European Museums in the 21st Century: Setting the Framework
Vol. 3
Books
European Museums
in the 21st Century:
Setting the Framework
Volume 3
edited by Luca Basso Peressut, Francesca Lanz
and Gennaro Postiglione
Books
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — v
iv — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
mela book 07 – European Museums in the 21st Century: Setting the framework (vol. 3)
Published by Politecnico di Milano
© February 2013, The Authors
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isbn 9788895194332
European Museums in the 21st Century:
Setting the Framework
æ volume 1
1 – National History Museums
Museums as Agonistic Spaces
Clelia Pozzi
he Museum and Radical Democracy
Chantal Moufe
This Book ensued from the Research Project MeLa - European Museums in an age of migrations, funded within the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (SSH-20105.2.2) under Grant Agreement n° 266757.
Project Officer: Louisa Anastopoulou
2 – Natural History Museums
Museums of Natural History in Europe
Fabienne Galangau-Quérat, Sarah Gamaire and Laurence Isnard
Museums in France
Florence Baläen
Escape from Bureaucracy
Giovanni Pinna
mela consortium
Politecnico di Milano (Coordinator), Italy – Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design,
Denmark – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche ITIA, Italy – University of Glasgow, United
Kingdom – Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain – Muséum National d’Histoire
Naturelle, France – The Royal College of Art, United Kingdom – Newcastle University,
United Kingdom – Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’ Orientale,” Italy.
www.mela-project.eu
Constructing a Highly Citizen-Oriented Relection
Interview with Judith Pargamin
3 – Ethnographic and World Culture(s) Museums
Ethnographic Museums: Towards a New Paradigm?
Camilla Pagani
english editing
Ilaria Parini, Tim Quinn, John Ekington
Exhibition-ism
Maria Camilla de Palma
graphic design
Zetalab — Milano
Cultural Diference and Cultural Diversity
Nélia Dias
layout
Francisco J. Rodríguez Pérez and Cristina F. Colombo
National Museum of World Culture
Interview with Klas Grinell
legal notice The views expressed here are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
[S]oggetti Migranti
Interview with Vito Lattanzi
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — vii
vi — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
æ volume 2
Acknowledgments
4 – Migration Museums
Migration Museums in Europe
Anna Chiara Cimoli
Museum and Nation
Joachim Baur
he German Emigration Center
Simone Eick
5 – City Museums
City Museums in Transition: a European Overview
Francesca Lanz
City Museums: Do We Have a Role in Shaping the Global Community?
Jack Lohman
International Networking Projects and the Web
Interview with Marie-Paule Jungblut
æ volume 3
6 – Local Museums
Local Museums as Strategic Cultural Forces for 21st Century Society
Elena Montanari
Local Museums of the Future
Hugues de Varine
7 – War Museums
Narratives of Conlicts: Architecture and Representation in European War Museums
Luca Basso Peressut
8 – Temporary Exhibitions
Forms of Collecting / Forms of Hearing
Marco Borsotti
Exhibiting History
Paolo Rosa, Studio Azzurro
Interviews with: Anna Seiderer, Galitt Kenan and Marc-Olivier Gonseth
hese books grew out of the work of the Research Field 6 “Envisioning 21st Century Museums,” led by Luca Basso Peressut and Gennaro
Postiglione, Politecnico di Milano, within the European project MeLa–
European Museums in an age of migrations. MeLa is a four-year interdisciplinary research project funded in 2011 by the European Commission under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities Programme
(Seventh Framework Programme). Adopting the notion of “migration”
as a paradigm of the contemporary global and multicultural world, MeLa
relects on the role of museums and heritage in the twenty-irst century.
he main objective of the MeLa project is to deine innovative museum
practices that relect the challenges of the contemporary processes of globalization, mobility and migration. As people, objects, knowledge and
information move at increasingly high rates, a sharper awareness of an
inclusive European identity is needed to facilitate mutual understanding
and social cohesion. MeLa aims at empowering museums spaces, practices and policies with the task of building this identity. MeLa involves
nine European partners—universities, museums, research institutes and
a company—who will lead six Research Fields (RF) with a collaborative
approach, and this book is meant to report about the preliminary indings
of the irst research phases.
he editors would like to thank all the scholars who enriched this book
with their suggestions and contributions as well as all the museums and
their staf, curators, directors, designer and architects who kindly provided information, images and drawings supporting our investigations.
Amention goes to the English editors and translators, and to Elena
Montanari, Cristina Colombo and the staf from POLIMI, who essentially contributed with their help to the editing of this book.
viii — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — ix
he project’s Research Field 6, Envisioning 21st Century Museums—
which is developed in parallel to and in consultation with the other ive
project research areas—is aimed at pinpointing innovative models, practices and tools to further the role of European museums in promoting
new democratic and inclusive forms of citizenship, contributing to foster
dialogue between the diferent ethnic, religious, social and generational
groups which characterise our societies, and furthering awareness and
education among new citizens and young generations.
