[Book Chapter] Montanari, Elena. 2013. " Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino, Trento, Italy." In European Museums in the 21st Century: Setting the Framework. Vol. 3, edited by L. Basso Peressut, F. Lanz and G. Postiglione, 608-615. Milano: Politecnico di Milano. (original) (raw)

Contemporary Museums in an Age of Migrations: The Reinterpretation of European Cultural Heritage

Lectures Notes in Computer Science: Progress in Cultural Heritage Preservation, 2013

Looking at European cultural heritage from the perspective of the twenty-first century, the question of its interpretation and reinterpretation is essential. This especially regards the different ways that societies and individuals use museums or other cultural institutions for the conservation and transmission of knowledge. The MeLa project brings a new concept to the core of this cultural problem. Age of migrations is a key term for thinking through planetary processes that reveal the deep refashioning of economic, cultural and political spheres under the impact of the accelerated mobility of goods, people, ideas and knowledge. In this context, a reconfiguration of existing museums is needed, especially for museums that are devoted to new themes and topics emerging in this contemporary age, when the great narratives of the modernity have left a multiplicity of stories and voices. The four-year interdisciplinary research MeLa aims at envisioning one such development of contemporary European museums.

European Museums in an age of Migrations_newsletter#04

MeLa European Museums in an age of migrations is a four year long research project funded by the European Commission under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities Program (FP7th). It is an interdisciplinary four year programme which will reflect on the role of museums in a context characterized by the continuous migration of people and ideas, dealing with several complex and crucial issues such as history, socio-cultural and national identity, the use of new technologies and the role of the exhibition design and museography.

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Placing Migration in European Museums: Theoretical, Contextual and Methodological Foundations

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 Socioeconomic Sciences and Humanities Programme (Seventh Framework Programme). Adopting the notion of "migration" as a paradigm of the contemporary global and multicultural world, MeLa reflects on the role of museums and heritage in the twenty-first century. The main objective of the MeLa project is to define innovative museum practices that reflect 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 (RFs) with a collaborative approach. The purpose of this book is to report on the preliminary findings of the first research phases. Introductory Frameworks previous page-Display detail, from 'Becoming a Copenhagener' exhibition, Museum of Copenhagen. placing migration in european museums-13 MeLa*-European Museums in an age of migrations Research Fields: RF01: Museums and Identity in History and Contemporaneity examines the historical and contemporary relationships between museums, places and identities in Europe and the effects 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 be tween museums, libraries and public cultural institutions in relation to European cultural and scientific 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 centered 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.

European Museums in the 21st Century: Setting the Framework - Volume 2 (Migration Museums, City Museums)

Volume 2 (Migration Museums, City Museums). This book explore current trends in European contemporary museums. Analysing their ongoing evolution triggered by this “age of migrations” and with specific attention to their architecture and exhibition design, the volume collects the preliminary observations ensuing from this survey, complemented by the some paradigmatic examples, and further enriched by interviews and contributions from scholars, curators and museum practitioners. With contributions by Florence Baläen, Michela Bassanelli, Luca Basso Peressut, Joachim Baur, Lorraine Bluche, Marco Borsotti, Mariella Brenna, Anna Chiara Cimoli, Lars De Jaegher, Maria Camilla De Palma, Hugues De Varine, Maria De Waele, Nélia Dias, Simone Eick, Fabienne Galangau Quérat, Sarah Gamaire, Jan Gerchow, Marc-Olivier Gonset, Klas Grinell, Laurence Isnard, Marie-Paule Jungblut, Galitt Kenan, Francesca Lanz, José María Lanzarote Guiral, Vito Lattanzi, Jack Lohman, Carolina Martinelli, Frauke Miera, Elena Montanari, Chantal Mouffe, Judith Pargamin,Giovanni Pinna, Camilla Pagani, Clelia Pozzi, Paolo Rosa, Anna Seiderer. Volume 2 includes: Introduction, Chapter 4: Migration Museums, Chapter 5: City Museums Legal Notices: This work is provided on line as open access document under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported. The work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law. Any use of the work other than as authorized under this license or copyright law is prohibited. For additional information http://creativecommons.org/. The views expressed here are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission."

Museums and Identity in History and Contemporaneity

2014

Adopting the notion of migration' as a paradigm of the contemporary global and multicultural world, MeLa investigates the role of museums in the twenty-first century Europe. Through a focus on the transformation of museums, meant as cultural spaces, processes as well as physical places, MeLa aims at identifying innovative museum practices which respond to the challenges posed by an age characterised by intensive migration flows; fluid circulation of information, cultures and ideas, and by the political, economic and cultural process of creation and consolidation of the European Union. As people, objects, knowledge and information move at increasingly high rates, a sharper awareness of an inclusive European identity is necessary to facilitate mutual understanding and social cohesion: MeLa investigates museums and their role in building this identity. The expected outcomes of MeLa include a critic overview and a reflection on the role, mission, strategies, spaces and exhibition design for contemporary European museums. The findings of the research will coalesce into scientific publications and policies for the use of the European Union and the museum community. Short Description Acronym MeLa* Title European Museums in an age of migrations Web site www.mela-project.eu Duration March 2011-February 2015 (48 months) Funding scheme Collaborative Project (CP): small and medium scale research project EU contribution 2.699.880,00 € Consortium 9 partners (5 countries)

European Museums in the 21st Century: Setting the Framework - Vol. 1 (National History Museums, Natural History Museums, Ethnographic and World Culture(s) Museums)

