Objects from the past are gathered, preserved, and shown to the public. A museum is an institution that collects, conserves, researches, and displays artifacts, artworks, or specimens of cultural, historical, or scientific importance.

Public museums emerged prominently in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from earlier princely and scholarly collections. They serve education, research, and civic identity. Curators and conservators manage the tension between preservation and access; exhibitions interpret objects for diverse audiences.

Museums face ongoing debates over restitution of objects acquired under colonial or unequal conditions, the representation of contested histories, and funding models. Despite these challenges, they remain primary sites where people encounter material evidence of the past outside the archive or the archaeological site.

• Institution that preserves and displays significant objects
• Serves research, education, and public engagement
• Manages conservation and interpretation
• Engaged in debates over ownership and representation