Volunteer opportunities at the Museo Popol Vuh and FLAAR Digital Imaging Center

The Museo Popol Vuh and the FLAAR Digital Imaging Center on the Campus of the Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala City offer volunteer opportunities to students who are seriously interested in archaeology and/or digital imaging technology. The program is also suitable for people who work at a museum or in the field of digital imaging and who want to expand their horizons. During the course of the voluntary service it is possible to gain an insight into different aspects of museum work, and to learn more about digital technology and its role in archaeology.

It is possible to work in only one of the areas, or to divide the time equally between the two. It is furthermore a good opportunity to improve ones Spanish skills. It is not imperative, but certainly helpful, that you speak Spanish, since most of the staff and the directors of both institutions speak English, and there are also people who speak German or French. But there are some very good language schools in the nearby town of Antigua, and the city itself. It is not important how much time a volunteer wants to spend in Guatemala, but he or she should have a specific skill from which the museum or FLAAR could profit. Under certain circumstances a payment to the museum and/or university will be expected to cover training costs.

The University

The Universidad Francisco Marroquin is located in Zone 10 in Guatemala City, one of the nicest areas in town. It is a private university and was founded in 1971. It has modern buildings, which are situated on a beautiful campus surrounded by greenery. In addition to the Museo Popol Vuh the Museo Ixchel, which has exhibits on traditional costumes, can be found on the campus.

The Museo Popol Vuh

The museum has very interesting exhibitions on Pre-Columbian archaeology and colonial artin a modern setting. Currently there is a special exhibition on Pre-Hispanic musical instruments. The museum has a staff of about 9. Everyone is very kind and willing to help wherever and whenever necessary. Dr. Oswaldo Chinchilla, the curator, is in charge of the activities a volunteer will participate in. Once a year he is out in the field supervising excavations in El Baul, an archaeological site at the pacific coast of Guatemala.

There are different areas of the museum the volunteer can work in. The museums catalogue has to be updated all the time with new pictures of the artifacts in storage, and there isalways some other kind of cataloging to do to keep the database up to date. A project to reorganize and catalogue the whole storage is planned for the near future, which will naturally involve the handling of archaeological objects. Special care has to be taken in all operations where archaeological objects have to be moved, and the volunteer should be especially aware of the responsibility he or she will have in such situations.

It is also sometimes possible to work with Carlos Chaclan, the museum’s potteryrestorer. Step-by-step instructions are given to the volunteer to restore an object. That way it is possible to gain a better understanding of the importance of adequate restoration, and to appreciate the amount of work and care that has to be put into this. One needs a lot of patience and skill to get involved in this kind of work.

The Museum has workshops for children in which volunteers might be asked to participate. Once in a while there are exhibitions of rollout photographs outside the museum and help will be needed in setting these up.

Part of the museum is an extensive consulting library on loan from Nicholas Hellmuth, in which the volunteer is free to roam, to read up on the latest in archaeology or expand his or her knowledge in fields of personal interest.

FLAAR Digital Imaging Center

FLAAR is situated in the New Media complex across the campus from the museum. Their purpose is photographically oriented research and public education in the fields of art history, architectural history, archaeology, anthropology and ethnohistory with emphasis on pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Nicholas Hellmuth, the director, offers training courses in digital photography, panorama photography, digital imaging and much more, which might also be of interest to the volunteer.

FLAAR is also involved in market research in the field of digital imaging, and shares its experience with interested consumers via reports and reviews. They have an extensive range of digital photography and large format printing equipment in the office in Guatemala, and a volunteer will get a training in some of it, for example in projects of rollout photography of archaeological vases from the Museo Popol Vuh, where they are currently setting up a photo studio. The volunteer will have the opportunity to learn a lot about the importance of digital technology and how to apply it professionally within his or her field of study. The experience gained while at the Digital Imaging Center will be a good addition to ones CV and noticed positively by potential employers.

It would be an advantage if the volunteer could offer some kind of skill in the field of digital imaging to contribute to the efforts FLAAR undertakes in its research and projects. Knowledge of German would be an additional plus.