Introduction
European Museums: Mapping an Ongoing Change
he MeLa Project, funded in march 2011 by the European Commission
under the Seventh Framework Programme (Social Science and Humanities) is a four years long reserch project, which aims to investigate the
efects of contemporary phenomena such as globalisation, demographic
movement, transformation of migration patterns, increased mobility of
people, as well as of objects, ideas and knowledge on the form, organisation, mission and status of museums, and to explore the likely potential
role of museums in the construction of an inclusive European identity by
facilitating mutual understanding and social cohesion.
Adopting the notion of “migration” as a paradigm of the contemporary
global and multicultural world, MeLa relects on the role of museums
and heritage in Europe in the 21st century. he project aims to investigate how, and to what extent, changes in population lows and demography, the impact of new media, the consequent layerisation, complexiication and fragmentation of societies and identities and, perhaps more
importantly, the recognition of the central focus of such changes to the
human experience of life and society in modernity, do, could and should,
afect European museums. Focusing on the transformation of museums,
seen as cultural spaces and processes as well as physical places, the main
objective of the MeLa project is to identify innovative museum practices that relect the challenges posed by what the project deines as “an
age of migrations”—an age characterised by intensive migration lows;
accelerated mobility and luid circulation of information, cultures, ideas
and goods; the political, economic and cultural process of creation and
consolidation of the European Union, and the consequent high degree of
cultural encounters and cross-fertilisation.
While the investigation and the consideration of the role of contemporary museums and heritage has nowadays become a relevant component
of the European agenda and lively debate on the subject is gaining prominence, nurtured also by several research projects and academic studies,
museums themselves are questioning their raison d’être and roles, and
undergoing a process of deep transformation of their missions, strategies,
practices, spaces and exhibitions.
he present books collect the work of MeLa Research Field 6, Envisioning 21st Century Museums, and are meant to illustrate the preliminary results of its earlier investigations aimed at mapping and exploring such a
transformation process and its features, particularly in terms of architecture renewal, museography and exhibition settings. he irst phase of this
research ield thus focused on the possibility of mapping current trends in
contemporary European museums in order to set up an overall picture of
the state of the art of museum development in relation with the abovementioned issues and questions. Its activity has been aimed at deining a
general framework for the development of subsequent research phases,
that are the identiication of strategies and practices to support a renewed
and increased role for museums, and the revision of their contribution inbuilding a democratic inclusive European citizenship through practicable
and efective intervention by EU policy-makers and the institutions working in cultural and educational ields. his research has been investigating
diferent categories of museums, individuated as those which better represent the current status of European museums, including: national history
museums, ethnographic museums and museums of cultures, migration
museums, city museums, local museums, and war museums. Because of
the relevance of some museographical practices in the representation of
the evolution of contemporary museums, the research activity has been
extended to the transversal topic of temporary exhibition design.
Due to the large quantity of gathered materials, the publication has been
divided into three volumes, each of which is organised into sections curated by a MeLa reseracher including a piece by the MeLa researchers
involved in the investigation, contributions from scholars and museum
practitioners, interviews and the presentation of signiicant examples of
museums which are new, have been renewed or are under renovation.
Particular attention has been paid to their architectural and exhibition
design, which is intended as concretisation of innovative and sometimes
highly experimental ideas of what we deine as “new museography,” new
models of representation and communication of knowledge.
x — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
he irst volume opens with an overview on the evolution of contemporary national history museums, analysing how globalisation, migration
phenomena and their efects have challenged these places of stabilisation, where identities are formed and displayed, and their transformation fostered into inclusive arenas of multiculturalism. By considering
the representation of national identity as a political act in the sense outlined by political theorist Chantal Moufe—acknowledging the aim of
democracy in a pluralistic condition as the possibility of transforming
antagonism into agonism, and creating unity in a context of conlict and
diversity, as explained in the complementary text—Clelia Pozzi assumes
the so-called “agonistic pluralism model,” which Moufe had previously
coupled with art museums, and applies it to national history museums.
Her investigation of these institutions as “Agonistic Spaces” explores and
exempliies the museological, museographical and architectural translation of this model, illustrating the modalities in which migration and its
agonistic efects may enter the rationale of these museums, a category
which, more than others, seems to have been subjugated by coercive interpretations of states and regimes and, moreover, she redeines their role,
strategies and spaces from within.
he review of the role of museums as places for the presentation, stabilisation and construction of identities is also crucial in ethnographic
museums, which have been profoundly challenged by the mutation of
the contemporary political, social and cultural context. he beginning of
the 21st century represents a turning point for the role, objective and
strategies associated with these institutions, reacting to the evolution of
the colonial “west and the rest” model, as well as the efects of globalisation increasing cultural diversity and cosmopolitanism. Challenged by
the claim for identity recognition and, at the same time, the demand for
an egalitarian representation of cultural diferences, the transformation
of these institutions, aimed at displaying cultural pluralism, seems to aim
at erasing colonial roots by turning the ethnographic approach into an
aesthetic one, or by giving voice to minorities in the representation process. hrough the comparative analysis of the diferent progress of new,
re-established or refurbished institutions, Camilla Pagani and Mariella
Brenna investigate the reasons, the nature and the extent of the current
process of renovation, from institutional redeinitions to museological
approaches, and categorisation of museums of world culture(s). he interpretation is also bolstered by interviews with some museum workers
who are directly involved in this process. hese include Maria Camilla
de Palma, director of the Museo delle Culture del Mondo di Castello
D’Albertis in Genoa, Klas Grinell, curator at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, and Vito Lattanzi, Director of the Educational Department at the Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnograico “L. Pigorini,”
in Rome, and by the theory contribution of Nélia Dias, Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology at ISCTE-IUL, in Lisbon.
