The Objects of the Museums as Metaphor of Culture, Identity and Education ----Comparative Research between the Slovenia Ethnographic Museum and the Chinese Tuva Private Original Museums

In this essay, the Slovenia Ethnographic Museum and Chinese Tuva Private Original Museum will be involved in the discussion. The firsthand materials collected in Slovenia and Chinese Tuva villages have laid the foundation for academic discussion. With the rapid development of sedentarization, hunting prohibitions and tourism in Tuva villages of China, cultural and social dilemmas as well as the risk of population decline have become the main challenges for the Tuva people in China. Faced with this situation, the local Tuva community leaders endeavored to revive Chinese Tuva culture, strengthen the ethnic identity as well as educate the young generations to realize the importance of traditional culture through establishing the Chinese Tuva Private Original Museum which is falling into the predicament because of economic pressure. In contrast, the Slovenia Ethnographic Museum has a different story. In terms of the museum, not only should the study emphasizes the visitors but should also consider the museum as a quasi-sacred place and the visitors as quasi-pilgrims. All in all, the objects of museums as a metaphor of culture, identity and education are playing the complicated role in diverse perspectives. In addition, this essay will challenge the prevailing viewpoint that the object is the cornerstone of museology with the view that the social life of the object in the museums is the cornerstone of museology instead of the object itself.