We heard from many of you that you’d
love to see and to share pictures from the conference. To facilitate that, we’ve
set up a Flickr group, Museums and Politics Conference 2014. So please share,
tag, comment and enjoy!
Author: Linda Norris
Press Review
We present here a roundup
of press coverage for the conference itself (not the social media project, which reached
worldwide). We’ve done our best to round up links, but if you’ve come
across additional press, please add in the comments. Continue reading
Industrial History in the Urals
One afternoon session in Yekaterinburg was
devoted to ways of interpreting and promoting industrial history, particularly of this
region. This is a rich aspect of this region and presenters, all from Russia, shared
both their innovative approaches and the challenges they face.
Contemporary art as a tool of regeneration of industrial areas was discussed by Alisa Prudnikova, Director, NCCA-Ural. Industrial biennale in Yekaterinburg. Biennales are are art world staple, attracting great attention, but this Biennale takes a unique approach, where artists from around the world focus on industry; using materials and processes as inspiration. Ivan Grinko, Head of Museum, Design Laboratory, Heritage Institute also used design and creativity as a framework for his presentation, which explored the ways in which museums use maps, both on the territory and in the museum itself.
Museums and “Hard History”
What’s “hard history?” It’s not difficult to find hard to talk about subjects in any of the three countries who sponsored the conference and this session on Thursday, September 11 included talks from three nations, plus more, in a session at the Museum of Religion. But the three primary foci were on the legacies of World War II; of the Soviet times; and of colonialism.
A post about all the speakers in detail would be far too long, so I’ll attempt to explore just a few points that interested and intrigued me within these themes. Dr. Franziske Nentwig of the Berlin City Museum talked about the relationships of the post-war museums in that city. The German-Russian Museum in Berlin was initially founded as a museum of German-Russian relations solely for the Russian military–originally local people did not have any access so now the challenge is to make it appealing for both locals and visitors. Its founding principles still mean that the war is presented from a Soviet military perspective, making it in the only place in history to have a Russian history of that war; while the Allierton Museum, the Allied Museum) tells the story of post-war Berlin from the perspective of the three Western allies. Having such a richness of museums means that the Berlin City Museum can be, as Neuwig said, “a key to the door of the city history.”
Музеи и развитие общества
Irina Chuvilova submitted this report
on Section 2 of the very full day of September 11, on Museums and the development of
society.
Работа началась с осмотра экспозиций Государственого музея политической истории России, что явилось хорошим импульсом для начала дискуссии.Часть экспозиций обновлена и производит достойное впечатление и концептуальным подходом, и дизайном. Конечно, архитектурные и функциональные особенности зданий музея создают особые трудностидля размещения музейных памятников такой тематики в специфических пространствах дворцового характера. Тем более значимым представляется то, что удалось сделать на сегодняшний день нашим коллегам.
We Share the Same Problems
In the sessions of the afternoon of
September 10, we discovered how many issues we share transnationally; how similar
problems of our museums’ relationship to politics is both complex and important.
Hermann Schäfer of Germany began by taking on the task first of thinking about the conference title itself; saying that Germans would avoid using the word power in this context; but in Russian it has been.
He then proceeded to a fascinating explication of how the interests of museums and of politicians converge and diverge. Museums are future oriented with our work of collection, preservation and education; while politicians are present-oriented, concerned with the next elections.
Getting ready for the conference
On Monday, the day before the full
start of the conference, the three national ICOM chairmen were joined by Hans-Martin
Hinz, President of ICOM and Mikhail Piotrovski of the Hermitage for a press conference
in the ornate Hermitage Theater. They shared the start of the conference–a goal
to collaborate between Russia and Germany, now three years ago, and the enthusiastic
joining of the United States to become a third partner. The country chairmen, Michael
Henkel of Germany, Vladimir Tolstoy of Russia and Kathy Dwyer Southern of the United
States all shared their perspective on the importance both the topic and such person to
person exchanges, because, as Southern said, “we all deal in politics every day,”
from the internal to the global.
Weekly News Roundup: August 25, 2014
New York City’s police commissioner isn’t a fan of a graffiti exhibit.
Local history museum in Donetsk, Ukraine, badly damaged by bombs in current conflict.
Museum and Opera: Museum as a part of a production in Salzburg.
Drones used to protect archaeological sites in Peru.
Celebrity museums: A new museum on a German actor of a popular TV-serial and new Johnny Cash museum in his boyhood home.
Weekly News Roundup: August 19, 2014
Is there a drone in your museum’s
future? Tate Gallery: Robots as guides through the museum.
Kyiv’s New Year’s tree, a symbol of the Maidan protests, is taken down and will become a part of museum collection.
Is art and culture (and museums) too middle class?
Germany’s fascination with the American West remains strong despite controversies.
Weekly News Roundup: August 11, 2014
Check out this website on Cold War era tourist
sites in Europe and the United States, ranging from the UK’s Radar Museum to
the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas.
Despite being censured by professional organizations and its art selling far below estimate, the Delaware Art Museum continues down its path of deaccessioning to raise operating funds.
The Moving Museum takes up residence in Istanbul.
The battle for Roma history in the Czech Republic.