An Evaluation of the Treasure of Sacred Art of St. Joseph's Seminary

This thesis studies the identity of the Treasure of Sacred Art of St. Joseph’s Seminary as a confessional museum. The central aim of the thesis was to conduct an evaluative study of the nature of the museum collection and the purported purpose of the museum. It was anticipated that this evaluative process might contribute to fostering both the preservation of the museum collection and the connection of the museum with its community and public. In order to achieve the objectives of the thesis, a historiography of the museum was developed and a critical research method was adopted. A critical review of central museological literature relevant to museums of sacred arts was conducted in order to provide a framework for as assessment of the museum holdings according to international museum policy for proper musealization and heritagization. Further to the collection survey assessment, interviews regarding the identity and purpose of the museum were conducted with the key stakeholders of the museum: the Society of Jesus, The Catholic Diocese of Macau, and the Faculty of Religious Studies of the University of Saint Joseph. Adhering to the international museum policy for proper musealization and heritagization, the project evaluated the extent to which the museum collection demonstrates a cultural and spiritual relationship to the community.
The project enabled clarification of the polarity between the traditional role of sacred arts and heritagization, and elucidates the museum’s appropriate identity to reach a general public. By employing a critical research method, the current project consists of two sets of qualitative data of a significance assessment and the interviews of the stakeholders of the Seminary of St. Joseph. The significance assessment of the collection demonstrated that the current museological display is not equipped to demonstrate of the meaning particular to the Seminary of St. Joseph, due to the chosen curatorial method according to its taxonomy and the existing objectives established by the Cultural Institute of Macao. Furthermore, the stakeholder interviews revealed rather differing opinions concerning museum purpose and identity, which can have negative implications for the wellbeing and success of the museum.
In order for the collection to rediscover its cultural and spiritual relationship to the community, the current project recommends criteria for the museological display to reconstruct the development of the Seminary of St. Joseph, using a thematic curatorial method. This study can be utilized by museum educators and curators for the future exhibitions and the expansion plan of the Diocese of Macao.