Cilicia Museum Case Study

4.2 Comparative Parallels
The study of different religious and/or historical museum is important to be able to study the future storyline and visitors’ path of Cilicia Museum. Hence, studying the displays, their panels and their methods of engaging with their audience is essential. The parallels were chosen, amongst a very large number of museums visited. during cultural trips.
The four following museums have many similarities in themes and/or in the richness of their collection, but the difference lies in their contemporary concept and storyline and the huge number of visitors they have.
• The Islamic Art Department of the Louvre-France: Inaugurated in 2012, around 3000 objects, dated from the beginning of Islam till the 19th century, are
Consequently, the museum contributes to the preservation of the Armenian tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
The museum seeks to encourage the learning and the teaching of the Armenian Arts and its special characteristics, mainly based on the Christian Faith that has shaped the Armenian history and that preserves its continuity despite all the atrocities, the horrors and the genocide the nation went through especially during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
Deportees, refugees and clericals who carried the museum’s treasures all the way from Cilicia to Lebanon, during the genocide, wanted us, the future generations, to keep and transmit the values that these objects inspire, namely: the moral responsibility of preserving the past and its legacy, as well as the Christian Faith.
Furthermore, Cilicia Museum encourages the reflection upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the genocide, the dangerous ethnic hatred that results from it, as well as the sociopolitical issues that minorities face in the
4.4 Synopsis The proposed exhibition path will take the visitor on a journey across historical Cilicia, from its birth (9th century BC) up until its relocation to Antelias, post-Armenian Genocide. The thread mainly follows the story of the objects of the collection; their trajectory, as well as their religious and/or cultural connotations
The visitors will be immersed in four main sections, chronologically divided:
A. Historical Cilicia: from its birth till end of the Byzantine period (9th cent. BC-7th cent. AD)
B. Medieval Cilicia: From the Arab Invasions, passing through the Creation of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, till the 20th Cent. (7th cent. AD-1915 AD)
C. Modern Cilicia: the genocide and the journey from Cilicia to Lebanon (1915-1930)
D. Rebirth (1930 till present day) Each of these parts will also be thematically categorized and will vividly render each object’s artistic and or cultural value. The entire pathway will share a didactic tone giving the visitor a holistic tour of the history, art and culture of Cilicia. (Refer to Figure 4.3 for more