{"title":"Managing an Exhibition Project in the Midst of the Covid-19-Pandemic: A Case Study in Berlin, Germany","authors":"R. Hoffmann, Christopher Hölzel, H. Henning","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.2016283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016283","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper focuses on the experience of managing an exhibition project, undertaken by young professionals from the Museums of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin during the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition Status. Power. Movement was on display at the Berlin Cultural Forum (Kulturforum) from September 2020 to February 2021. In this interdisciplinary project, 13 co-curators selected 130 objects from 14 collections and asked how status is represented in movement. This article provides insight into how we experienced and dealt with the creation of our first exhibition amid an unprecedented crisis. Our project was confronted with the reality of the unfolding pandemic and empty museums. Key questions and concerns arose, such as: can the exhibition be opened? How to manage the planning uncertainty and, furthermore, how to deal with this ubiquitous event in our exhibition? As a result of the considerable restrictions, communication processes within the team and collaboration with external partners became extremely difficult. Our contribution adds a critical perspective from young professionals to the now-familiar discourse around museum work during a pandemic. In it, we share solutions we developed during the crisis, such as a Covid-19 themed intervention and the development of an online format for the exhibition. We additionally aim to show how we adapted our communication processes amid the crisis, working within a large cultural institution with multiple structural layers. Drawing on our experiences, we discuss issues of museum risk and crisis management. We also underline the need for a new critical discourse that would enable professionals to share experiences, responses and solutions to the ongoing pandemic and future crisis situations.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"84 - 97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45927070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Raul Dal Santo, Nádia Helena Oliveira Almeida, R. Riva
{"title":"Distant but United: A Cooperation Charter between Ecomuseums of Italy and Brazil","authors":"Raul Dal Santo, Nádia Helena Oliveira Almeida, R. Riva","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.2016278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016278","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In 2020, Brazil and Italy were among the countries most adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation highlighted latent structural crises at social and economic levels and prompted widespread concern for the future. Operating in this context, ecomuseums and community museums continued their mission of caring for and interpreting living cultural heritage, empowering communities to sustainably manage heritage and thus contributing to integral local development and the strengthening of a shared social consciousness and identity. Measures aiming at the containment of the pandemic led ecomuseums to explore new methods of public engagement, inspiration and support in a bid to meet local community needs. The Brazilian Association of Ecomuseums and Community Museums (ABREMC) and the Italian Ecomuseums Network (EMI) discussed and approved the cooperation charter ‘Distant but United. The Ecomuseums and Community Museums of Italy and Brazil’ over the course of several meetings, reflecting on the responsibilities of museums in a period of crisis. The charter identifies the 10-year commitments of the signatories for the implementation of an articulated cooperation programme, as well as defining an annual calendar of promoted actions. It lays out agreed themes and strategic lines (Exchanging, Welcoming, Publishing, Training, Inviting, Organising, Communicating, and Monitoring), as well as implementation times and actions to be carried out with the involvement of actors from both sides. The charter stresses the role of ecomuseums and community museums in the promotion of both museum practices and a transition towards the creation of resilient communities, supporting them towards the goal of renewing themselves and facing contemporary crises in effective and sustainable ways. This article presents the main themes and objectives of the charter and proposes a theoretical model for understanding how bolstering communities and their ‘social imaginaries’ is crucial to fostering the integral development of communities and social innovation. It first discusses the changes necessary to overcome contemporary crises by drawing on some important theoretical models; before turning to examine how ecomuseums of Italy and Brazil responded to limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It next presents a few ecomuseum practices developed during the pandemic, illustrates the methodology and contents of the charter and, finally, presents the main results, limitations and development prospects of the cooperation experience.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"54 - 67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45336869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Working to Create Value: Spanish Museums and the Challenge of Connecting with Generation Z","authors":"A. Diez","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.2016276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016276","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily emptied museums and drawn attention to an aspect of these cultural institutions that is often seen as secondary and subordinate to their physical presence: the digital dimension. Having been forced to close their doors, museums have sought to boost their online activity through a range of different initiatives. The most notable actions undertaken in terms of frequency are related to social networks. This situation obliges us to ask the question: have museums succeeded in achieving a meaningful online presence in their communities via social media? In terms of marketing and digital communication, content is understood as meaningful when it provides value to the audience. This value arises from the alignment of the objectives of the institution with those of the target audience; this makes it essential to understand the profile of users who comprise the communities of different digital channels. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the profiles of museum visitors and those of social media users, this paper addresses the challenges of connecting on social media with the generation known as Generation Z (a population currently between 14 and 24 years of age). To do so, it attempts to define this generation and determine how it uses social media, taking advantage of the work already carried out by Spanish museums on their social media profiles during lockdown to establish how museum institutions can make themselves more relevant to this demographic segment in Spain and beyond.