What a Museum Is and What Museum Activity Covers
In legal terms, a museum is a legal entity created (founded) and/or registered in the manner established by law, whose purpose is to carry out scientific-research and cultural-educational activity, and to identify, collect, record, protect, study, exhibit and popularize cultural heritage. According to the direction of its activity, a museum may be historical, natural-science, memorial, art, literary or military. A historical museum keeps materials connected with the historical development of society and the state, as well as with the history of a particular region; a natural-science museum keeps materials reflecting natural phenomena and the interaction between man and nature, as well as materials connected with the development of the natural sciences; a memorial museum keeps materials connected with a historical person or with a historical event of special significance; an art museum keeps materials reflecting the history of various branches of art and contemporary art; a literary museum keeps materials reflecting the history of literature and contemporary literature. A military museum is a museum placed in an open space and/or in a building, where important materials reflecting the historical and technical development of the defence forces of Georgia and the military past of the country are kept, together with samples of military equipment and material-technical means.
Museum activity is understood as the legislative and financial-economic, collecting, fund, restoration, scientific-research, cultural-educational and exposition activity connected with a museum. The museum fund is the totality of exhibits and collections kept in the museum, and a museum exhibit is a museum item recorded in the established manner to which the status of a museum exhibit has been granted. A collection is a totality of items connected with one another by some common feature, constituting part of the museum fund. The exposition of a museum is that part of the fund, exhibited according to a definite system, which is intended for visitors. The totality of state and non-state museums existing on the territory of Georgia forms the museums of Georgia, and the totality of the funds kept in the museums of Georgia forms the Museum Fund of Georgia.
State Regulation and Museum Categories
The state is the guarantor of museum activity and of the protection of the rights of museums, regardless of their ownership. State regulation and control of museum activity are exercised by the Ministry of Culture of Georgia, as well as by another state body within the limits of its competence. According to their significance and area of activity, museums, regardless of ownership, are divided into two categories: state (national) and local.
The state (national) category is granted to a museum by the Government of Georgia upon the submission of the ministry, and to a museum existing within the governing sphere of another state body provided for by law — upon the submission of that state body. The local category is granted to a museum by the ministry upon the submission of the executive body of the municipality, or upon the application of the owner of the museum. The route for granting a category therefore depends directly on whether the museum operates in the state or non-state sector and who administers it.
Founding a Museum, Registration and the State Registry
A museum is created by decision of state bodies and in agreement with the ministry, in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia. Non-state and mixed-ownership museums are founded by a municipality, a physical or legal person, likewise in agreement with the ministry and in accordance with the established legislative procedure. The rights of the founder of a museum are determined by the charter of the museum and/or by the agreement concluded between the founder and the ministry in accordance with the legislation; the form of that agreement is established and approved by the ministry.
A museum acquires the status of a legal person, in accordance with its organizational-legal form, from the moment of registration in the manner established by the legislation of Georgia. The ministry records museums existing and newly created in Georgia in the state registry of museums, while the bodies of a municipality record the museums located on their territory and under their management. In this way a unified accounting system is created which covers both state and non-state museums.
Founding Conditions, Reorganization and Liquidation
For the creation of a state museum it is necessary to have the area, a building suitable for keeping the exhibits kept in the museum, and the funds needed for the museum exposition and activity. The founder notifies the ministry in writing — and also the other competent state body within the limits of its competence — of the purpose of founding the museum, its type, name and location.
The reorganization of a state museum is carried out by decision of its founder and in agreement with the ministry, while the reorganization of a museum existing within the governing sphere of another state body is carried out in agreement with that state body, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia. By reorganization, changing the direction of activity of a state museum is permissible only in a special case. The reorganization of a non-state museum is carried out in accordance with the legislation of Georgia.
The liquidation of a state museum likewise proceeds by decision of the founder and in agreement with the ministry or the relevant state body. The fund of a liquidated state museum is transferred only to a state museum, and the fund of a liquidated local museum — to a local or a state museum; the property of a liquidated state museum, apart from its fund, is used in accordance with the legislation of Georgia. The liquidation of a non-state museum is carried out in accordance with the legislation, and state museums enjoy the preemptive right to purchase the values put up for sale by the liquidated non-state museum — an important guarantee that a private collection will not be dispersed outside the country.
