Is the Museo de La Salle a Primary or Secondary Actor in the Lasallian Academic Community? Thoughts from the Perspective of Museology

Abstract

This paper is part of a series of reflections made during the development of the thesis entitled The primary or secondary role of the university museum, a specific case: the Museo de La Salle, Bogotá D. C., directed by Daniel Castro Benitez, head of the Museo de la Independecia and Casa Museo Quinta de Bolívar, and submitted by the author as a requirement to obtain the degree of MA in Museology and Heritage Management from the School of Arts of the National University of Colombia. In this reflection, the role played by the Museo de La Salle within the university’s academic community and its influence on the consolidation of the Lasallian project in Colombia is presented. A contrast is made between its evolution and the development of different museological trends that have defined the identity of museum institutions around the world, through which it is possible to perceive the elements that could, in the future, make the Museo de La Salle a key player for the construction of the Lasallian cultural and scientific heritage, as well as of education and natural sciences in Colombia.