Liu Minxia

mllmx@msn.com

Holding photos of her 6-year-old daughter’s imitations of artwork displayed at Moscow museums, Ekaterina Selezneva, main keeper of the Russian museum association of Moscow City Museum, said children are becoming an increasingly important group of visitors to museums in the Russian capital.

Attending the UNESCO High-level Forum on Museums in Shenzhen, Selezneva stressed the use of child-friendly measures by museums to build connections with the next generation.

Museums worldwide have been reporting declining attendance by young people. A study from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts found the number of millennials visiting museums back in 2008 was greater than in more recent years, while the number of visitors aged 65 and over, meanwhile, increased. A study called Culture Track 2014 found millennials were almost 20 percent more likely than other generations to decide not to go to a museum or other cultural institution because they couldn’t find somebody to go with.

In addition to resorting to technology, especially digital technology, like what museums across the globe are turning to, to woo millennials, museums in Moscow are offering unconventional tours and are designing games and activities that can evoke the interest of the younger generation.

“My daughter and her friends are hooked on museums nowadays,” said Selezneva. “They enjoy playing themed games there. Holding birthday parties at museums is becoming a vogue among Moscow kids.”

For a museum-themed birthday party, according to Selezneva, children are encouraged to put on their favorite costumes, which are prepared by the museum, and have a role-play party, after seeing the relics at the museum and listening to the stories.

Other activities include parent-child tours and on-site and after-tour creative projects that encourage learning and participation, according to her.

“I saw similar activities held in museums in Beijing when I visited it years ago,” she said. “Children had chances to learn about history and traditional Chinese culture by making dough sculptures and playing ancient Chinese games. Actually, my daughter’s first experience with Chinese culture was through paper cutting.”

A first-time visitor to Shenzhen, Selezneza said she was looking forward to exploring Shenzhen museums and their ways of wooing young visitors.

Editor: Jane Chen