he evolving socio-cultural context also poses a challenge to museums of
natural history. hese museums have radically changed over recent decades in their relationship with what is at stake in society. Laurence Isnard,
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — xi
Sarah Gamaire and Fabienne Galangau illustrate the transformations of
these institutions, triggered by a powerful increase in the awareness of environmental issues along with their social consequences, the biodiversity
crisis, and the development of new interdisciplinary research approaches.
he piece explores how these phenomena have questioned the role of natural history museums and exhibitions as sources of knowledge and players in the conservation and validation of scientiic and natural heritage,
and investigates its evolution, beneiting from technological progress and
communication techniques, as well as from growing knowledge on visitor
expectations. By reporting the results of a recent survey developed by the
authors, the text sheds light on the dynamism of these institutions and
their commitment to renovation projects, especially those aimed at including diversity in cultural representations of nature. hese considerations are
supported by Giovanni Pinna, who questions the role of bureaucracy in
the evolution of natural history museums, and of Judith Pargamin, director of the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Lille, who ofers a highly citizen
oriented relection on the renovation project of the museum.
In the second volume, the investigation begins by focusing on more local facts, bonded and rooted in speciic communities, their stories and
identities. Anna Chiara Cimoli attempts to map out and analyse the rise
of a huge constellation of migration museums and temporary exhibitions
that focus on the relationship between migration and identity. By investigating museological strategies, museographic tools and exhibition design
trends that characterise this museum typology, the piece investigates the
speciicities, implications, diiculties and risks of displaying present and
past mobility. By investigating how museology and museography choices
can reveal, explain or, in some cases, gloss over the cultural policies and
the more general local, national or international political attitudes towards migration, the piece aims to verify whether these institutions act
as history museums, or whether they are evolving into vehicles to orient,
educate, and participate in political debate. his exploration is complemented by the positions of Joachim Baur, highlighting the ability of migration museums in building a master narrative as a choral epic and a socially unifying experience, promoting a sense of community, representing
the diversiication of cultural identities, and fostering societal integration.
he rise of migration lows discloses a profound transformation of the
current socio-cultural context which museums purport to represent, cooperating with other phenomena to enhance the role of certain locations,
especially cities. While updated demographic forecasts envision that in
the next 30 years the growth of the world’s population will mostly be
concentrated in urban areas, the new economic and cultural opportunities ofered by globalisation, the luid mobility occurring at the European
and world-wide level, together with the ongoing political, economic and
cultural processes of creation of the European Union, are deeply inluencing the development of contemporary cities posing both new changes
and challenges. It is widely believed that, within this complex scenario,
xii — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
glocity museums, as institutions historically responsible for representing
the city, recording its transformations and conserving its memory and
history, could and should, contribute to these transformations in several
ways. Francesca Lanz investigates how city museums are reacting to these
stimuli, questioning themselves, rethinking their mission, acquiring new
roles and experimenting with new tools and strategies. he piece aims
to outline this transformation process in order to interpret it, deine its
features, identify commonalities, challenges and possible criticalities, and
analyse the museographical aspects related to such changes. hese considerations are endorsed by the contribution of Jack Lohman who, as
former director of the Museum of London, argues for the role of city
museums as the endogenous development of communities in their diversity and shaping of the global community. he interview with historian
Marie-Paule Jungblut, former deputy-director of the Musée d’histoire
de la Ville de Luxembourg, adds relections on the crucial role of international networking projects and the web for the advanced role of
contemporary city museums, while diferent examples of a “new generation” of city museums presented by curators and directors, supports the
relections outlined in the opening piece.
City museums focus their mission on the past and present history of
the described urban environments. Nevertheless, a large number of other
museums drawing on the distinctive nature of speciic locations are likely
to play a signiicant role in the contemporary context.
he third volume focuses, on the one hand on very local museums and,
on the other hand, on war museums and temporary exhibitions in national museums and it somehow comes full circle in this publication. As
explained by Elena Montanari, the diferent institutions who aim to conserve, validate and “matrialise” the memory, heritage and culture related to
speciic places, are characterised by the employment of speciic tools and
strategies, which may turn out as particularly efective means to foster the
role of museums as inclusive social agents in this “age of migrations.” Allowing for their status, forms and means, and variation according to their
diverse backgrounds, management structures and conceptions of heritage
and identity across diferent countries and cultures, local museums seem
to share a common mission in preserving, interpreting, celebrating and
presenting the visible symbols produced by human history in a speciic
environment. In addition, they also perpetuate the origins and sources
of cultural heritage, opposing resistance to the efects of globalisation
and the increased migrations of people, objects and knowledge, which
include impoverishment and distortion of habitats and cultures, standardisation of space, homogenisation of material culture, dispersion of
collective memory, etc. as well as assert continuity and stability through
secure and rooted values, contrasting the disorientation of self-awareness
and enabling societies to deine and anchor their identity. he potential,
challenges and risks currently pertaining to these institutions are further
depicted through the words of Hugues De Varine, who outlines their
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — xiii
speciicities, raises pivotal questions and proposes paradigmatic models
and practices for their future.
