Promotion of Cultural, Educational and Enlightenment Activities of Museums During the Pandemic and Overcoming Social Distance (as Exemplified by the Museum of the Lviv Polytechnic National University)

ABSTRACT

The significance of the cultural, educational and enlightenment activities of museums and the strengthening of their role during the pandemic have been analysed. The importance of involving citizens in the dialogue through the promotion of digitized historical documents has been shown on the example of the Museum of History of the Lviv Polytechnic University. The digitization of historical documents, their popularization on the museum's website and the involvement of a wide audience in the enlightenment virtual activities of the museum contribute to overcoming social distance during the pandemic. The importance of communication and interactivity at the modern stage has been emphasized, because a modern museum is not only an institution for collecting, storing, interpreting and exhibiting, but also an opportunity for knowledge, spiritual enrichment and exchange of emotions through comments on social networks, expressions of preferences and a chance to get an answer from a specialist. It has been emphasized that the legal and actual status of university museums determines the specific features of cultural, educational and enlightenment activities, where two main directions are distinguished – promotional and educational. In the Museum of History of Lviv Polytechnic, the promotional one is aimed at expanding knowledge about the formation of the university and its history. The essence of the educational direction consists in both the career guidance counselling aimed at getting potential applicants interested in numerous professions and the opportunity for the students themselves to study and research museum exhibits in their scientific projects, as well as get acquainted with valuable documents, in particular during the pandemic through social networks. It was concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the activity and representation of historical and cultural heritage objects (including museums) in the world in general and in Ukraine in particular. The prospects of the research have been outlined, which consist in involving socially unstable groups in the enlightenment virtual activities of the museum in order to overcome social distance during the pandemic and involve students in the museum events through the organization of virtual exhibitions around the museum, the organization of virtual quests, which strengthen stress resistance, give the opportunity to get acquainted with the history of the museum, the main milestones and figures. © 2022 Copyright for this paper by its authors.