghai in china, China, 201204.
12- The far east Science and Technology Art gallery
This particular museum functions ancient Chinese technology, which includes astronomical devices, the compass, and bronze smelting, along with more modern technology, including the spacesuits of Yang Liwei, the first Chinese person to go to space.
The Tiongkok Science plus Technology Museum reaches Bei Jing Shi, Chaoyang, 100101, China.
13- The Science Museum
The particular Science Museum was founded within 1857 and now attracts 3. several million guests each 12 months.
It concentrates on discussing and inspiring scientific, technological, and medical advancement.
The Science Art gallery is from Exhibition Street, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD, Usa Kingdom.
Natural History Museums
Natural History Museums blend background and science, often concentrating on paleontology, biology, plus cultural history. For instance, you might find exhibits on ice age animals, the people who lived in this area during a specific period of time and live animal exhibits.
Maritime museums can be listed under natural history or even special interest as they focus on marine-based history, culture, or archaeology, such as a shipwreck museum.
The particular most popular/ best organic history museums include:
14- The National Museum of Organic History
This US museum pulls an typical of eight million website visitors a year with over 126 mil specimens plus cultural artifacts, such as the Hope Diamond.
The particular National Art gallery of Natural History will be at 10th Street & Constitution Avenue North Western, Washington, DC 20560.
15- The Natural Background Museum
The Organic History Museum in Greater london opened within 1881 and targets telling the 4. 5-billion-year background from the beginning associated with our solar system in order to today with 80 million artifacts.
Sketching 5. 25 million visitors annually, the Natural History Museum are at Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
16- The United states Museum of Natural Background
Across from Central Park, the particular American Art gallery of Natural History focuses on the intersection of human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.
This has more than 33 mil specimens, including fossils, plants, animals, plus minerals as well as human remains and cultural artifacts.
The particular American Museum of Organic History is at 200 Main Park West, New York, NY 10024.
Children’s Museums
While many museums have children as their main audience, children’s museums focus entirely upon creating exploratory interactive encounters for their youngest visitors.
There will often be areas that feature role-playing (like at the particular grocery store or different careers), sensory experiences (like water areas), art (like finger painting), creatures, and architectural to help all of them learn through play.
The most popular/ best children’s museums consist of:
17- The Strong National Art gallery of Play
This museum features 100, 1000 square feet of play featuring exhibitions such as Sesame Road, a butterfly garden, and the Toy Hall associated with Fame.
The particular Strong reaches 1 Manhattan Square Dr, Rochester, NY 14607.
18- The Papalote Museo Del Niño
This particular children’s art gallery utilizes technology, technology, plus art intended for children to learn and explore.
Featuring artwork by kids on the walls and ceiling because well since an IMAX theatre plus a build-your-own radio station, the museum creates an unforgettable experience to get children.
The particular Papalote Museo Del Niño is located at Av Constituyentes 268, Bosque de Chapultepec II Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11840 Ciudad sobre México, CDMX, Mexico.
19- The Musée Des Enfants
This art gallery in Brussels concentrates on children’s exploration of the particular world without technology, focusing on “old-school” toys and real-person interactions.
The particular Musée Kklk Enfants is located at 3805 Bd du Curé-Labelle, Laval, QC H7P 0A5, Canada.
General/Hybrid/Encyclopedic Museums
There are also many museums that function wings of exhibits on different subjects, like natural history wings, art wings, and science wings.
These may be state/ city/ regional/ national museums that take advantage associated with the opportunity to build multiple museums in one essentially, or simply museums that wish to concentrate on various topics.
The most popular/ best general, hybrid, or even encyclopedic museums include:
20- The particular National Art gallery of Cina
The National Museum of China and taiwan focuses upon educating the particular world about the arts and history of China.
It has consistently been in the top couple of museums worldwide in recent years, boasting about 7. five million site visitors yearly.
The particular National Art gallery of China is at 16 East Chang’an St, Dongcheng, China, 100051.
21- The Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums feature art plus historical artifacts relating in order to the papacy and Catholic history.
With about 5. 5 million visitors per year, this attracts people around the world, primarily, but not exclusively associated with the Catholic faith, that yearn to understand this organization and its history.
The Vatican Museums are located with 00120 Vatican City within Italy and are usually visited along with the Sistine Chapel.
22- The particular British Museum
This famous museum draws an average of 6. 7 million guests a 12 months.
It was the particular world’s 1st national community museum, founded in 1753 and is home to historic and artistic artifacts through all over the world, which includes the Rosetta Stone.
The British Museum is situated at Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG, Uk.
23- The Nationwide Palace Art gallery
Taipei’s National Palace Museum functions Chinese artwork, and traditional and religious objects.