Among the most signiicant national and local museums, the institutions
ensuing from war memories and places are becoming crucial elements in
heritage discourse. Luca Basso Peressut considers the many European
museums that focus on war and its various representations, identifying two distinct situations. On the one hand, there are still in existence
representative models typical of museums of weapons, of armies, and of
military history, which were set up between the second half of the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th century. On the other hand, he observes that in recent decades there has been an increase in museums that
are committed to emphasising how Europe needs to critically reinterpret
its past and the conlicts that have marked it, both in a tangible and an
intangible way, overcoming the “divided memories” that have dramatically marked the populations of the European continent as an essential
requirement to build the political and cultural identity of Europe. With
their tools and representation devices, museums dedicated to the history of European wars are committed to the raising of such awareness
through a “policy of memory” that, with no sacralisation or vulgarisation, must involve all cultural institutions, including those devoted to the
education of younger generations. hus, Basso Peressut suggests the role
of war museums is crucial in the process of building and consolidating a
shared European memory and identity. Moreover, war museums convey
the transnational value of those events that are part of a common history
that transcends any geographical border, contributing to a better understanding of the importance (and fragility) of peace and freedom, and of
the establishment of the European Union based on mutual respect and
on the rejection of war as a solution to controversies.
he inal chapter by Marco Borsotti analyses the role of temporary exhibitions in the dynamics of approaches of museums to innovative topics.
Temporary exhibitions can be identiied as signiicant strategies in the
promotion of new approaches to the portrayal of museums, as well as in
the search for public interest in media, and in the possibility of generating income, image and prestige. Today, temporary exhibitions are also
visible manifestations of an educational, informative or celebratory discourse, which is characteristic of the rapid changeover in the communication rhetoric of contemporary society. Furthermore, temporary exhibition
models can also be expressed in dazzling experiences of cultural innovation, leaving permanent displays with the more accustomed role of keeping continuity with historical portrayals and settings. his can be considered a strategy for the renewal of the representational assets of museums.
he overall aim of this investigation was to detect how, and whether,
European museums in their diverse range of interests are reacting to the
topics and issues of our “age of migrations” and to the changing conditions of production and fruition of culture, memory and identity. As Appadurai already noted almost twenty years ago, it is increasingly evident
xiv — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
that globalisation is not the story of cultural homogenisation, and that
contemporaneity is more and more characterised by a high degree of
cultural encounters and cross-fertilisations. We are in agreement with
the philosopher Wolfgang Welsch that the traditional description of cultures based on the ideas of ‘inner homogenisation’ and ‘outer separation’
is nowadays both descriptively and, in terms of legislation, inappropriate.
Our analysis of new exhibition spaces and arrangements in museums of
national and local relevance (a distinction which currently proves to be
very blurred and perhaps to be overlooked), seems to suggest that the rise
and the inclusion of new stances and approaches toward the role of museums and the narratives it puts on display are starting to foster not only a
revision of the curatorial practices of museums and approaches but also of
those consolidated exhibition design practices and museum organisation
that relected a premise of objectivity and reality and a traditional conception of identity as unique, homogeneous, and geo-politically deined,
that is today brought into question by the shifting nature of contemporary cultural conditions in our contemporary “age of migrations.”
LBP, FL, GP
Volume 3
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — 531
530 — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
Table of Contents, Volume 3
765
7bO–he 7 Billion Others Project
Interview with Galitt Kenan
771
“Fetish Modernity,” Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium
Interview with Anna Seiderer
777
MEN-Musée d’Ethnographie de Neuchâtel
Interview with Marc-Olivier Gonseth
viii
Introduction
Case Studies
“7 billion Others Project”
533
Local Museums
“Fare gli Italiani 1861–2011”
535
Local Museums as Strategic Cultural Forces for 21st Century Society
“Fetish Modernity”
Elena Montanari
“Helvetia Park”
Local Museums of the Future
“Destination X”
Hugues de Varine
“Figures de l’artiice”
575
Case Studies
Écomusée du Val de Bièvre, Fresnes, France
Musée Dauphinois, Grenoble, France
Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino, Trento, Italy
Museo Storico della Resistenza di Sant’Anna di Stazzema, Italy
Knowledge Centre of the Castle of Sagunto, Spain
637
War Museums
639
Narratives of Conlicts: Architecture and Representation in European War Museums
Luca Basso Peressut
739
Temporary Exhibitions
741
Forms of Collecting/Forms of Hearing
Marco Borsotti
759
Exhibiting History
Studio Azzurro, Paolo Rosa
823
Index of Authors and Editors, Volume 3
590 — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — 591
Écomusée du Val de Bièvre
Val de Bievre Ecomuseum, Fresnes, Paris, France
he Écomusée du Val de Bièvre is an urban
ecomuseum, articulating its mission around the
main issues concerning the community inhabiting the southern area of the Île-de-France
region. By positioning such topics as urbanisation, work, immigration, the status of women,
citizenship and identity at the core of the notion
of heritage, the institution operates as an active
instrument at the service of the population, on
the one hand preserving collective memory, on
the other, triggering critical debates about social
problems, promoting awareness and a sense of
belonging, and fostering inter-cultural dialogue.
