Néprajzi Értesítő 83. Évfolyam, 2001

LXXXIII.2001. NÉPRAJZI ÉRTESÍTŐ ANNALES MUSEI ETHNOGRAPHIAE NÉPRAJZI MÚZEUM, BUDAPEST Yearbook of the Museum of Ethnography Jahrbuch des Ethnographischen Museums Annales du Musée d'Ethnographie Editorial Committee GYÖRGY BALÁZS, ZOLTÁN FEJŐS (editor-in-chief), IMRE GRÁFIK, EVA SZACSVAY Edited by GÁBOR WILHELM Front cover The Balkan show-case, permanent exhibition, Museum of Ethnography, Budapest, 1929 (slide collection, no. D 3670) HU ISSN 0007-9699 the Museum of Ethnography, H-1055 Budapest, Kossuth Lajos tér 12. Printed by ETO-Print Kft. The Museum of Ethnography is supported by the If TTÍ f( NEMZETI KULTURÁLIS ÖRÖKSÉG MINISZTÉRIUMA Papers of the conference ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUMS IN EAST- AND CENTRAL EUROPE CHALLENGES AND CHANCES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY Budapest, Hungary 14-16 June 2001 Museum of Ethnography, Budapest, 2001 Contents PREFACE / 7 PERSPECTIVES KONRAD VANJA Are We Able to Curate "Europe"? Work Strategies of the New Museum of European Cultures in Berlin in Co-operation with European Networks / 11 FRANZ GRIESHOFER The Contemporary Role of Ethnography Museums / 15 ZOLTÁN FEJŐS The Museum of Ethnography in Budapest: Past and Present / 23 DAMODAR FRLAN Ethnographic Museums in Croatia: History, Challenges and Perspectives / 35 ANDRZEJ RATAJ Ethnographic Museums in Poland: Between the Past and the Future / 41 MARTA PASTIERIKOVÁ Slovak Museum of Ethnology at the Beginning of the 21st Century / 47 NADEZHDA TENEVA National Ethnographic Museum, Sofia: Exhibitions, Audience and Problems / 53 MAGDALENA MOLNÁR The Romanian Museums at the Beginning of the 21st Century / 63 SVETLANA MITROVIC A Century of a Museum / 69 VESNA MARJANOVIC The Ethnographic Museum: Keepers of the National / 75 Identity or the Exotic Places of Knowledge in the 21st Century LlUDMYLA BULHAKOVA Role and Place of Ethnographic Expositions in the Network of Museums in Ukraine / 81 ASPECTS IRENA KERSIC—BOJANA ROGELJ SKAFAR—POLONA SKETELJ—JANJA ZAGAR Selection, Collection and Interpretation. On the Criteria and Strategies of Collecting Material Cultural Heritage and their Ethnological Interpretations / 89 ADINA VARGATU Some Aspects of the Policy of the Astra Museum Complex / 99 SASA SRECKOVIC What Kind of Entrepreneurship is Possible in the Ethnographic Museums? / 107 GRZEGORZ GRAFF The Museum and its Educational Activities / 113 MIRELLA DECHEVA Ethnographic Exhibition as a Way of the Intercultural Communication: the Experience of the Bulgarian National Ethnographic Museum / 117 IRYNA HORBAN Ethnographic Museums and Perspectives of Ethnology in Ukraine / 123 ELENA BARBULESCU The Ethnographical Museum and its Long Term Perspectives / 127 GYÖRGY BALÁZS Collections Management and Preventive Conservation at the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest / 131 GÁBOR WILHELM Ethnographic Museums and Challenges at the Beginning of the 21st Century / 145 CONTRIBUTORS / 150 Preface This volume presents the papers of the international conference Ethnographic Mu seums in East- and Central Europe—Challenges and Chances at the Beginning of the 21st Century held in Budapest 14-16 June 2001. The purpose of the conference was to bring the new challenges and chances that effect ethnographic museums all over Europe into a new perspective. It focused on two main questions: How might this changing frame influence museums' strategies in the region? At the same time, how do ethnographic museums look at the history of their collections? As we are all aware of the fact that European ethnographic museums did not exist in isolation in the past, they worked in multiple relationships with each other and with other kind of institutions. After the political changes in Eastern Europe these relations, however, became rather sporadically. We were therefore eager to use this conference to initiate the beginning of a new and a more conscious level of coopera tion and communication among the museum personnel in Eastern Europe. Now, at the very beginning of the 21st century European museums feel challenged from different sides. With the technical improvement of fixing and presenting visual information, new competitors have appeared around the museums (Internet, virtual exhibitions and catalogues, Disneyland, theme parks, etc.). Ethical questions are now taken into account in an increasing degree with regard of collections and exhi bitions. Even the more basic functions and the financing of museums might be in some cases changing. At the same time, the museums' role has become more conscious both in a broader social and public context as well as inside the museums themselves. What we expe rience in the theoretical interest and at public forums as well is a growing awareness in the history, development of collections. They are treated as historically constructed products instead of neutral or self-evident sources of cultures. New questions have emerged concerning museums' early and recent collecting, collection management and (re)presentation strategies and their policies in general. In this rather new situation museums feel pressed and challenged at the same