Bir Üniversite Müzesinde Aktif Sanat Eğitimi: Barber Enstitüsü Örneği-Active Art Education in a University Museum: The Example of the Barber Institute

Abstract

Özet
Bu çalışmada İngiltere'de Birmingham Üniversitesi'nde bulunan Barber Güzel Sanatlar Enstitüsü Galerisi, sanat eğitimi potansiyel ve işlevi bakımından incelenmektedir. Bu temel amaca paralel olarak araştırmada müzenin tarihsel gelişimi, müze olarak sahip olduğu koleksiyonun sanatsal değeri ve müze/sanat eğitimi bağlamında yapılan faaliyetler ortaya konmaktadır. Araştırma bir kurum ve süreci herhangi bir müdahalede bulunmadan mevcut haliyle ortaya koymayı amaçladığından durum çalışması yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Verilerin toplanmasında ise gözlem, görüşme ve doküman incelemesi teknikleri işe koşulmuştur. Elde edilen bulgular değerlendirildiğinde şu sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır: (i) Barber Güzel Sanatlar Enstitüsü'nün kuruluş ve gelişim süreci, sanat ve sanat eğitiminin gelişiminde kişi, aile ve özel sektörün maddî ve manevî desteklerinin ne kadar olumlu rol oynayabileceğini göstermektedir. Bu konuda İngiltere'den başka ülkelerde ve bu arada Türkiye'de de benzer gelişmeler gözlemlenmektedir. (ii) Adı geçen Enstitü, yerinde ve aktif müze eğitimi yönünden de önemli bir örnek oluşturmaktadır. Son yıllarda müze eğitimi alanında yapılan çalışmalarda belirgin bir artışın görüldüğü Türkiye'de Barber Güzel Sanatlar Enstitüsü tecrübesinin incelenmesinin müze kültürü ve sanat eğitiminin gelişiminde olumlu rol oynayacağı düşünülmektedir.

Abstract
Museums provide individuals with access to a variety of artworks at a quality and quantity that is not possible any other way.
Museum education is of great importance to get effective benefit from museums. Nowadays museum education starts at an early age, and is simultaneously given in appropriate subjects of different lessons.
Turkey has made important progresses in museum education and museum studies in recent years, but clearly there is much more to do when compared to more developed countries. These steps can be summarised (a) increasing research into museum education and museology, (b) staff training, (c) creation of social awareness, (d) development and application of new projects. Managing all these is not possible with the state's efforts. Private entrepreneurs and civil society should take the initiative and contribute towards museum education and museology.
The aim of this research is to determine the potential and function of art education, and to introduce the museum/art activities made in this context in the Barber Museum of Fine Arts Institute at Birmingham University, England. In line with these aims the answers to these questions are being sought:
1. How was Barber Institute Museum been established and developed?
a) What is the history of the museum's foundation?
b) In the context of the development of museology and art, how can the establishment of the museum by a person/family be evaluated?
2. What are the institutional features of the Barber Institute Museum?
a) What are the administrative features of the museum?
b) What are the spatial features and importance of the museum?
c) What is the artistic significance of its collections?
3. How is museum/art education applied at the Barber Institute Museum?
4. How can the example of the Barber Institute be assessed in terms of museology and museum/art education?
Method: This is a qualitative research study, and the case study method is used accordingly. This method foresees the portrayal of the investigated situation without any intervention (Şimşek and Yıldırım, 2006). In parallel with this research, observations, interviews, document analysis and visual recording techniques made by the researcher during visits to the museum in 1995 and 2012 were used. In addition, the museum's web page has been examined at various dates to monitor the development of institution. The current situation is set forth in the clarification of the data obtained.
Findings: As well as being an important place in terms of its architecture, the Barber Museum houses examples of the most spectacular art collections of 20th century. The fact that it was established by a wealthy person and transferred to the University of Birmingham is what makes it unique.
The museum contains artworks of artists such as Bellini, Veronese, Rubens, Poussin, Murillo, Gainsborough, Manet, Degas and Magritte, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse Lautrec, Gauguin and Van Gogh. In this important collection there are drawings, prints, oil paintings, sculptures, decorative arts and coins. It has a sculpture collection including Roubiliac's Alexander Pope's bust and bronze sculptures by Rodin and Degas's. There are also significant collections of books and object arts (BUBIFA, 1995; interview, 1995, 2012;[1]).
The main objectives of the Training Program in Barber Institute are:
• Increasing curiosity about art and art history,
• Development of critical faculties by creating a discussion environment around original works focusing on the criticism techniques and criteria,
• Gaining greater confidence in trust and perception
• Inspiring and creating interest,
• Increasing appetite for learning (BUBIFA, 1995; interview, 1995, 2012).
Study groups start at age 5 through to adult. The Barber Institute's own educators help with the education. Every possible kind of tools materials and equipment is available for the trainers. Participants can touch and look objects. Students can create their own works depending on the subject, such as creative works like paintings or ceramics, sculpturing, drawing, writing, and modelling. The Institute's teachers are given prior notification about the kind of work the students will do. The Institute also offers training for teachers and learners of all ages. They even have the dramatization of famous painting open to the public, which is another example of the wealth of training (BUBIFA, 1995; interview 1995, 2012).
Conclusion: In the 20th century, student-centred education, learning by doing and active learning approaches have come to the forefront in education. The art education in Barber Institute of Fine Arts examined in this research is one of the best examples of art education in museum applications. It offers students the chance to see, touch and learn about original works and most importantly helps them to improve artistic cognitive and psychomotor abilities.
Barber provides training to teachers in order to increase the effectiveness of the implemented program. In addition, having the training in a university environment and being in a building which is a work of art with a worldwide reputation provides an impressive experience to students.
One of the important features of the Barber Institute is that it was established by one of the richest families in England, and its educational activities are sustained by the support of a foundation established by that same family.
According to research, the training conducted in museums in Turkey is extremely ineffective compared with Barber (Aktekin, 2008). The reason is that the philosophical foundations of museum education have not been laid, and long-term policies have not been determined (Onur, “Foreword”, 1999). Although museum education in Turkey has a history of over a hundred years, not enough has been done (Önder et al, 2009). However, museums are appropriate places to educate in affective, psychomotor and cognitive aspects (Buyurgan and Mercin, 2005; Seidel and Hudson, 1999; Günay, 2012) and, especially in art education, museums/galleries should be used more widely and effectively. It is essential to identify the aim of museum education correctly and establish the components (human and non-human) through accurate evaluation and coordination between administrators, experts and educators. It is important for museums to be autonomous and to be able to use their own income in order to carry out the services for education sufficiently.