Macskakő Childrenmuseum (Sopron Hungary)

Description

The community space in the Eggenberg House, which is based on the collections of the Sopron Museum, is designed for children and adults who enjoy playing. The interactive children’s museum, which offers the joy of discovery, illustrates everyday life in times gone by through objects that were used in the past and are still in use today. The museum’s educational space is located in the courtyard of the historic building, whilst the interactive exhibition space of the Children’s Museum is situated on the street-facing side of the building.

For the very youngest children, we have created a communal space that fills a gap, where children can discover the world of times gone by in their own way and through play.
The material culture of both adults and children is often very limited. Whilst pre-schoolers still have a strong connection with the material world – they constantly observe, touch and interpret the objects around them – this connection weakens during their school years, as verbal and, above all, written forms of communication become much more important. As a result – without denying the importance of these forms of communication – their lives are impoverished. Children cannot interpret objects from earlier times; they cannot make the connection between them and our contemporary objects. Even as an adult, I find myself merely ‘wandering’ aimlessly around exhibitions. To prevent this, they need to know the story behind the objects. It is the museum’s task to familiarise them with this. It is the task of a good exhibition to ‘place the objects in context’ and let them speak for themselves.