img. 6.31 — Écomusée du Val de Bièvre,
Fresnes, France. A glimpse on the exhibition
“Pieds Noirs ici et la tête ailleurs,” 2012.
Courtesy of Écomusée du Val de Bièvre.
he foundation of this ecomuseum participates
in the original evolutionary process airming
the deinition of this special institution at the
end of the 1970s, along with the enhancement
of the Nouvelle Muséologie theoretical framework. he idea of establishing an ecomuseum in
Fresnes originated in 1976, through the development of a public debate on the preservation of
an ancient farm, the Ferme de Cottinville, and
beneited from the enthusiastic contribution of
George Henri Rivière and Françoise Wasserman, who sustained the creation of a museum
operating as a centre for cultural promotion,
networking with existing institutions. hough
the restoration of the farm was completed in
1984, the research and display activities oicially started in 1979 through the construction
of active relationships with the community, the
development of new investigation and collection practices focused on the local material and
immaterial heritage, and the inauguration of
the irst exhibitions, that took place in the municipal polyvalent room. hese initiatives were
enhanced when the ecomuseum moved into the
Ferme de Cottinville. his ancient farm, which
from the 12th to 16th century was the residence
of a noble family, is part of Fresnes’ historical
architectural heritage. It is an articulated struc-
ture composed of diferent buildings surrounding a central courtyard, which evolved over
the centuries. Today, the Écomusée du Val de
Bièvre shares its location with a national school
of music, the Regional Conservatory, and the
local theatre, the Grange Dimière; this spatial
cohabitation is representative of the cooperative
approach which characterises the ecomuseum,
fostering and beneiting from the network with
several local cultural institutions.
Originally, the ecomuseum was dedicated to the
promotion and development of the municipal
territory, and was thereafter known as Écomusée de Fresnes. he focus of its theoretical and
operational activities was mainly directed towards the rural past of the area and its historical
heritage, illustrated through temporary events
and a permanent display, aimed at presenting
the development of the city and the Ferme de
Cottinville. At the end of the 1990s, the ecomuseum underwent several profound transformations. In 1999 the territory was included in
the Communauté d’Agglomération de Val de
Bièvre, thus in 2006 the institution re-deined
its relationship with the area at an inter-municipal level, extending its research and exhibition practices to an expanded cultural perimeter
(including seven municipalities), as relected in
the change of the name to Écomusée du Val de
Bièvre. his transformation also led to the removal of the original permanent display about
the history of Fresnes (2009) and the evolution
of this space for the presentation of exhibitions
arising from the participative workshops.
As highlighted by its recognised position within the main national networks—Fédération des
Écomusées et Musées de Société, Association
Muséologie et Experimentations Sociales, Les
Neufs de Transilie—over the last twenty years,
592 — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — 593
img. 6.32 — The courtyard
of the Ferme de Cottinville,
2006. Courtesy of
Écomusée du Val de Bièvre.
img. 6.35 — Educative
activities in the resource
centre, 2005. Courtesy of
Écomusée du Val de Bièvre.
img. 6.33 — Axonometric
sketch of the Ferme de
Cottinville, 1999. Courtesy
of Écomusée du Val de
Bièvre.
img. 6.36 — Set up of the
participative exhibition “Les
Jeunes s’exposent,” 2012.
Courtesy of Écomusée du
Val de Bièvre.
img. 6.34 — Information
panels at the entrance of
the Ferme de Cottinville,
2012. Courtesy of Écomusée
du Val de Bièvre.
img. 6.37 — Exhibition of
the outcomes of the Atelier
de l’Imaginaire “L’ordre des
choses,” 2012. Courtesy of
Écomusée du Val de Bièvre.
594 — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
the Écomusée du Val de Bièvre has conirmed
its role as a preeminent social agent, mirroring
contemporary urban society, relecting with the
local population on its own future, as well as
communicating through its collective memory.
æ an inclusive instrument serving the community
Within the typological ecomuseum context,
the Écomusée du Val de Bièvre stands out as a
unique institution, which has been strengthening its position as an active social and cultural
instrument at the service of the community,
through an innovative and ambitious programme of temporary exhibitions, participative
activities triggering an inclusive representation
of the local identity, and research and collecting
practices focused on contemporary heritage.
