Konferencja Muzeum w świetle reflektorów. Wystawa – naukowe laboratorium czy artystyczna kreacja, 12–14 października 2011. Próba refleksji

Abstract

CONFERENCE MUSEUM IN THE SPOTLIGHT. EXHIBITION – A SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY, OR AN ARTISTIC CREATION, 12–14 OCTOBER 2011. AN ATTEMPT AT REFLECTION

From 12 to 14 October 2011, the Historical Museum  of the City of Kraków hosted an international conference  titled Museum in the Spotlight. Exhibition – a Scientific  Laboratory, or an Artistic Creation. The subject of this exhibition  was, in the broadest sense, the museology of art  and theatre. The issues discussed during that academic  meeting included the specificity of art and theatre museum  collections, the influence of new phenomena and forms of  exhibition presentation on the structure and the ways of  constructing exhibitions, the management of cultural institutions,  and educational offer. Certain works that should  help museums find their place on the constantly growing  market of culture and entertainment are already underway.  However, success in this field requires the introduction of  changes which will enable the reclassification of museum resources  and collections. It is essential to redefine the notion  of a museum exhibit. This is necessitated by the outpouring  of novel and avant-garde currents in Polish theatre. Contemporary  artistic and theatrical developments that call for  archivization force museum staff to search for new methods  of collecting theatre memorabilia and direct them towards  innovative multimedia solutions. Exhibitions as such also  undergo changes. Those exhibitions that incorporate theatre  techniques combined with the new media more and  more often attempt to join the current of contemporary art  events. The creation of the exhibition as a separate reality is  supposed to facilitate and optimize the process of depicting  the phenomenon of stagecraft. All of the elements used in  the exhibition, combined with the carefully selected forms  of interaction, should make an impact on the viewer and  on his/her emotions. The new trend in which the audience  is invited to become involved in the museum’s projects is  called participation. Its goal is to create a platform of communication  between the visitor and the museum. This new  form of contact gives the audience an opportunity to propose  and create their own projects and, more importantly,  to incorporate them into the exhibition. Participation is also  strongly connected with research and artistic programmes  carried out by museums, since education is definitely one  of the essential spheres of their activity. The part of the conference  dedicated to educational activity has proved that  museum staff who are responsible for education are gradually  opening up to using the experience of other institutions  and create all kinds of workshops in cooperation with  scientists, academics and artists. While actively attending  the classes and events prepared for them, the participants  acquire knowledge from a given field in an unusual way.  Interestingly, the diversity of exhibition and educational  activities offered by museums helps to build their positive  image as the places that actually set new trends in the arts.  The image of museums that has emerged after the threeday  conference shows that in order to function well in the  modern cultural market, these institutions need to become  friendlier to contemporary audiences.