Use of the Museum, Rights and Duties
Every citizen is admitted to the museum to view the exhibited items and collections, and the exposition of the museum must be open for all categories of visitors at convenient hours. The procedure for using the museum exhibits kept in the depositories of the museum is determined by the charter of the museum. The owner or possessor of the museum has the right to limit access to the exhibits kept in the museum fund because of their unsatisfactory condition of protection, restoration or placement in the depositories.
A state museum, regardless of its subordination, has the right to carry out the first publication of the exhibits kept in the museum; to give consent — in agreement with the ministry, and for a museum of the governing sphere of another state body, in agreement with that body — to the use of museum exhibits, the museum building and other objects located on its territory as symbols on printed products of various kinds, souvenirs and mass-consumption goods; to make copies of the exhibits kept in the museum fund and use them in the established manner; and to carry out the economic activity necessary for the museum, taking into account the requirements of the legislation of Georgia.
A non-state museum has the right to demand the indication of the identity of the owner when its museum exhibit is entered in a catalogue or otherwise published; to demand the restoration of its museum exhibit by a state restoration institution, with appropriate remuneration; if necessary, to hand over its exhibit to a state museum for keeping, with the execution of proper documentation; and to demand the confidentiality of information about its museum exhibit that is in its ownership and entered in the state registry.
A state museum is obliged to ensure the comprehensive protection of museum exhibits; the recording and systematization of the museum fund; the publication of museum exhibits; the maintenance of accounting documentation; and mass scientific-educational work based on the museum expositions and funds. A non-state museum is obliged to ensure the comprehensive protection of its museum exhibits; to admit specialists of museum affairs to the museum exhibits for the purpose of checking their condition; to submit complete information about a museum exhibit for entry in the state registry; to notify the ministry within the established period about the alienation of a museum exhibit; and to maintain accounting documentation. Upon the transfer of an exhibit entered in the museum fund, or its alienation in any other form, the acquirer of the exhibit assumes every obligation connected with care which the owner of the exhibit had.
Recording of Exhibits and the Museum Fund of Georgia
A museum exhibit is recorded in the established manner and is not subject to bookkeeping accounting. The primary accounting documentation of a museum comprises the inventory book of main acquisitions; the inventory book of the museum; the scientific-auxiliary book; the inventory book of temporary acquisitions; the special book for recording a museum exhibit containing valuables; the act of acceptance and transfer of a museum exhibit; and the scientific passport of a museum exhibit. The forms of the primary accounting documentation are approved by the ministry, and the destruction or falsification of the primary accounting documentation is punishable by law. In addition to the primary documentation, the museum also has additional work documentation, including the document of detailed accounting of the purchase of a museum item, scientific material — catalogues, bibliography, research material and other — and the instruction on the management of museum works approved by the ministry.
The Museum Fund of Georgia is an integral part of the cultural heritage of the country, and the right of ownership on it is determined by the law on museum activity. A museum item and a collection, regardless of ownership, are subject to compulsory state accounting — entry in the state registry of the Museum Fund of Georgia, which is the accounting document of the fund. The ministry enters a museum item and collection in the state registry on the basis of the conclusion of the council of the ministry, and removal from the registry is carried out in the established manner, on the basis of the conclusion of the ministry. A museum item or collection is considered included in the Museum Fund of Georgia from the very moment of entry in the state registry, and every change connected with an item or collection entered in the fund must be noted in the state registry. The procedure for compiling, storing and using the form of the state registry is established by the ministry.
Museum Property and Financing
The property of a museum comprises the exhibits kept in the museum, its buildings and other immovable objects, the land plot, movable property and financial resources. A state museum uses and administers the immovable property belonging to it in the manner established by the legislation of Georgia. The eviction of a state museum from the building occupied by it is prohibited, except for the case when it is offered a better building for its activity. The procedure for using the property of a non-state museum (apart from museum exhibits) is determined by the legislation of Georgia.
A museum is financed from the state budget; from the budget of a municipality; from the funds of the owner of the museum; from specially created funds; from the grants of the funds and programs of international organizations; from donations; from the funds transferred by physical and legal persons of a foreign country; and from any income that does not contradict the legislation of Georgia. A state museum is financed from the state budget in accordance with its category, and when necessary funds are allocated from the state budget also for financing a local museum. Tax and other kinds of benefits in museum activity are determined by the legislation of Georgia.