Its distinctive features irst draw on the particular nature of the ecomuseum institution,
conceived by George Henri Rivière as “a mirror in which the local population views itself
to discover its own image,” this is, a progressive
tool of knowledge and auto-analysis. A more
speciic characterisation of the institution ensues from its peculiar focus—as stated by Hugues de Varine, some ecomuseums centre their
mission on natural heritage, while some others
relate their programme to a socio-cultural mission—and context, bearing the reading of urban
and border areas as epicentres for the enhancement of particularly committed institutions,
actively reacting to the phenomena related to
this “age of migrations.” he suburban territory
of the Communauté d’Agglomération de Val
de Bièvre could be described as a geographical and cultural frontier lying in-between the
city and the country, on the one hand straining
towards metropolitan dynamics, on the other
clinging to its rural past and decentralised position. he Department, venue of the main prison
in France (Fresnes), is characterised by a lively
and diversiied economic structure and a heterogeneous demographic frame (including 12%
immigrants, according to INSEE).
In this socio-cultural context, the Écomusée
du Val de Bièvre presents itself as a tool aimed
at investigating, displaying and promoting the
topics and people which usually remain unmentioned and excluded. his task is enhanced
through the choice of the themes explored and
exhibited—the initiatives promoted have dealt,
for example, with the condition of workers
throughout the economic crisis, “Quand le travail ne paie plus” (2008), or the discrimination
against “people of nomadic origin,” “Insaisissables Voyageurs: Tsiganes” (2000). he institution was also one of the irst museums in France
to deal with the topic of immigration, showing “Rassemblance: un siècle d’immigration en
Île-de-France” (1993), or “Paroles de femmes
tunisiennes” (1998)—as well as through the
involvement of the community in all phases of
the ecomuseum’s work.
he participation of the population is encouraged and supported at diferent levels and via a
variety of strategies. For example, the adoption
of a programme based entirely on temporary
activities not only its the contemporary nature
of the socio-cultural heritage presented—which
is probably not possible to ix into a permanent
display because of its multifaceted and evolving character—but also feeds the interest of the
people through the constant renovation of the
activities proposed, stimulates the participation
of diferent types of public, reinforces the role
of the ecomuseum as a place for cultural encounter, and provides opportunities to enhance
the active cooperation of the members of the
community as actors of the museum.
he Écomusée du Val de Bièvre is the promoter of special participative activities, speciically conceived to foster the contribution of
the population to the cultural production. In
particular, these experiences include two types
of practice which produce short-term exhibitions displayed in their own dedicated space,
the original stable (previously occupied by the
permanent exhibition). Firstly, since 2006, the
institution has been organising annual “Ateliers de l’Imaginaire,” plastic art workshops
dedicated to the exploration of local heritage,
identity and citizenship through experimenta-
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — 595
tion in artistic practices. Each year, from October to June, four school classes and a group
of ifteen adults are guided by the ecomuseum
staf and a special educator, a plastic photographer, through an interactive programme aimed
at increasing acknowledgment, awareness and
sense of belonging to the territory through
the reading of a transversal theme, by analysing its features, documenting its elements, thus
producing a personal interpretation. he inal
outcomes are presented in two/three-month exhibitions—e.g. “Témoins de l’éphémère” (2007),
“Secondes peux secondes vues” (2010), “Lieux
d’écrits, lieux décrits” (2010), “Territoires, à la
limite” (2011) and “L’ordre des choses” (2012).
Secondly, the ecomuseum promotes participative exhibitions organised in cooperation with
local art centres, socio-cultural associations and
the Fresnes prison. he partnerships with these
institutions, operating as fundamental mediators fostering the relationship between the museum and the population, are crucial strategies
to involve a wider public and, above all, diferent
demographic categories (e.g. young people and
immigrants), who become the main contributors in the deinition of special activities focused
on the themes that concern the community or
a particular group, in the production of the narration, in the creation of the display, and therefore in the promotion of a critical debate about
contemporary issues—e.g. “Lieux et histoires de
vie” (2010–11), “Des jeunes s’exposent” (2012).
A further form of participation supported by the
Écomusée du Val de Bièvre concerns the collection strategies. Beside traditional conservation
activities—objects, photographs, cards, journals,
videos and interviews, organised into four speciic areas (Communication, Transmission, Life
and Social Actions, Architecture and Urbanism), document the local history, the material
culture related to its rural and artisanal past, but
also such topics as the physical development of
the suburban area, sociological evolution and
the immigration lows—in 2000, the institution
started to include testimonies narrating the recent history of the territory through the direct
contribution of the community. his strategy
was inaugurated by the exhibition “Vos objets au
musée racontent Fresnes,” which attempted to
reconstruct local memory by presenting objects
lent by the population. he initiative triggered
the development of a new collection methodology, based mainly on the donation of representative objects, each one documented with a description of its history, social value, technical use
and anthropological meaning. his information
is always accompanied by the personal story of
the donor, recorded in interviews and images
illustrating its original (physical and cultural)
context. hrough the direct combination of material and immaterial culture, as well as personal
and collective memories, this “biographical approach” to the collection contributes to a complex representation of the local identity. By including several pieces from people’s houses, this
heritage ofers an interesting overview of the
efects of political, economic and cultural phenomena—e.g. the consequences of globalisation
on the material culture—and, potentially, the
multicultural evolution of the community. hese
practices trigger signiicant questions related to
identity—for example, should a Maghrebi immigrant donate an object from his country or
one produced in Fresnes?