time. The field museums have until recently covered seems to become narrowed but along this tendency its borders turn to be also more clear-cut. As a result, museums are searching for new strategies and chances. The conference's speakers were invited to address the following sub-themes: How 8 Preface might be evaluated the position of ethnographic museums in East- and Central Europe in the 21st century? What are their perspectives in both the short and long run? How do they define now their goals and set their priorities with regard to their basic tasks and functions? Paralelly, by doing this how do they look at the history of their own collections? What seems to be more important: the continuity of their activity or the utilisation of the changing situations? In which respect can or shall this constrain their strategies? On the other hand, do they share the new tendencies with other types of museums, or do they rather occupy a special place among muse ums? If so, in which respect? In order to find answers to some of these questions, 14 ethnographic museums from East- and Central-European countries were invited to Budapest. Almost all of them responded positively, and in the end 21 papers were delivered during the three days meeting of the conference. Although Ulle Vahar from Tartu participated in the conference, we were not able to include her paper in this volume. Marta Pastieriková presented her paper in absentia. We would like to express our gratitude to the Public Collections Department of the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage that supported this conference financially (566/98-05 and 1242-03/2000). The Museum of Ethnography in Budapest took responsibility for the execution of the conference. For the language editing of the conference papers, we are very much indebted to Mr. Peter Sabath and Mr. Drew Leifheit. The Editor Budapest July, 2002 PERSPECTIVES KONRAD VANJA Are We Able to Curate "Europe33? Work Strategies of the New Museum of European Cultures in Berlin in Co-operation with European Networks Why a Museum for European Cultures, and what has been the reason for such a Mu seum in Berlin? In 1999, the Museum for European Culture was inaugurated by the State Museum in Berlin, which belongs to the foundation of Prussian Heritage. This Museum re sulted from the Union of the former Museum of German Folklore and the Euro pean Department of the Ethnological Museum in Berlin Dahlem. Both Museums and their collections were founded in the second half of the 19th century and devel oped in different ways. The Museum of German Folklore concentrated upon eve ryday traditional 19th century objects, but also incorporated objects from other Eu ropean countries for comparing traditional objects in their morphology, technology and design as a testimony to human implementation and labour in pre-industrial societies. Skansen and the special exhibitions of others influenced this museum like oth ers in Europe and at the international world fairs in London, Paris and Chicago in the second half of 19 century. After 1933, in the time of the Third Reich, these collections where divided into German and non-German artefacts, the German objects delivered to the Eurasian department in the Ethnological Museum with its rich collection covering portions of Eastern and Northern Europe. After the Second World War, not only was most of our collection destroyed, but the facility was also divided into two new museums, opening in the east and the west parts of Berlin. Both ethnographic museums of German Folklore acquired new collections, es pecially the first one, which procured traditional objects of pre-industrial times from German regions. But in the middle of the 1970s, both museums changed their col lections and opened them to the world of 19th and 20th century industry and urban strategies. This process belonged generally to a change in the paradigms of social and historical sciences especially in France; the historic schools of the Annales ESC: Marc Bloch, Fernand Braudel, Emanuel de Roy Ladurie, in Great Britain with the historical journal Past and Present of Eric Hobsbawm and E. P. Thompson, and in the United States with David Landes, and also in both parts of Germany. You will find the results of these influences in the collections of our museums in the west as well as Ín the east. 12 Konrad Vanja In a world of trade, and through the exchange of goods and knowledge, national borders have opened to the influence of others. These are the general processes of modernisation in which regional cultures also influence urban cultures. I know that there are differences in Europe, but this process has had a long history and tradition of proliferation long before the beginning of industrialisation from the second half of 18th century up to now. Different conferences, expositions—especially with the former European Depart ment of the Ethnological Museum—have been arranged in which we discuss new methods of research, collecting and presentation to disclose these influences upon other industrialised countries in Europe and parts of North America, and vice versa.

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