Nikolena Kalaitzaki ,
Archaeologist ,
National and Kapodistrian
University of Athens
Following the definition of museums - adopted by the International Council of Museums during the 21st General Conference in Vienna ( Austria ) in 2007 - : « a museum is a non – profit permanent institution in the service of society and its development - open to the public - which acquires , conserves, researches , communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment – for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment » .
That definition represents – in the most appropriate way - the spirit , the philosophy and the purpose of a model of a new museum which developed dynamically in the era of the 21st century, in the era of postmodernism , multiculturalism and values' polytheism , leaving behind the old model of the modernist museum - which constituted however- the base for its birth. That new museum model is called '' post – museum'' .
The modernist museum – a creation of the 19th century - , was a European museum model which in contrast to earlier princely cabinets and royal collections , aimed to play a public role as an important part of the nation's , setting the mass education as a main purpose of its function . The modernist museum used the power of the display of the objects as a method of communication with the audience – usually in an architectural environment of classical form or more unusual and imaginative in recent years – such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao .
But even if the display of the objects is a method of mass communication of the modernist museum's policy, it is also clear that this is a method that undoubtedly sets limits between the objects' and the audience's communication – since the voice of the visitor cannot be heard - . As a result , the whole object – based concept as the basic museum policy is problematic as it deprives from the visitor the opportunity to have a more active, basic role of the museum's experience .
During the middle years of the 20th century , we can clearly notice that the modernist museum began to take on a new form . A huge number of external factors caused remarkable changes and proposed the necessity for ' reformation ' to the museum community's policy .
Funding, the cost of preserving the collections and hiring qualified staff and the possession of rare , precious objects into individuals , constituted serious causes responsible for the reduction of the mobility of the audience visiting museums .
Additionally , some improved printing techniques and the creation of a more mobile society there have also been troublesome .
In order to turn this situation around , the museums' administrators planned and applied new ideas, new projects of management and promotion of the cultural material – using as a base visitor' s evaluation- . Exhibitions became more gender, racial , ethnic and idea inclusive and museums came to realize that they had a viable product to share with the audience : '' education ''. The establishing of new museums which make the new idea real , began dynamically in the 1960's with the ' eco – museums ' , the ' site museums ' and the ' non – collection galleries ' .
The ' eco – museum' , having as foundation the community' s collective memory , by promoting physical sites , traditional ceremonies and social relationships , goes beyond the traditional museum' s method of collecting objects – which was simply just collecting objects – and offers to the communities the opportunity to learn about themselves . An eco – museum , recognizes the importance of culture in the development of self – identity and its role in helping a community adjust to rapid change . Hence , it becomes a tool for the economic , social and political growth and development of the society from which it originates . As Jeorge Brown Goode wrote « the people's museum should be more than a house full of specimens in glass cases . It should be a house full of ideas arranged with the strictest attention to system » .
The change from the traditional modernist museum to the post – modern museum model during all the years that followed until today , developed normally , as a result of the museum' s nature itself . Because the museum is a living organism that matches the past with the contemporary present and the future - having as a dream - the eternal and the indelible...
The post – modern museum leaving behind the object – based philosophy of its parent , transforms itself to an experienced – based center , realizing the importance of the visitor himself · setting visitor in the center of its social mission. . " The good of the visitor " became the key – phrase of the post – modern museum's policy . Hence , the post – modern museum , emphasizing the user , develops ' exhibitions ' and ' educational programs ' according to its interests . Education , information , pleasure and excitement , became the main factors of its function . But , in contrast to the theoritical pedagogy of the modern museum, ' learning ' in a post – modern museum is ' experiental ' and accounts for different learning styles . The organization of exhibitions in a post – modern museum – made by professional designers – includes a variety of tools and techniques : objects , photography , media and graphics . Discussions , workshops , performances , dances , songs and meals , render the museum a multicultural space of many voices and many perspectives .
Technology plays a major , basic role of the post – museum's policy – since via multimedia ( computer , videodiscs , touch screens ) - come in action interesting , interactive experiences which not only improve the level of the exhibitions's management – since they activate motives for evolution and healthy rivalry as a base for evolution among museums' administrators – but they also create the ideal atmosphere for ' learning ' , for leaving some deeper emotional and intellectual personal experiences. Now , « the Interpreter and the Object, collapse into one entity and the Object is subordinated by the Interpretation » .