Identity, citizenship and controversial societal
issues are often the core of the major events
promoted by the Écomusée du Val de Bièvre,
the long term exhibitions aimed at presenting
the territory, its heritage, the pivotal events and
the socio-cultural issues. hese representations
are developed through signiicant depictions—
arising from the words and images produced
by the community e.g. “Parle ma banlieue. Le
Val de Bièvre vu par ses habitants” (2007–08),
or from representative artistic expressions
e.g. “Doisneau en Val de Bièvre” (2011)—or
through the reading of relevant transversal
phenomena (ranging, for example, from sociocultural conditions and work issues to urban
transformations), mainly observed from a contemporary critical point of view. Even when
they explore historical events or topics, the
presentations always include an overview about
their efects on the current situation—e.g. the
integration of French citizens from Algeria,
596 — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
img. 6.38 — The exhibition
“Vos objets au musée
racontent Fresnes,” 2001.
Courtesy of Écomusée du
Val de Bièvre.
img. 6.39 — The exhibition
“Pieds Noirs ici et la tête
ailleurs,” 2012. Courtesy of
Écomusée du Val de Bièvre.
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — 597
“Pieds Noirs ici et la tête ailleurs” (2012). hese
exhibitions are displayed in modest but evocative settings, which enhance their communicative power through the combination of diverse
means—the display of objects and documents,
providing evidence and scientiic documentation, the support of audiovisual devices (though
any ICT tool may be included), the setting of
evocative scenographic projects, achieved using
simple techniques and exploiting the symbolic
representations conceived by a designer, immersing the visitor into a personal exploration
(rather than guiding him/her through a ixed
documentary path). he narrations are usually accompanied by the interviews of selected
members of the community, prepared in cooperation with specialists such as ethnologists,
sociologists and economists. he intensive use
of the population’s actual words, reporting experiences and opinions, permits a reading of the
topic with plural voices.
hrough the paradigmatic modulation of cultural actions and participative practices, this institution fulils the ecomuseum mission as an instrument for the promotion of information and
self-awareness, and allows a pluralistic presentation of the territory and of the local heritage.
Elena Montanari
æ references
Delarge, Alexandre. 2001. “Participation: A
Community Regulates its own Heritage.”
ICOM News (1): 8.
———. 2004. “La participation, pierre angulaire et moteur des écomusées.” Musées & collections publiques de France 243 (3): 26–28.
———. 2009. “Entretien avec Alexandre
Delarge, Engagement et participation de
l’Ecomusée du Val de Bièvre.” Expologie, accessed November 5th, 2012. http://ddata.overblog.com/xxxyyy/2/26/81/51/Entretien-avecAlexandre-Delarge.pdf.
Delgado, Coral. 2001. “he Ecomuseum In
Fresnes: Against Exclusion.” Museum International 53 (1): 37–41.
De Varine, Hugues. 2002. Les racines du futur:
le patrimoine au service du développement local.
Chalon sur Saône: ASDIC.
Rivière, George Henry. 1985. “he Ecomuseum: An Evolutive Deinition.” Museum 37 (4):
182–183. Rivière, George Henry. 1989. Déinition évolutive de l’écomusée. In La muséologie selon
Georges-Henri Rivière, 142. Paris: Dunod.
Index of Authors
and Editors
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3) — 823
Index of Authors and Editors, Volume 3
Luca Basso Peressut
Luca Basso Peressut, Architect, PhD in Architectural Composition (IUAV, Istituto Universitario di Architettura, Venezia), is Full Professor
of Interior Architecture, Exhibition Design and
Museography at the Politecnico di Milano, and
coordinator of the PhD in “Architecture of Interiors.” He is co-founder and director of the
Level II Master course “IDEA in Exhibition
Design.” He is Director of the International
Workshop of Museography and Archaeology
“Villa Adriana-Premio Piranesi” held in Tivoli
and Rome since 2003. He is member of the Scientiic Committee for the National Conference
of Interiors 2005, 2007 and 2010, and member of the Scientiic Board and co-organizer of
the international conferences IFW-Interiors
Forum World. He is member of the Scientiic
Board of Museography of Ediir Publisher and
consultant for the architectural magazine Area
since 1997. He has carried out several researches and projects in the museums ield.