It is sometimes confused with the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City, Beijing, which makes sense since they used to end up being combined.
The National Structure Museum averages 4. four million website visitors annually and is on No. 221, Sec 2, Zhi Shan Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111.
Special Interest Museums
While frequently not considered an official type of art gallery, these museums focus on one very specific idea that doesn’t quite fit into the other categories or a museum of the particular company.
While these people could be considered historical or hybrid museums of a very niche subject, some consider them a category associated with their own.
Some examples of popular special interest museums include:
24- The particular International Spy Museum
This museum tells the history of espionage, how it is been enacted, and the role in today’s entire world.
It is a relatively new art gallery, opening within 2002, and welcomes regarding 600, 000 visitors the year.
The International Secret agent Museum are at 700 L’Enfant Plaza The west, Washington, DC 20024.
25- The particular Corning Art gallery of Glass
This particular specialist museum tells the story of the particular art, history and technology of cup.
Corning Cup Works (now Corning Incorporated) opened the museum in 1951 to show glass in a new light.
While there is a lot about the particular history plus science behind the company, the museum focuses on cup throughout background, art, and science, providing an unique experience pertaining to visitors, even allowing them to make their very own glass pieces plus see master glassmakers at work.
The Corning Museum associated with Glass is at 1 Museum Way, Corning, New You are able to, 14830.
26- The Heineken Experience
This popular art gallery in Amsterdam tells the particular history from the brewing organization Heineken and it is very well-known, bringing in about 1 . two million visitors annually from 2016 in order to 2019.
The particular pandemic offers impacted numbers since then, yet it is usually on the mend again.
The Heineken Encounter reaches Stadhouderskade 78, 1072 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Mobile/Pop-up Museums
These are nontraditional, fairly new art gallery experiences with no permanent location.
This type of museum may become housed in a vehicle that can travel to various prescribed locations or a collection of items that travel from one temporary area to another.
They have turn out to be very popular within today’s tradition and many cities, especially the big ones, have pop-up or mobile museums that can easily be found on the particular Internet.
One of the most popular/ best mobile or even pop-up museums include:
27- The particular Museum associated with Ice Cream
This opened in July 2016 as an interactive art exhibition on snow cream and other sweets that will asked the audience to think about food and colour within different ways and greatly harnessed the power of social media.
It opened up in Nyc (selling 30, 000 tickets in the particular first five days), but since then has furthermore travelled to other big cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, plus San Francisco.
28- The Color Factory
It’s a pop-up interactive art exhibition themed around the concept of colour.
It opened in 2017 in San Francisco and ran meant for eight and a half months.
Currently, it is definitely running in Brand new York City, Chicago plus Houston.
29- The particular Museum of Illusions
This popular museum concentrates on the particular fun and lessons learned from carnival experiences such as Fun House Mirrors plus other illusions.
Started in 2015 within Croatia, it now provides locations in more than 30 towns around the globe (including Orlando , Philadelphia and Miami ) and is continuing in order to expand.
30- Candytopia
A type of museum that is a fantastical wonderland of candy, creating an ethereal sensory experience similar to that associated with Charlie plus the Chocolate Factory.
They are currently located in New York and Houston.
31- Centre Pompidou Mobile Museum
The Centre Pompidou in Paris is one of the most famous artwork museums on the planet with 3 or more. 75 mil visitors per year.
The art gallery created the mobile museum consisting of just 6, 996 square ft (650 square meters) to share different exhibitions along with several metropolitan areas throughout France and a new area in Southern Spain. Check it out here .
Most Popular Types Of Museums
Each type of art gallery can end up being very enjoyable and well-known, particularly depending on the individual museum’s design, creativity, exhibits, and experiences. Art, history, science, and common museums are equally distributed among the particular top 10 in order to 20 the majority of popular museums worldwide, implying that all subjects may be equally popular.
Many modern museums have become very creative in developing interactive encounters that astonish visitors, especially utilising new technology for example virtual reality or immersive experiences.
The particular more niche the museum, the harder it can often be to bring within a larger crowd each year. However, if it is the only museum of its type in the world, this can provide notoriety plus, therefore , popularity.
For example , the shipwreck art gallery may struggle to bring in people, but the only museum dedicated to the Titanic may be very popular.
Science and Art museums in many cases are many popular among families or other groups of a variety of ages.
Children’s museums are perhaps the most demographic-specific, popular with families yet often excluding other age demographics in case they do not have children.
At an estimated number of 55, 500 around the world, museums provide a community room for posting knowledge each through the experts at the art gallery towards the public and between members of the public. They provide an opportunity to learn regarding different elements of history, art, plus science as well as the human condition.