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"44 - 53"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42140753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Storage Debt: Applying the Theoretical Model of ʻTechnical Debt' to the Management of Museum Storage","authors":"Ana Tomás-Hernandez","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.1956728","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956728","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Numerous recent studies have identified critical issues with a high percentage of museum storage facilities around the world. The problems detected in such studies are usually solved with ambitious renovation projects, or through the reorganisation of existing resources. This article, drawing from the example of five Spain-based museums, explores the new concept of ‘Storage Debt’. Storage debt refers to the cumulative processes and factors that generate the critical conditions mentioned above, which are quite costly to reverse and which adversely affect museums’ activities at multiple levels. The storage debt concept arose from the theoretical framework of ‘technical debt’ (coined in the software development industry) and applied to the museum field. The former concept refers to actions and decisions that solve a need in the short term, but that in the future generate contexts that make core activities challenging and whose resolution involves extra efforts and resources. This article brings the theory of debt to the museum discipline by defining the concept, characterising the debt that accumulates in the context of museum storage and identifying strategies that museums can apply to solve the problem within the context of their collections. Making the accumulation of storage debt visible raises awareness around the additional cost that it implies for museum operations, but also around its potential effects on the value of collections. In this sense, the concept can facilitate communication with museum partners unfamiliar with the more technical aspects of museum management, such as patrons or sponsors. Likewise, when paired with risk analysis, the concept of storage debt makes it possible to shift away from a crisis model toward a predictive model: one that is more institutionally viable and sustainable.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"10 - 21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956728","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41329171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Storage as a System: Collection Management at the Museo Nacional del Prado","authors":"Patricia Lucas Murillo de la Cueva, I. B. Cabrera","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.1956732","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956732","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In the information age, storage has become an essential element of managing museum collections. The complexity and variety of functions now encompassed by storage have moved it beyond its traditional conception to be regarded as a system of interconnected and organised elements that work as a whole and fosters knowledge through complex flows of information . Having recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, with three million visitors a year and an online audience that exceeds 10 million, the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain, has accumulated extensive experience in the management of its collections. Highlighting the importance of information generated by storage systems is key to our proposal for more efficient museum management. It also allows us to address the continuous challenges of a changing society, which has emerging values related to participation, sustainability and new forms of accessing heritage.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"32 - 41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956732","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48153217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Managing Museum Storage in Rogaland (Norway)","authors":"Belén Navazo Hourcade","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.1956771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956771","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The use of shared storage warehouses in Norwegian museums has emerged in recent years as an effective way of saving resources and ensuring that cultural assets are adequately protected. This article and case study describes the work carried out in one of the biggest shared storage warehouses in Norway, located in a former munitions store near Stavanger, in the Rogaland region. It describes the efforts of the Samlingsteam Rogaland (Rogaland Collections Team), a travelling support unit assisting museums with cataloguing, digitisation, storage and conservation, created expressly to support museums and establish best practices in collection and storage management. Both offer innovative examples of the efficient use of resources dedicated to collection management and storage, which have been used as models to set up similar working systems in other areas of Norway. The existing literature is sparse both in reference to the storage warehouse and its transformation process as described in this case study, and to the Samlingsteam. The data used to assemble this case study was drawn from the professionals directly involved in the project, and their first-hand experiences as part of the working team. As such, this article represents a unique way of discovering the project and its completed work.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"194 - 203"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956771","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41720042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Antomarchi, Marjolijn Debulpaep, Gaël De guichen, Simon Lambert, I. Verger
{"title":"RE-ORG: Unlocking the Potential of Museum Collections in Storage","authors":"C. Antomarchi, Marjolijn Debulpaep, Gaël De guichen, Simon Lambert, I. Verger","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.1956772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956772","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article offers an overview of 10 years of institutional and human efforts led by ICCROM (the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) and other international and national organisations to address the state of paralysis of collections in storage, and restore their potential as a tool for education and social cohesion. Launched in 2011 and tested in many different contexts and across all global regions, the RE-ORG method provides a solid, feasible and adaptable solution to the many museums struggling with overcrowded collections in storage and the impossibility of using and enabling access to them. The article presents the situation of museum storage areas as unveiled by an international survey in 2011, and analyses the development of the RE-ORG Method and its application (145 museums and 34 countries), training strategies, lessons learned and future challenges. The reflections and experience of ICCROM’s partners and stakeholders in this project in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, India, Nigeria and Portugal illustrate the unique and innovative aspect of the project and the results obtained in terms of preventive conservation, collection management, and sustainability. In conclusion, the article offers suggestions for a strategic and global application of RE-ORG commensurate with museums’ needs and with the inherent potential of the billions of objects in storage.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"206 - 217"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956772","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45611656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Papadopoulou, A. Bouzaki, Kyriaki Koupadi, Elisavet Mantzana, M. Pavlou, Maria Tsichli, Sophia Papida
