TWENTY YEARS THE OF museo dell’industria e del lavoro brescia musil LUIGI MICHELETTI AWARD MICHELETTI LUIGI TWENTY YEARS OF THE LUIGI MICHELETTI AWARD TWENTY YEARS OF THE LUIGI MICHELETTI AWARD museo dell’industria e del lavoro brescia musil © 2016 Fondazione Luigi Micheletti, Brescia Fondazione musil, Brescia European Museum Academy, The Hague Twenty Years of the Luigi Micheletti Award ISBN 978-88-90-87172-6 Edited by René Capovin, Ann Nicholls, Grazia Poggio The Luigi Micheletti Award is the European prize for innovative museums in the world of contemporary history, industry and science - For complete and updated information please refer to the official website: www.luigimichelettiaward.eu Front cover photograph: Città della Scienza (Napoli), by F. Donato Full-page photographs: p. 6, Museo dell’Energia Idroelettrica (Cedegolo); p. 16, DASA Arbeitswelt Ausstellung (Dortmund); p. 22, Tom Tits Experiment (Södertälje); p. 133, Museu Marítim (Barcelona) Printed by Color Art S.r.l. - Rodengo Saiano, Italy Fondazione Luigi Micheletti Via Cairoli 9 - 25122 Brescia, Italy Tel. +39 03048578 - Fax +39 03045203 [email protected] www.fondazionemicheletti.eu Fondazione musil Via Cairoli 9 - 25122 Brescia, Italy Tel. +39 0303750663 - Fax +39 0302404554 [email protected] www.musilbrescia.it European Museum Academy Kanaalweg 46 - 2584 CL The Hague, The Netherlands Tel. +31 703515160 (Chairman) - Tel. +39 028977556 (Director) [email protected] www.europeanmuseumacademy.eu TWENTY YEARS OF THE LUIGI MICHELETTI AWARD CONTENTS Introduction 5 ‘Creative Museums, Smart Citizens’ 7 Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni ∙ Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe An Inner, European Source of Inspiration 9 Pier Paolo Poggio ∙ Scientific Director, Luigi Micheletti Foundation Industrial Museums 11 Contents Massimo Negri ∙ Director, European Museum Academy YEARLY REPORTS 1996-2015 17 Why Every Museum is Really a Museum of Social History 135 Kenneth Hudson Promoters 143 3 TWENTY YEARS OF THE LUIGI MICHELETTI AWARD INTRODUCTION Introduction Launched in 1995 by the Micheletti Foundation and the European Museum Forum under the patronage of the Council of Europe, the Luigi Micheletti Award has put at the centre of the stage a series of innovative experiences of influence in the European museum field. The story of the award is an Italian story because it is connected to the life of the Micheletti Foundation, founded in 1981 by Luigi Micheletti, a partisan during the Second World War and afterwards an entrepreneur in the field of economics. The Micheletti Foundation soon became an important archive in the domain of contemporary history and one of the first Italian institutions engaged in the preservation of industrial heritage, more than 30 years ago. A meeting with the great museologist and father of industrial archaeology, Kenneth Hudson, led to the birth 20 years ago of an award whose success has been confirmed, year after year, by the number and the quality of participants. The Luigi Micheletti Award is also a European story, both for the partnership with European organisations and for the extent of its influence, including all 48 countries within the borders of the Council of Europe. Like any successful story, the story of the Luigi Micheletti Award is marked by the ability to renew itself. From the 16th edition onwards, the award has been run in collaboration with the European Museum Academy (EMA), a Dutch foundation whose qualified Pool of Experts have proven scientific and museological experience. This report aims to provide, through the presentation of summaries, an overview of all the winners and finalists of the Luigi Micheletti Award 1996-2015. The Report includes the winners of the DASA Award, launched in 2011 and devoted to museums of work. The Report is opened by an important document related to the 20th Ceremony of the Luigi Micheletti Award (Brescia, 9 May 2015), the speech delivered by Ms Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe. Pier Paolo Poggio, Director of Luigi Micheletti Foundation and musil, intertwines the growth of these scientific institutions, the story of the award (until the 2016 edition, won by Den Gamle By, Aarhus, Denmark) and the development of the territory of Brescia, where it all began. Massimo Negri, Director of EMA, observes the impact of the notion of ‘industrial heritage’ on the cultural and social scene from the 1970s onwards, using the story of the Luigi Micheletti Award as a vantage point. As a postscript, there is an unpublished contribution by the late Kenneth Hudson. Born 100 years ago, the voice of Kenneth Hudson still sounds inspiring and contemporary... as does the Luigi Micheletti Award! Brescia, December 2016 5 TWENTY YEARS OF THE LUIGI MICHELETTI AWARD ‘Creative MUSEUMS, Smart CITIZENS’ ‘Creative Museums, Smart Citizens’ Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a huge