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

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Such relationships are better explained under the conceptual frame of the the holistic paradigm, according to which the universe is understood as a relative system , where man is a mere element, not the centre. Under such frame it becomes clear that the museum is not concemed only with man and the cultural production, but to nature in all its diversity and to the universe as a whole. That is what we understand as the total environment, or the total heritage of humanity. The first two basic characteristics of the Museum are thus understood: its intrinsic relationship with nature and culture; and its plurality. Understanding the museum as a phenomenon, it is easy to accept that it assumes different expressions in space and time. That is, Museum is not one thing - it is a generic concept that encompasses a wide range of places, institutions, mental attitudes, cultural initiatives. Different societies develop different conceptions of the universe - and the idea of museum is one of the expressions of the world vision of each social group, in a specific time and situation. We are so used to our own conceptual models of museum, specific of the occidental society, that little attention is given to the difference. ICOFOM has barely investigated, for example, what is the dominant idea of museum in each region of the world, or which local significances does this term assume within specific communities. The same concept (Ecomuseum, for example) may have several significances, according to the cultural identity of the group that is referring to it. Some societies do not even develop an idea of museum. But once we understand that the Museum (phenomenon) is not the same as one museum (limited expression of such phenomenon), we are able to identify which idea of museum is present in which community or social group. Museum may thus be understood as: · an institution; · a physical space (territory, area or building) wich contains movable and inmovable parcels of heritage; · a physical space for the exploration, investigation and experimentation of the new; · a space for the preservation of memory of mankind and of the planet earth; · a special relationship between man and the environment; · an intellectual space of creativity and production of culture (herein included the imaginary spaces of human mind - those called' the inner museum' ); · the biosphere. Museological activity is thus possible not only in those places traditionally recognized as museums, but also in every site or intellectual sphere where Man and Nature have integrated so as to create culture and knowledge. That includes those rare sites in our planet barely touched or still untouched by Man, where natural processes remain completely or almost preserved. That goes within ourselves, towards the "inner museum" where the complicated processes of our mind shape a very specific· mental and emotional heritage" . That goes beyond what is known as the biosphere - towards the universe. Within this immense framework, we need to identify which specific representations of the museum phenomenon are we dealing with, in a specific society, time and situation - as our main working tool. The following step is to define what to do and how. WlJat to do may be explained by the political and cultural approach of Museology - which aims and actions must refer to the group under study. How to do relates to Museography - the instrumentalization of museology itself, i.e., the practical support that makes possible to apply to reality concepts and philosophies of action designed for each museum. One of the great mistakes of museum professionals is to imagine that it is possible to develop museums making plain use of museum techniques - not taking into account that museography is not and end in itself, it is a tool , a process through which museology is implemented. We still see museums that deal only with objects subtracted from their 96
original environment - as if it was possible to represent, through those fragments, the original context as a whole. We still see exhibits where such fragments are enumerated (with sofisticated design) under codes of rationality that do not correspond to the scientific paradigms of the XXth century. We see preservation and restauration works that pretend to serve the whole society, but that are nothing more than an opportunity of imposing aesthetic values and cultural codes of hegemonic groups. The responsability of the museum in the present days is to be an active agent of social change, offering support to programs of cultural development. And this is possible because, as an intellectual space for creativity, it produces knowledge. But, being aware of that, museum professionals become responsible for promoting development in an open and democratic way, enabling the participation of wide segments of society. Those are the segments we perceive as ·communities·. Which brings us to another problem, that is: b) THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY As the Museum, Community is a concept. Under the title' community" we usually refer to several representations of human society - from the global community, which includes all of us inhabitants of planet Earth, to the nuclear family as community core. But we must not forget the so called' biological communities· , formed of parcels of living beings with common characteristics. The plants in a forest, the fish in a river or a colony of microbes are communities as well - and as such, pertain to the museum sphere. We museum professionals are also a community. As we see , there is an immense diversity of communities. Biological communities. Cultural communities. Social communities .... Shouldn't the planets or our galaxy be also considered a community? Since we consider communities in their diversity, it becames clear that the relationship between Museum and Community is only possible when community and museum are previously identified. We have seen through the years the development of an opportunist discourse that has led to several mistakes such as: · the idea that Museum is a place called 'museum'; · the idea that Community is a group of people not identified with the hegemonic strata of a society - preferably belonging to minority groups or to countries undergoing development; · the idea that museums should work with the community (whatever that means) . ... To which community are we referring, when proposing museological action? Considering the different connections between Museum and Community, we should then identify: · what we believe a museum is; · what we believe a community is; · what museum and what community are we referring to , in each specific situation; · what is expected of the interaction between Museum and Community; · the several possible approaches to the matter; · the expected consequences of the interaction. Some options will be possible: 97
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Symposium MUSEUM AND COMMUNITY II J
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IV MUSEUM AND MUSEOLOGY IN NORWAY A
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SYMPOSIUM MUSEUM AND COMMUNITY, Par
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heritage as community appropriation
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and its plurality. Continuing on th
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Dr. Eurydice in the paper 'Museums
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For museums this would mean -among
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Given the fact that museums have an
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5. CuraLOr 37. no 4 (1994), p. 227.
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"pauimoine" de tous. n s'agit de re
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La troisieme communaute - qui aujou
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Heritage, Museum, Territory and Com
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to promote communication and educat
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''The museum must openly embrace th
Page 43 and 44: MUSEUMS and COMMUNITIES: a powerful
Page 45 and 46: have many of the great museums adop
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Page 62 and 63: Fuller, Nancy J 1992 The Museum as
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Page 67 and 68: to all. It appears that history can
Page 69: fees for services and admissions in
Page 72 and 73: "Les musees. interoretes du oatrimo
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Page 82 and 83: During the Nineteenth Century sanct
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Page 87 and 88: Paivi-Marjut Raippalinna REGIONAL A
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Page 93: ON MUSEUM, COMMUNITIES AND THE RELA
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Page 123: II MUSEUM AND COMMUNITY MUSEOLOGY A
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Page 135 and 136: ICOFOM Stavanger 1995 The 'Declarat
Page 137 and 138: Paule Doucet (1995) «Les nouvelles
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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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ISS 25 (1995).pdf - The International Council of Museums

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