This book explore current trends in European contemporary museums. Analysing their ongoing evolution triggered by this “age of migrations” and with specific attention to their architecture and exhibition design, the volume collects the preliminary observations ensuing from this survey, complemented by the some paradigmatic examples, and further enriched by interviews and contributions from scholars, curators and museum practitioners. With contributions by Florence Baläen, Michela Bassanelli, Luca Basso Peressut, Joachim Baur, Lorraine Bluche, Marco Borsotti, Mariella Brenna, Anna Chiara Cimoli, Lars De Jaegher, Maria Camilla De Palma, Hugues De Varine, Maria De Waele, Nélia Dias, Simone Eick, Fabienne Galangau Quérat, Sarah Gamaire, Jan Gerchow, Marc-Olivier Gonset, Klas Grinell, Laurence Isnard, Marie-Paule Jungblut, Galitt Kenan, Francesca Lanz, José María Lanzarote Guiral, Vito Lattanzi, Jack Lohman, Carolina Martinelli, Frauke Miera, Elena Montanari, Chantal Mouffe, Judith Pargamin, Giovanni Pinna, Camilla Pagani, Clelia Pozzi, Paolo Rosa, Anna Seiderer. Volume 1 includes: Introduction, Chapter 1: National History Museums, Chapter 2: Natural History Museums, Chapter 3: Ethnographic and World Culture(s) Museums" Legal Notices: This work is provided on line as open access document under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported. The work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law. Any use of the work other than as authorized under this license or copyright law is prohibited. For additional information http://creativecommons.org/. The views expressed here are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

EUROPEAN MUSEUMS AND INTERCULTURE responding to challenges in a globalized world a reflection paper by

This paper has been commissioned by the Directorate of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Council of Europe (www.coe.int/culture). The paper is published on the CoE website., 2011

First: I am not a museologist. I do have extensive experience in the intercultural sector, as producer, performer, curator and observer. But I am in no way an expert on museums. It is quite possible that many of my reflections about the museum sector are naïve and I surely can’t substantiate them academically. I may well use imprecise terminology. My observations - and in some cases my hopes and imaginations - are those of a museum lover. I firmly believe that museums have an important role to play in re-thinking European relations both with the rest of the world and indeed with our own diverse population. I know that many professional museum workers have been attempting important changes throughout Europe. I have the privilege of being in close contact with some of them, thanks to my recent engagement as Trustee for the European Museum Forum. This paper is about how I dream museums to become. I have visited many institutions through the years. I see clear and hopeful tendencies. But I must apologize for my “amateur” (in the true meaning of the word) approach. Please read this with a certain tolerance.

New constellations of difference in europe's 21st-century museumscape

Museum Anthropology, 2016

This article addresses some of the recent, ongoing, and planned reconfigurations of museums in Europe in light of their implications for the making of cultural difference, diversity, and citizenship. It argues that these are configured not only through the internal content of particular museums but also through divisions of classificatory labor and hierarchies of value between kinds of museums and their locations within cities and within nations-that is, through constellations of difference within museum-scapes. It examines this in relation to examples of planned and realized new museums, including of Europe, national history, and world museums. Particular attention is given here to the fate of ethnographic or ethnological museums-museums that have had especially significant places in the coordination of difference and identity-and to the consequences of this within shifting grounds of belonging and cultural citizenship. The article then discusses some potential consequences of museum configuration within one city by looking at plans for reconfiguring Berlin's museumscape, especially in relation to the Humboldt Forum, in reconstructed facades of a former palace in the center of the urban and national museumscape.

Placing" Europe in the Museum: People(s), Places, Identities

2013

This book represents the proceedings of the conference "Placing" Europe in the Museum: people(s), places, identities held at Newcastle University in September 2012. The conference was organised in the context of Research Field 01 "Museums & Identity in History and Contemporaneity" led by Professor Chris Whitehead at Newcastle University 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 Socioeconomic Sciences and Humanities Programme (Seventh Framework Programme). Adopting the notion of "migration" as a paradigm of the contemporary global and multicultural world, MeLa reflects on the role of museums and heritage in the twenty-first century. The main objective of the MeLa project is to define innovative museum practices that reflect the challenges of the contemporary processes of globalisation, 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 (RFs) with a collaborative approach. The purpose of this book is to report on the themes debated at the conference. ae references

European Museums for the 21st Century: Setting the Framework -Vol 3 (Local Museums,War Museums, Temporary Exhibitions)

International Conference: National Museums in a Changing Europe

In recent decades, as Europe's populations have become increasingly diverse and mobile, as nations have struggled in difficult economic circumstances and wrestled with increasing integration, and as new nations have sought independence and greater power, and as larger nations have once again revealed their political muscle, so we have seen national histories deployed politically. A sense of Europe as a space of shared histories and cultural similarities is repeatedly challenged by a past that can be re-awakened by rising nationalism, national insecurity, and by religious and ethnic difference. Across Europe, some national museums construct historical narratives that speak of shared global culture while others promote essentialised nationalism, some memorialise a poetic heroic past while others struggle to forget a more troubled one, many celebrate the heights of cultural achievement while others have found educational and tourism potential in the depths of human depravity. National museums implicitly, and sometimes overtly, still engage in acts of competitive cultural representation, attempting to elevate one nation above another. They are also used to perpetuate a war against former enemies and Others. Europe's national museums house some the continent's greatest historical treasures but also some of its most difficult historical spaces.