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

into the region, to people living out of the center, and tried
actively to create new ways to reach their undefined audience.
circulating exhibitions took works of art out of the temples of
art to ordinary people. Art was to be accessed in sub-libraries,
schools, kindergartens, municipal halls. In the vanguaard of
these activities also the idea of art education became a
conscious part of the Finnish art museum activities.
The new regional activities were adressed to a common man man
living anywhere in the country. But nobody asked after or was
even interested in, who was this ordinary man and what he liked,
needed or appreciated. The target group for the new activities
was considered homogenous in terms of national identity,
although, we have a Swedish speaking minority on the southern
and western coast, Saame-people living up to the North,
karelians settled after World War Two or a small number of
gypsies. Since those days we have got an additional group of
minorities, refugees, whose position in our society is very
vague. Anyhow the guestion of ethnic minorities or the current
splitting up of the nation into A and B citizens due to the
harsh figures of unemployment doesn't even today figure in our
museums, even in regional museums.
The community for regional museum in Finland is still, if
differentiated at all, rather a mixture of people of different
ages living in a certain area, rather than people with different
interests or identities. The only explicated target group ever
concerned within the regional art museum system has been the
age-group of potential museum visitors - children - to be
educated through art to art!
We have got the system, but there is neither knowledge nor will,
I'm afraid, to turn our regional museums into true community
museums. Another factor is that the time, when also museums are
measured only in terms of production and accountability - more
institutional merits with less money, is not favourable to the
idea of community museum.
..
2.
3.
Regional art auseu.s activities were started as an ewperl.ent and the first reqlonal art
auseuas were noainated at the beqinniq of 80s.
Thomas S. Kuhn. The structure or SCientific Revolutions. 1969, The University of Chicago.
Kenneth Hudson. The Great European Museu •. Mordlsk Huseoloql 2/1993. ISSM 1103-8152.
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