Francesca Lanz
Francesca Lanz holds a PhD in Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design and a MS in
Architecture. Since 2006 she has been collaborating to several research projects and teaching
activities, teaming up with diferent departments of the Politecnico di Milano. Since 2009
she teaches interior design at the School of Ar-
chitecture and Society of Politecnico di Milano
and collaborates as post-doc researcher with the
Department of Architecture and Urban Studies. She’s currently involved in the EU-funded
project “MeLa,” serving as Assistant Project
Coordinator, Dissemination Manager and appointed researcher.
Gennaro Postiglione
Gennaro Postiglione is Associate Professor
of Interior Architecture at the Politecnico di
Milano. Researches focus mainly on domestic
interiors (questioning relations among culture
of dwelling, domestic architecture and modernity), on museography and on preserving and
difusing collective memory and cultural identity (connecting the museographic issues with
the domestic ambit). In this ield he carried out
several research projects amongst wich: “he
Atlantic Wall Linear Museum,” “Abarchive –
archivio borghi abbandonati,” “One-hundred
houses for one-hundred architects of the XX
century.” Besides, he has a speciic interest in the
architecture of Nordic countries. From 2004, he
is promoter of PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE
@ POLIMI, an interdisciplinary research &
operative group that puts the resources of Architecture in the service of the Public Interest
and from 2006 is promoter of IFW-Interior
Forum World, an academic network and a web
platform for research edited by the PhD in Interiors at POLIMI.
824 — European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol. 3)
Michela Bassanelli
Michela Bassanelli is Ph.D. Candidate in Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design at
Department of Architecture and Urban Studies
(DAStU), Politecnico di Milano. She graduated
in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano in
2010, she currently collaborates with diferent
research project at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies and is developing
her PhD thesis on war archaeologies, diicult
heritage and the musealization of memory.
Marco Borsotti
Marco Borsotti, is architect, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture at
Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU). His
main research topics are interior design and
exhibition design for valorisation of the cultural
heritage: in these speciic ield he has national
and international experiences. Articles, essays
and projects have been published by specialized review. He is Frate Sole Foundation–International Sacred and European Architecture
Award guest referee and Editorial staf board
member of Italian architectural and arts review
Anione e Zeto.
Carolina Martinelli
She is architect and Ph.D. candidate in Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design at the
Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) of Politecnico di Milano. Her
research investigates the role of contemporary
museography in the preservation, arrangement,
enhancement, communication and management of the archaeological heritage. She graduated in architecture from Politecnico di Milano
and, in 2009, she received a diploma of Master
in “Architecture, Archaeology and Exhibition”
at the Accademia Adrianea di Architettura e
Archeologia. Since 2008 she has worked as an
assistant to the courses of Interior Architecture and Museum Design and, since 2011, she
has participated as a tutor at the International
Seminar of “Villa Adriana Premio Piranesi Prix
de Rome.” She is also contributing to the research project Prin 2008, “he Archaeological
Musealization: Multidisciplinary Intervention
in Archaeological Sites for the Conservation,
Communication and Culture.”
Elena Montanari
Elena Montanari is architect and Ph.D. in Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design. She
graduated from Politecnico di Milano, where
she is currently Temporary Professor of Interior
Design at the School of Architecture and Society, and Research Fellow at the Department
of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU).
Since 2005, she has been collaborating to didactic activities and contributing to various
national and international research projects,
developing a versatile, multi-scaled and interdisciplinary approach to the investigation of
diferent ields.
MeLa* - European Museums in an age of migrations
Research Fields:
RF01: Museums & Identity in History and Contemporaneity
examines the historical and contemporary relationships between museums, places and identities
in Europe and the efects of migrations on museum practices.
RF02: Cultural Memory, Migrating Modernity and Museum Practices
transforms the question of memory into an unfolding cultural and historical problematic, in
order to promote new critical and practical perspectives.
RF03: Network of Museums, Libraries and Public Cultural Institutions
investigates coordination strategies between museums, libraries and public cultural institutions in
relation to European cultural and scientiic heritage, migration and integration.
RF04: Curatorial and Artistic Research
explores the work of artists and curators on and with issues of migration, as well as the role of
museums and galleries exhibiting this work and disseminating knowledge.
RF05: Exhibition Design, Technology of Representation and Experimental Actions
investigates and experiments innovative communication tools, ICT potentialities, user centred
approaches, and the role of architecture and design for the contemporary museum.
RF06: Envisioning 21st Century Museums
fosters theoretical, methodological and operative contributions to the interpretation of diversities
and commonalities within European cultural heritage, and proposes enhanced practices for the
mission and design of museums in the contemporary multicultural society.
Partners and principal investigators:
Luca Basso Peressut (Project Coordinator), Gennaro Postiglione, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Marco Sacco, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
Bartomeu Mari, MACBA - Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain
Fabienne Galangau, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, France
Ruth Noack, he Royal College of Art, United Kingdom
Perla Innocenti, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Jamie Allen, Jacob Back, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Denmark
Christopher Whitehead, Rhiannon Mason, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Iain Chambers, l’Orientale, University of Naples, Italy
European Museums in the 21st Century: setting the framework (vol 3)
Published by Politecnico di Milano
© February 2013, The Authors