ISS 25 (1995).pdf - The International Council of Museums

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possible to find in this equation the reason for the conflict which is spreading all over the world: the conflict is not between "cultures" (indigenous and not indigenous), but between dominant and nondominant cultures, between the concepts of culture and nation, between national cultures and national states. The conflict is, in fact, a conflict of Power. What kind of "power" is this? The power of wealth, the power of possessions, the power to decide what is going to happen, when and how. Quoting again the introductory text in the Conference's booklet, we find that "cultural heritage and the past itself seem to be the focus for warfare. The aim is not only physical destruction. The fight is also about the ownership of history and hence the right to obliterate the adversary's historic presence in the disputed territories". The ownership of history is the ownership of the past, the right to the land, and as such the right to the ownership of the present and of the future: the final word upon the world. The possession of the land is the possession of its richness, the control of its goods and products, of the production process, of all economical and political processes. Iuri Lotman, in his typology of cultures, says that there are cultures which are past oriented, as well as others that are future oriented. Those which enhance the past as the basis of its legitimacy, consider that a culture with no past is a culture with no origins, and thus, with no existence, or whit no rights to exist. Cultural heritage, monuments, ruins, historical facts, are proofs for the primeval origins of these cultures, and support their claims of superiority in relation to more "recent cultures". National pride feeds the quest for national power, or derives from it. What do museums have to do with all that? In every speech of the Conference's opening day, we will find this explicit or implicit question: what is the role of museums in this particular political process, what challenges and new challenges do they have to face? "Museums and historic monuments", says the author of the introductory text, "may have important roles to play in these developments: for better or for worse" ... and he continues, "they have traditionally functioned as symbols of national identity, often even of national pride". If we take this statement in the worst sense, we should ask what kind of role have museums traditionally played in these developments? What kind of "national pride" have they been fostering, for centuries? In the same document, further down, we find the explanation for the reason of young nations wanting to build up and to stress national unity ... "this may express a wish to transform formerly more or less independent groups into valued variants within an all-embracing national culture". How far and for how long 44
have many of the great museums adopted this same attitude in relation to the cultures represented in their collections? How frequently have they ignored the subtle differences between groups whose cultural heritage they have been collecting, and showing or representing in a simplistic way? How many times have they accepted artificial political boundaries, and considered different cultures within a simplistic all-embracing view? How far have they crashed national prides in the way they show other people's cultures, and have fostered feelings of superiority in the minds of their dominant public? The awareness of this responsibility is now spreading throughout museum's professional world, and changing attitudes and behaviours. In the ICOFOM annual meeting of 1988, in India, we have dealt with the theme of museology in developing countries, on help or manipulation. It is time now to discuss the question of museology in "developed" countries: how far it has helped to develop the present crisis, and for how long the great museums, and even not so great ones, have been fostering the national pride of the dominant nations, through the exposure of their wealth and richness, built upon the control and manipulation of other cultures? I am not entitled to discuss this point here and now, even if I have written a whole thesis on the "semiotics of the Museum language", exploring the power and the responsibility of our institutions in building up "models of the world". This discussion would lead us further into the problem of representation, and of the presentation of cultures on the Museum stage. The main point proposed for discussion here is the relationship between Museums and the Communities which they serve. I haven't touched this matter yet, or better, I think I have done it, when I've stressed what I consider to be the heart of the matter: the problem of Power, and of Power balance in today's world. Power does not mean only the control of national boundaries and territories. In the sense of the Museum x Communities relationship, power means who takes the control of mental territories, of knowledge territories, of cultural boundaries, of defining what is valuable and important in the cultural field, of what is worth showing or not. Who takes the control of "history" and of the "discourse on history", whose voice is predominant in Museum speeches and in the relationship itself? I will thus approach this question as it can be envisaged against the reality of my own country : Brazil. A country as wide as a whole continent, with as many cultural variants as one could find in another 45
Page 1: Symposium MUSEUM AND COMMUNITY II J
Page 4 and 5: IV MUSEUM AND MUSEOLOGY IN NORWAY A
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Page 11 and 12: heritage as community appropriation
Page 13 and 14: and its plurality. Continuing on th
Page 19: Dr. Eurydice in the paper 'Museums
Page 22 and 23: For museums this would mean -among
Page 24 and 25: Given the fact that museums have an
Page 26 and 27: 5. CuraLOr 37. no 4 (1994), p. 227.
Page 30 and 31: "pauimoine" de tous. n s'agit de re
Page 35 and 36: La troisieme communaute - qui aujou
Page 37 and 38: Heritage, Museum, Territory and Com
Page 39 and 40: to promote communication and educat
Page 41 and 42: ''The museum must openly embrace th
Page 43: MUSEUMS and COMMUNITIES: a powerful
Page 47 and 48: first immigrant housing. The first
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Page 62 and 63: Fuller, Nancy J 1992 The Museum as
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Page 69: fees for services and admissions in
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Page 87 and 88: Paivi-Marjut Raippalinna REGIONAL A
Page 89 and 90: insitutional ideas of Pierre Bourdi
Page 93 and 94: ON MUSEUM, COMMUNITIES AND THE RELA
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original environment - as if it was
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Des etudes recentes prevoient que,
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eserves, d'espaces d'exposition tem
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Si les musees du Quebec veulent etr
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These observations reprooving to th
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The Life Itself Provides The Topics
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MUSEUMS AND COMMUNITY FINAL REMARKS
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II MUSEUM AND COMMUNITY MUSEOLOGY A
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La question que I'on peut se poser
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ICOFOM Stavanger 1995 approaches do
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ICOFOM Stavanger 1995 The 'Declarat
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Paule Doucet (1995) «Les nouvelles
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politiques dans des efforts de depa
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constitution de leur action patrimo
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Conclusions Ces quelques dimensions
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ICOFOMIStavanger cours des annees 1
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ICOFOM/ Stavanger core dans une log
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ICOFOM/ Stavanger qualitative) est
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ICOFOMlStavanger Davallon (J.). 199
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) What is a museum? That is a recur
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IV MUSEUMS AND MUSEOLOGY IN NORWAY
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II. Looking at the Nordic museums,
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V,las founctea. ill llSbj. At 1 UfK
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Construction d'une identite nationa
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La culture nationale est fabriquee
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Le La pan - l' etranger de l'interi
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An Industrial Community and its Her
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and the curator has the role as a s
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and what we lost when the air and t
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Fig. :i 209
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ICOFOM LAM REPORT 1990 - 1995 Durin
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AUTHORS Per-Uno AGREN, Umea Univers
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