honour for me to be with you for the 20th Luigi Micheletti Award Ceremony. Brescia, as many of you will know, is where Micheletti created his Foundation; it is where eminent experts meet every year, to pick the winner; and it is where I grew up. I moved away from the city when in my twenties and during this time the city has changed a lot. But one thing will never change – the same thing which makes Brescia the perfect home for this award: it is our faith in the power of work and innovation. From when we are little ragazzi e ragazze we are taught about the value of enterprise and industry; about the capacity of men and women to change their own circumstances through their skills and knowledge – and sometimes simply through sheer bloody mindedness. And all of the institutions which have been celebrated by Micheletti, in the fields of contemporary history, industry and science in their own ways embody this idea: that people can take control of their world, shaping it and designing it and we take responsibility for it too. This is something we believe at the Council of Europe, where we work with our member states to help them build strong societies, founded on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The Council is old friends with the Micheletti Foundation and I am delighted to have been invited here, where I can show our support both for the Foundation as well as for the European Museum Academy, now responsible for administering the award. The Academy does a huge amount to promote dynamic museums: museums which bring people face to face with their histories and which encourage them to engage, to question, to challenge – so that we become active participants in our historical analysis. In doing so we develop a much deeper understanding of ourselves and of others. As the theme for this year’s award puts it: ‘creative museums, smart citizens’. It has not always been the case. Two centuries ago Europe’s early museums began as platforms for ethnocentric collection. Their job was to glorify the building of a nation and to define a people. They served to cement our self-image. Then came a period of exoticism: explorers would bring back artefacts from far-flung parts of the world. We would display these pieces in glass boxes, crowding around to be entertained by their novelty, but at the same time affirming our own sense of cultural superiority. In the post-colonial period, many museums underwent what has become known as a ‘bad conscience syndrome’, where triumphant national identity made way for self-criticism and guilt. And then, at some point during the last two decades, there was a realisation of the role museums can play in promoting intercultural 7 ‘Creative MUSEUMS, Smart CITIZENS’ dialogue. So not placing one person’s truth above another, but instead showing the interplay between different historical narratives and revealing the function of our own biases and interpretations in the ways we recant our past. Where we once had only multi-cultural archiving, we now have much more intercultural exchange. For me, and for the Council of Europe, this has been a very welcome development – particularly in these fragmented times in which we live. Division and xenophobia are on the march across many of our societies and our cultural meeting points play a vital role in bringing different people together to share in their common heritage. The Council of Europe Museum Prize since 1977 encourages the contribution for museums to a greater understanding of the rich diversity of European culture. The European Museum Forum, operating under the auspices of the Council of Europe, organises the prize selection. The Luigi Micheletti Award was founded 20 years ago, and since the beginning was associated with the Council of Europe. As a result, the Council of Europe had the opportunity to get in touch with this special part of the European museum world which has proved of special interest for the themes dealt with as well as for the rapid process of innovation in the display and communication techniques which have interested this kind of museums. Industry and science are at the roots of modern Europe and its culture and the aims of the Micheletti Award fit well with the Council of Europe mission to foster policies of protection and enhancement of cultural heritage in the broadest sense of the word. Also in geographical terms there are common views as the Micheletti Award is open to all the countries members of the Council of Europe which is the oldest and largest European organisation. From 2011 onwards the system of recruitment of candidates to the Luigi Micheletti Award has changed radically. The award is now administered by the European Museum Academy and applications are invited from museums of any age. Another innovation which is interesting for the Council of Europe is the enlargement of the scope of the award to the history of the 20th-century museums.