A day at the museum

I fondly remember a trip to the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences along Rotten Row in Harare when I was 10.
It was quite an experience that will enthral any boy of that age. It was with some trepidation that I visited the same museum this past week.

A number of years had passed since my first trip and my eyes were no longer blinkered by the fascination of a 10-year-old.

I was unsure of what to expect, concerned that there would have been a massive deterioration in exhibits.

This was to be an adventure into the unknown. When I got there I took out my wallet, shelled out the entrance fee, and stepped into the darkened maw of history.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Many of the exhibits were in good condition, the labelling on most of them clear and informative.

It took me about an hour to get through everything and I left feeling that I had obtained value for the nominal entry fee.

It was all in all rather fun and worth the visit. There were even signs of repainting of the railing, someone is doing some refurbishment.

Yet, here is the sad part, I’m not sure that I would go back in a hurry. Allow me to elaborate.

I enjoy history, I think we should take careful heed to its lessons and preserve as much of it as possible.

As such visiting museums and galleries is something I revel in. When I travel it forms part of my to-do list if I am in a city for a while.

While it would be unfair to compare our local establishment with, say, the large museums of London I feel there are a few lessons they could learn from them.

You see, little had changed since my last visit. I remember vividly an ugly, stuffed rock-rabbit glaring down at me from a rock when I was 10, sure enough there was the same rodent-like effigy staring menacingly with its glass eyes.

It is a museum, they can hardly be expected to change everything, and yes most museums have standing exhibits that stick around for ages.

But for me to go back to our museum before another 25 years pass will take something extra special.

There are only so many times I am going to be amazed by a stuffed duck. I would love to see a fresh exhibit annually, one I could get excited about to go see (while I’m there I will naturally give a glance at the stuffed duck again).

Stick up something amazing that looks better than a Grade seven science project, market it well and blow my mind when I come to visit.

Going to museums (or art galleries, or the theatre for that matter) is not something that is readily part of our culture in Zimbabwe.

Yet it should be. Many of us probably went to the museum as kids that is part of nearly every junior school curriculum, yet the experience has not been enough to draw us back repeatedly.

A well targeted, creative, adult oriented, marketing campaign is needed to change that (child oriented campaigns have to be good enough to get mommy and daddy to bring them).

Some of the exhibits are a bit jaded, the animal kopje scene being one that immediately springs to mind.

Due to open air exposure the exhibits are a bit moth eaten and could do with replacing (and no I don’t really know off hand where you are going to get a fresh lion to stuff).

It could be a brilliant scene, it just needs revamping. Redo that and I may go back to see it. Balancing consistency with change is difficult.

People are hard creatures to please. We want enough consistency to help us feel comfortable and recognise the familiar. We also want change, something new and zippy to keep us feeling that we are moving forward.

No one wants to go into a store and buy last season’s fashion, but we still want the same quality of service and care that we had last time we were in.

If someone removed the statues from outside the museum I would be angry, that is too big a shock for my system; ramp up the rock-rabbit exhibit and I wont miss his angry, little eyes one bit.

It is easy to get comfortable in a way of doing things that negates change. We go through actions daily, automating them, without pausing to think what needs to shift to improve.

At the museum there are a series of fish tanks. They were all running. All had water in them. Someone had turned them on. They just lacked fish (maybe I missed them but I tried really hard to see any). Why are we turning on the empty fish tanks? Is it because the check list says switch them on. I failed to see the main reason for their existence.

Your tasks this week Zachians; think about what you need to do to keep people coming back to your business, examine why you are ‘‘turning on the empty fish tanks’’, and visit the museum in your city-there is much to learn.