The Czech Association of Open Air Museums

“… The mission of open air museums is to present true stories of real people to a wide range of visitors with the use of living interactive presentations using authentic buildings and to encourage them to share their experiences with us and among themselves.”

The Czech Association of Open Air Museums is an open platform that aims to bring together open air museums and similar institutions in the Czech Republic. The mission of the association is to assure professional co-operation and the promotion of open air museums as influential cultural institutions and important entities in tourism. The Czech Association of Open Air Museums works primarily with the Methodological Centre for Open Air Museums at the National Open Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, the Union of Open Air Museums at the Association of Museums in Slovakia and the Association of Open Air Museums in Poland.

The work of the Czech Association of Open Air Museums aims to:

Defend the interests and specific needs of open air museums,
Develop co-operation on research and operational and interpretive objectives,
Present open air museums as specific tourist destinations,
Seek suitable forms of operation enabling activities of both an educational and a commercial nature,
Improve the professional standard of open air museums in co-operation with the Methodological Centre for Open Air Museums, particularly in terms of caring for vernacular architecture (reconstruction, conservation, etc.) and preserving traditional craft techniques,
Develop close co-operation with open air museums abroad and with international institutions such as the ICOM, AEOM and AIMA,
Develop co-operation with the Czech Association of Museums and Galleries and the National Heritage Institute of the Czech Republic,
Promote the interests of preservation and presentation of vernacular architecture in the state administration and local government,
Develop co-operation with museums established by various organisations and provide them with expert and methodical assistance,
Take full advantage of the professional potential of the National Open Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm for the performance of methodical and advisory activities for open air museums, and to use open air museums to interpret:
tangible and intangible features of folk culture (music, dance and verbal folklore, customs and traditions),
archaeological and historical research,
methods of subsistence and traditional agricultural methods, traditional crafts, technological processes and folk art of various kinds.