THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE MAGAZINE NO 7 | DECEMBER 2017 ECOMUSEUMS AND COMMUNITY MUSEUMS Top Museum Trend in the World A WORD FROM PRESIDENT From content Year of international cooperation The international museum community gathered in Paris in the first week of June 3 at the 83rd meeting of the ICOM Advisory nd Seminar Committee and 32 General Assembly. It was an excellent opportunity to acquaint Ecomuseums and Community in more detail many colleagues worldwide Museums with the activities of Serbian museums. The new issue of ICOM Serbia magazine – featuring a changed concept and lay- out, and published in English for the first 6 time – was first presented to president of Interview ICOM, Suay Aksoy. Since it was quite im- practicable to bring along a sufficient num- Alberto Garlandini, ber of copies, the entire ICOM community ICOM Vice-President learned about the work of the ICOM Ser- bia National Committee through the elec- tronic version of the magazine. Speaking of the international and regional 8 cooperation, we need to highlight excep- Jubilees tional activities the museums were en- 170th Anniversary of the Gallery of gaged with this summer. The Ethnographic Matica Srpska Museum in Belgrade was a host to its col- leagues from Ljubljana and also a guest at the National Museum in New Delhi; the colleagues from the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection and Heritage House paid a visit to Podgorica; the Museum of Natural History 10 introduced itself at the Museum of Polimlje; in cooperation with “Ilijanum” of Šid and the In Focus National Museum of Kraljevo, the Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art opened a unique exhibition at the Halle Saint Pierre in Paris; the Historical Museum of Serbia presented its With Lubarda for More than a exhibitions all the way from Thessaloniki to Corfu; the colleagues from the Museum of Century Vojvodina paid a guest visit to Slovakia; the Museum of Yugoslavia won the international award for the best short museum-related video; and, finally, the Yugoslav Film Archive and the China Film Museum signed a memorandum of cooperation. 13 As one of the projects in the cycle of professional museum seminars was drawing to Events a close, the concluding discussions noted the increasing role of ecomuseums in the conservation and presentation of cultural and natural heritage. Ecomuseums are a Ethnology Fest synonym of power of a community and through the implementation of feasible de- velopment of cultural tourism they are an essential element for the improvement of well-being and development of the entire community. At the same time, the ICOM Serbia National Committee – as a professional association – will carry on its activities 30 that will contribute to the completion of already started and the initiation of new Museology projects of ecomuseums. Colonial Williamsburg Reflecting the need for a planned approach to culture, this year has also been marked by a series of public debates on the Proposal of the cultural development strategy of Serbia from 2017 to 2027. The particularly important segments of this proposal include the adoption of several laws and bylaws, as well as the protection of cultural heritage as a key value of the society. Additionally, stress was laid on the need for development of contemporary creative works through the increase of funds for the mobility of artists, among other means. Of special note are the plans for capital investment and opening of new museums, along with the completion of two vital reconstruction projects – the National Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade. Regardless of the praises and criticisms addressed to the Proposal, it should be taken as the start of a constructive dialogue which will finally lead to the adoption of this document of major strategic importance. Slavko Spasić 2 ICOM SRBIJA ICOM SERBIA SEMINAR ECOMUSEUMS AND COMMUNITY MUSEUMS Top Museum Trend in the World The expansion of ecomuseum and its undeniable potentials have motivated the ICOM Serbia National Committee to organize an international seminar on the subject. It was an opportunity for both the initiators of the establishment of such museums in Serbia and the representatives of local communities and self-governing bodies to meet with the leading experts from the region and Europe Text: Biljana Djordjević / Photos: Vuk Nenezić, @eljko Andjeljkovi} he increasing role of ecomuseums in the preservation and presentation Slavko Spasić, of cultural and natural heritage, as president T of ICOM well as their actual potential in sustaina- ble development, served as a motive for Serbia, and ICOM Serbia to organize an international representatives seminar on the topic Ecomuseums and of ecomuseums Community Museums. The seminar that and local brought leading ecomuseologists from comunities from Italy and Croatia to Serbia from 25th to Serbia 27th October was supported by the Mini- stry of Culture and Information of the Re- public of Serbia, the Italian Cultural Insti- tute in