Museums as Cultural Institutions: Challenges and Opportunities for St. Mark’s Coptic Museum

Abstract

The mandate, if not purpose, of museums is to collect, preserve, conserve, research, and interpret historical artifacts. Whether museums are large or small they also have an expanded mandate to educate, inspire, and transmit culture, legacy, and history to future generations. Museums give cultural value to our communities, country, and even the world. They increase tolerance and life-long learning. Opened in 1996, the mission of St. Mark’s Coptic Museum in Scarborough is to be recognized as a “… cultural institution that celebrates the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of the Copts and is a witness to Coptic art as a Living Tradition… [it is also] one of the Canadian Coptic Community’s contributions to Canadian multicultural society.” The implementation of this mission statement has posed the challenge to “build cultural bridges” among a diverse Coptic community in Canada, such as between Copts who grow up and are educated in Canada and the heritage of their parents who came to Canada as adults. Cultural bridges continuously have to be built beyond the Coptic community to the wider Canadian society, such as the neighborhood, the ecumenical community, museums, the school system, the university, and Coptic scholars. This paper will discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by the Museum’s mission statement.