Museums + Cerca: A Cultural Mediation Exercise for Salvadoran Museums in the COVID-19 Context

Abstract

In recent years, cultural mediation in museums has been a topic of interest for cultural industries, especially in regards to the transformation generated by the context of COVID-19, and the challenge of strengthening the relationships between the meanings of the collections exhibited in museum spaces and the communities to which they belong. The main objective of this study was to identify the relationships of different Salvadoran museums with the regular public two years after the massive closures of cultural, educational and recreational spaces due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was generated within the framework of cultural research and mediation thanks to the funds granted for Solidarity Projects 2022 from the Strategic Allocation Review Committee of the International Council of Museums, SAREC ICOM, the alliance of the National Committees of ICOM Belgium and ICOM El Salvador, and the participation of Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador to promote cultural mediation in museums within the national territory. This is a qualitative, descriptive research. The experience of eleven museums was taken into account and texts showing the importance of investing museological capital were reviewed; this was carried out with the purpose of reflecting and analyzing collections for the preparation and training of museum professionals in order to generate pedagogical proposals of value for the communities.

Revista Entorno No. 76 2023: 49-59