Belgrade and the Regional Alliance ICOM SEE. The partners of the National Committee in carrying out this significant programme were the Golubinci Ethno-Eco Museum Foundation and the Municipality of Stara Pazova. This two-day seminar, the fields beyond cultural mainstream. countless activities – from the reconstruc- held at the Yugoslav Film Archive and the Raul dal Santo, an ecologist and coordina- tion of the Schloss castle, as the future Kolarac Endowment, was opened by Pao- tor of the Landscape Ecomuseum of Para- museum headquarters, to various actions la Cordone, deputy director of the Italian biago, underlined the capacity of ecomu- and programmes for the preservation of Institute and cultural attaché. seum to encourage the participativeness in local cultural and natural heritage, and the approach to protection and promotion passing on the awareness about their value Community as an Active Guardian of not only cultural, but of natural heritage to younger generations. of Heritage as well. The project for the development of eco- The speakers at the first session were Ecomuseums in Serbia – museums of Zlakusa and Potpeće, two Darko Babić, PhD, Head of Museology Experiences and Challenges connected villages in western Serbia, is in and Heritage Management Department of its initial stage. In order to form a clear the Faculty of Philosophy, University of The opening speech on the second day basis for the establishment of ecomuse- Zagreb, and Alberto Garlandini, ICOM of the seminar was given by Tamara Ni- ums, we need to implement comprehen- vice-president and an expert in manage- kolić Djerić, Chair of the Board of the sive, multidisciplinary research studies ment of cultural heritage. Babić focused Batana Ecomuseum in Rovinj, the most that would point to all the potentials of the on the origin of ecomuseums and their successful ecomuseum in Croatia, added area and suggest sustainable possibilities development from the 1970s to this day, to UNESCO’s Register of Best Safeguard- for controlled exploitation. The idea for while Garlandini pointed to the contribu- ing Practices in 2016. The example of the creating ecomuseums was presented by tion of ecomuseums to ICOM’s debate on Batana Ecomuseum may be the closest to Biljana Djordjević, PhD, author and head the social role of museums and the respon- our community and the most applicable as of the project Zlakusa, Potpeće and the sibility of museums toward landscape. a model of all that have been presented to Surroundings. Multidisciplinary Research us. Aimed at Integrative Protection and In- Continuing on with the seminar, the at- clusion into the Zlatibor County Cultural tendees had the opportunity to listen to Later on, the seminar was dedicated to Tourism. two Italian experts in this field. Donatel- case studies in Serbia. The Golubinci Eth- la Murtas, an architect and environmen- no-Eco Museum was introduced by eth- Miroslav Nikolić, director of the Muse- tal protection engineer, talked about the nologist Jovanka Sečanski, founder of the um of Coal Mining, talked about Senjski ecomuseum of the terraced landscape and foundation managing this longest-stand- Rudnik (Senje coal mine) as an emerging vineyard in northwest Italy, where ecomu- ing ecomuseum in Serbia. Located just ecomuseum. Although the first stage that seum has been chosen as the most efficient outside of Stara Pazova, the Golubin- included the renovation of several build- model for managing the local heritage in ci ecomuseum has been the initiator of ings has been successfully completed, the ICOM SRBIJA 3 ICOM SERBIA SEMINAR ECOMUSEUMS AND COMMUNITY MUSEUMS transformation of Senjski Rudink into an ecomuseum is still under way, with priori- DROPS – International Platform ty being placed on educating local popula- tion in the next stage. Dal Santo put a special focus on the Italian network of ecomuseums. The networking provides stronger positions of ecomuseums through sharing of experiences. To this Ecomuseum Ibar Valley, a comprehensive end, the international platform for ecomuseums and community museums – DROPS and ambitious project presented by Kata- (https://sites.google.com/view/drops-platform/home) has been created with the aim to rina Grujović Brković of the Institute for connect all national ecomuseum and community museum networks, existing or to be the Protection of Cultural Monuments, established, in a virtual and interactive space. This platform also serves as a base of Kraljevo, is quite complex since it in- a multilingual documentary and a bibliographic pool of resources on ecomuseology cludes the territory of three municipalities and its best practices. As a member of the DROPS Board, Raul dal Santo suggested – Kraljevo, Raška and Novi Pazar – and that the information on ecomuseums in Serbian also be included in the platform, thus their varied cultural and natural heritage. contributing to a better visibility of the efforts being made in this field in Serbia. The initial project of mapping the poten- tials is finished, but the implementation has not started yet.