{"title":"Re-excavating’ Findings in Storage: The Refurbishment of the Old Acropolis Museum in Athens","authors":"M. Papadopoulou, A. Bouzaki, Kyriaki Koupadi, Elisavet Mantzana, M. Pavlou, Maria Tsichli, Sophia Papida","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.1956733","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956733","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Since 1874, the Old Acropolis Museum (OAM) in Athens has housed archaeological materials from the Acropolis Hill and its Slopes, dating from Antiquity to the modern period. This case study explores the undertaking, over the past three years, of the OAM Reopening Project by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens (EACA), attached to the Greek Ministry of Culture. The repackaging, re-documentation, and study of stored objects, as well as the study of archives and relevant literature, unearthed both the history of OAM and the management of Acropolis antiquities. The stored archaeological material represents a unique and fascinating case study relevant to a diverse range of important topics for the cultural heritage sector, such as socio-political contexts, science, technology and available resources, as well as biographical insights into important players in the history of the museum. ‘Re-excavating’ stored archaeological material might represent an important strategy in the evolution of preventive conservation, and is relevant to the emerging history of archaeological storage practices.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"42 - 51"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956733","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46946730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A New Museum Typology?","authors":"S. Kisters","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.1956738","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956738","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The focus of this paper and case study is the public art Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, which will open in 2021 in Rotterdam. In our marketing campaign we present the Depot as the first fully public art storage facility in the world; but in fact, the development of opening up collections to the general public has been a focus for many institutions in the last decade. The concept of the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen relates to different strategies for making the collection accessible, from visible storage and visitable storage, to the older concept of collection study rooms and the presentations we intend to make in the two public galleries within the depot, on the topics of collection care and collecting. With the opening of this building, we aim to reach a wider audience than the one that normally visits the museum, whom we will address as fellow collectors and owners of this public collection. While there are notable tensions between the public function of the building and the museum’s primary vocation to preserve the collection for future generations, this new space also has the advantage of placing ignored artworks in the spotlight. The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen represents a new typology in the museum field, in particular in the visual arts; however, there are more initiatives on the way, including the V&A East in London or the Centre Pompidou’s new collection centre in the suburbs of Paris. A collection centre open to the public is not a feasible model for every museum, particularly because it is expensive and makes strong demands on organisations. In the future, we will face questions around unlimited collection growth and de-accessioning. Nonetheless, the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen represents an effort to keep the depository active and more accessible.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"74 - 85"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956738","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45526774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How to Reorganise a Collection While Moving It: Implementing Computer Tools for Relocation Planning and Virtual Reorganisation","authors":"Stephan Freivogel, L. Monot, C. Durand","doi":"10.1080/13500775.2021.1956734","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956734","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Relocating museum collections involves many challenges, but also provides a unique opportunity for extensive reorganisation, which further complicate the task. Common approaches to both moving and reorganising tend to be empirical, linear and coarse-grained. This limits their usefulness for planning long-term and detailed facility moves. However, issues ranging from space estimation, storage design, reorganisation and relocation all point to a unified solution. Our proposal is a custom computer tool that aims to describe, analyse and virtually manipulate an entire storage setting. With its current implementation in Excel Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), staff at the Ethnographic Museum of Geneva (MEG) planned the exact physical integration of the collection (75,000 objects) into the new storage furniture, months ahead of the move, adapting to new constraints along the way, and eventually reorganising the collection while moving it. A simple visualisation interface presents the data in a relatable way, while analysis functions help with decisions. Multiple storage scenarios were explored to fit pre-installed furniture. Storage bays could be prepared in advance, optimising move time and budget. Data collected before and after the move shows that, in some areas, virtual reorganisation provided up to half of the final available usable storage height (+43.2 m). Moreover, small scattered excess spaces could be regrouped and allocated where required. Useful storage space acquired through new furniture was strategically placed. Although it evolved in a specific context, the generality of our solution makes it relevant and transposable to other institutions and other purposes, and points to a more integrated view of collection management.","PeriodicalId":45701,"journal":{"name":"MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL","volume":"73 1","pages":"52 - 63"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/13500775.2021.1956734","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47428252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}