The National Museums of Liverpool , used two generic videodiscs in the Activity Room at the National History Resource Centre . British Garden Birds – published by the BBC - , provides moving film footage of birds linked to the mounted specimens on display in the room . Each visitor has the chance to select a bird and enjoy after that a short film clip made by David Attenborough . Thus , come in action a successful mixture of creativity , fantasy and spirituality in an environment that encourages , motivates , inspires mind to think , to feel , to play – familiarizing it with new perspectives - .
The same approach has been adopted in many museums – such as in England Museum – where the interactive video disc at the Bank of the museum , formated as a game , tests visitors' knowledge relatively to the work of the Bank of England – giving them a general idea about the way of the manufacturing of money - .
Another really playful , over – imaginative and inventive application was created at the Design Museum where visitors can design a toothbrush .
The Imperial War Museum uses a rich combination of moving film footage , videodiscs , photographs and sound archives in order to trasmit to the visitor the feeling that had accompanied the various campaigns of the Second World War . There have been also placed images of their art collection on videodiscs providing to visitors the opportunity to view items which are out of display .
Cleopatra Computer at the Art Institute of Chicago , was an especially successful program developed to provide in a pleasant – even funny – way some extra information of its ancient Greek and Roman art collection and planned after research according to its audience's preference . Visitors could zoom in and out , rotate and animate pictures and mainly could investigate , pose questions and find the answer in a didactic and also entertaining digitally familiar environment .
One of the most characteristic cases of an enterprising art museum , is the Museum of Modern Art ( MOMA ) of San Francisco – which is often identified as the most influental museum of modern art in the world . The museum which established in 1929 , closed in the early 2000s and reopened two years later – in a post – modern building redesigned by the Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi along with Kohn Pedersen Fox .
The building is of a controversial architecture of a more organic structure – instead of the traditional succession of rooms and hallways of the museums of the past . The space is divided into movie theaters , libraries , archives , concert halls , CD ROM installations , several galleries for permanent collections or for temporary exhibitions … The social needs for consumption fulfill restaurants , cafes and stores which are also places where visitors can communicate and relax – in a multicultural positive environment .
Pompidou Centre in Paris – built in 1977 – also constitutes a complex object as it is separated into several distinct departments which offer different services to the audience such as the Public Information Library , the National Museum of Modern Art and the Centre for Industrial Creation .The Centre for Industrial Creation , having under control a huge number of activities that take place in : cinemateque , meetings , theaters , forums , cafes , publications , constitutes a paradigm of a post – modern museum .
Le Musee de la Villette at Paris, the new Benaki Museum of Athens and the National Canadian Museum of Civilization – which is a major research institution - , are also contemporary museums of the post – modern spirit .
Hence , the museum ' legislator ' firstly , became ' interpreter ' and now is a 'performer ' who competes for its audience under a legible and marketable system of display and upsurge in memorialization . In a post – modern museum , visitor is more ' a producer ' rather than ' a costumer ' - as psychologist Darien Leader successfully stated - . Using as an example Duchamp's deliberately unfinished << The Large Glass >> describes the ' aesthetics of nonfinito ' when the « viewers' job is to complete the picture with their own act or creative imagination...bringing their own creative capacities to bear on it...the work is unfinished because of the creative act of the viewer » . That' s exactly the post – modern museum's nature .
References :
• Beverly Serrell , 1996 , Exhibit Labels : An Interpretive Approach , AltaMira Press
• Eilean Hooper – Greenhill , 1999 , Museum , Media , Message , Taylor and Francis
• Eilean Hooper – Greenhill , 2000 , Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture , Routledge
• Gary Edson , 1996 , The Handbook for Museums , Routledge
• Robert Lumley, 2004 , The Museum Time Machine : Putting Cultures on Display , Taylor & Francis
• Suzanne Keene , 2011 , DIGITAL COLLECTIONS MUSEUM AND THE INFORMATION AGE , Routledge
• Timothy Ambrose – Crispin Paine , 2012 , Museum Basics , Routledge
• Valerie Casey , The Museum Effect , ICHIM 03 Conference in Paris , Louvre
6 / 10 / 2013
Isthmia Prime Hotel (Conference Room) ,
Corinth , Greece
© 2013, Νikolena Kalaitzaki
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