Museological shortcuts

Musings on museology

Marzia Varutti

In less than fifty years, museology has gone disability to sexual, religious, and political from a niche topical study area, subservient to choices. This signals that – importantly at this a range of other disciplines – history, art history moment – exhibitions and museums have and anthropology to mention but a few – to a become spaces for reflection: they offer to the flourishing, multifaceted field of research and general public a chance for reflecting upon the practice. Assessing what museology is today, transformations occurring in our societies. is as challenging as assessing what a museum In a similar way, museology, with its is. Since their inception, as public institutions propensity for critical analysis, is an even more at the heart of European nationalism and dedicated realm for reflexion and interpretation: imperialism, museums have showed a it is a field where the discussion of common remarkable ability to transform themselves, concerns (and delights!) can extend and deepen adapting to changing societal conditions (in academic publications, events, pedagogy and needs. After decades of decline, the and exhibitions) to eventually engender new renaissance of museums in the second half questions and ideas that can feed back into of the 20th century is evidence of their museum work. As museology scholars, we resilience: museums have turned out to be enjoy the privilege of critical distancing, we surprisingly well suited to neoliberal agendas toy with comparative perspectives and, at our advocating the commodification of culture, best, we reach for new, deeper insights inspired the personalization of the cultural offer, and by a concept, a theory or a practice – James the creation of social status linked to cultural Clifford’s (1997) seminal “museums as contact consumption. Reflecting the changes affecting zones” being a notable example. Museology museums, museology – which I understand offers us a tool to make sense of the worlds here as the study of museums in its broader we inhabit; this seems noteworthy, at times sense – has undergone changes in virtually where communication and dissemination are all its facets. Below, I briefly consider some of increasingly – alarmingly – based on a few these. dozens character-tweets and decontextualized The topics and concerns of museology Instagram images. have changed, mirroring the expansion of As we know, museology is not a discipline, but exhibition themes. If exhibitions have become a field of research at the intersection of different artworks, constantly forging new narrative, disciplines and professions. Multidisciplinarity visual, emotional and sensorial paths to is inscribed in the very essence and origins of meaning, they have also turned into powerful museology, and it is thanks to the increased activist statements, tackling contested and collaboration across disciplines and professional debated issues, from social inequalities and fields that new paths to research and practice are discrimination to climate change, from being opened. For instance, exhibition-making Museological shortcuts

148 can be a tool for research, as suggested by of approaches is yet another testimony to the Nicholas Thomas (2010) among others. There richness of this field of study. is potential for a fruitful circularity, whereby In this international framework, the Nordic the set-up of exhibitions becomes fieldwork museological tradition occupies a prominent (research is being conducted at the same times position. With its unique history of folk and as the exhibition is being created, and findings open air museums and its depth of research emerge as part of the process), and in turn the on the historical construction of cultural outcomes of collaborative research between knowledge in museums, the Nordic context academics and museum professionals can deserves its own distinctive museological take the form of an exhibition, informed by voice. Its uniqueness has been made visible research findings, now materialized, visualized through the articles published in the Journal and popularized for wider audiences. of Nordic Museology over the past 25 years; An often understated, yet consequential these articles give substance to the imagined aspect of museology is pedagogy. Museological community of museum practitioners and thinking has a direct societal impact (on the scholars across the Nordic countries, whilst museum world, and on how society at large at the same time providing a portal for an understands museums) through teaching expanding international readership. activities. In the Nordic countries in particular, Even though we might be at times unsure we see a flourishing offer of museology courses about what “Nordic” means (this term will no and training, notably at master and doctoral doubt continue to generate discussions), it is level. These courses are sought after precisely nevertheless an extraordinary framing device: because of their multifaceted disciplinary “Nordic” captures a potential. Much more than components and professional versatility, just denoting a regional variant of museology, as museology does not primarily aim to “Nordic museology” lends legitimacy and form curators, conservation experts, or art visibility to scholarship and museum-related connoisseurs, but thinkers able to apply critical initiatives that place themselves in a special skills to a broad range of museum aspects. relationship with local histories, people, But museology also has its national variants. collections and resources. This scholarship and As an Italian moving from Francophone initiatives need to be sustained and encouraged. Switzerland to the UK, and subsequently to Museology has devoted much attention to Norway, I have been intrigued by the slight national heritages – how they are created, changes in the understandings of museology reinvented, used and misused (this is evidenced from one country to the other. Long by the extensive literature on museums and established in the UK as “museum studies”, nationalism). In all this, the focus has largely across the Channel, in France and Switzerland, been on the content of national histories and “muséologie” has been associated with heritage; yet there are also distinctive ways conservation studies, and in Italy the emphasis of presenting, interpreting, curating and has been on the preservation of the artistic disseminating those histories and heritage. We and architectural patrimony. Even though should cherish and celebrate the uniqueness different nuances makes it sometimes a little of local Nordic approaches to heritage and more arduous for museologists to talk to each museological forms as they are cultural other in international meetings, this plurality artefacts in their own right: they also speak Museological shortcuts

about our past and our identities, and are ethical guidance, we will increasingly turn to 149 worthy of being displayed, shared, circulated, museums for the solace of Beauty and a space and preserved. This is exactly what theJournal for dreams, for respite from life’s hardships and of Nordic Museology has been doing since its demands, and a place for healing – a place that first issue; the Journal has become, in a way, equally encourages contemplation and social an archive and a living museum for Nordic bonding. Developing this kind of moral and museology. social stewardship will likely entail concerted But what lies ahead? We live in a world of efforts, based on consultation among museum information overload, we struggle with too professionals and scholars, and with society many choices among quality, quantity and at large, in order to negotiate specific ethical sources of information, unbounded in time stances. Museums and museology should be and place. In this situation, we will increasingly challenged to rise to those needs. Here again, need filters, compasses for navigation, and the “Nordic” model and its values might be an havens for reflection. Museums and museology asset in the formulation of new directions for can provide some answers to those needs. But Nordic and other museologies. moving in this direction entails a reformulation of the traditional forms of authority of Literature museums, based on scientific knowledge: museums can no longer be content with Clifford, James. 1997. “Museums as contact zones.” disseminating accurate, reliable knowledge, In Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late nor can they limit themselves to facilitating Twentieth Century. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard the production of informed opinions for their University Press. audiences, or acting as platforms for dialogue Thomas, Nicholas. 2010. “The museum as method.” – other media are better suited to perform Museum Anthropology 33:1, 6–10. those tasks. Both museums and museologists can take courage in positioning themselves in and above debates, forging for themselves a Marzia Varutti, Associate Professor of new role as ethical stewards, able to provide Museology directions to navigate times and themes where [email protected] ethical values are blurred, questioned and opened up for debate. Centre for Museum Studies Statistics tell us that museum visits increase IKOS dramatically after traumatic events (as in the Postboks 1010 Blindern case of the 9–11 attacks in New York). It doesn’t N-0315 Oslo, Norway seem far-fetched to think that, in addition to