Museums as Agents of Memory and Change Conference Programme Abstracts 24–26/04/2019 Tallinn, Tartu / Estonia Tartu 2019 WELCOME ADDRESSES Welcome from Alar Karis, Estonian National Museum Director I am pleased to welcome all participants in the Mu- seums as Agents of Memory and Change conference. The conference marks the Estonian National Muse- um’s 59th Annual Conference and it takes place in the museum’s 110th anniversary year. We are fortunate to join forces with our good partner the memory research group at the Depart- ment of Ethnology, University of Tartu, to organise the conference. Memory and museums have been in a reciprocal relationship since the advent of the museum. In the 3 days of the conference we will analyse different aspects of this relationship from different contexts. We will hear the latest research on how museums infl uence memory processes around the world and analyse the complexities and interpretations behind remembering – issues that affect millions of muse- um professionals, researchers and visitors every day. We are happy to announce that the conference has attracted 120 delegates from more than 25 countries. These questions are also faced by the Estonian National Museum, which has been one of the most important displays of Estonian culture in different eras. The Estonian National Museum was founded in 1909 and the history of the museum bears many similarities in development to other museums in the people. The Encounters exhibition deals with Estoni- region. an everyday life from fi rst settlers to the present day, The Museum is situated in the multi-layered while Echo of the Urals looks at the traditional life Raadi area, which is a former Baltic German manor of Finno-Ugric peoples. Creating these exhibitions complex; it then housed the museum in the 1920s brought together hundreds of people from different and 1930s, becoming an important national symbol. backgrounds, with their life stories and worldviews, After WWII the territory of the museum became a while at the same time allowing the Estonian re- Soviet military airbase and the whole area was cut search community to introduce their newest re- off from the urban space of the city. From the 1990s, search results. After 2 years and more then 550 000 after Soviet military forces left Estonia, the area was visitors, it is now important to analyse the Museum’s abandoned and became a deserted socio-psycholog- role in memory construction. ical wilderness. In 2016 the museum was opened in I would like to thank University of Tartu for co- a new building designed by DGT Architects, called operating with the Estonian National Museum and Memory Field, and inspired by the surrounding land- welcome you to Estonia on behalf of the Conference scape and its former uses, this bringing together dif- Team. Inspiring days are ahead, with open debate, ferent meanings and perceptions. knowledge sharing and fruitful discussion. The production of new permanent exhibitions triggered a rethinking of the museum’s identity. One of the museum’s goals has been to support a feeling Alar Karis of belonging in the contemporary borderless world, Estonian National Museum Director as well as to rephrase traditional national narratives for contemporary needs. The exhibitions show the everyday life of various cultural and social groups throughout the history of settlement. Visibility has been given to the stories and artefacts of common WELCOME ADDRESSES what is the role of museums during political trans- formations; how can museums address legacies of colonialism, dictatorships, genocides, warfare, forced migrations; do museums have a power to break es- tablished memory narratives and build new ones; how are museums embedded to global memory cul- ture; how should museums relate to activism? Another major set of problems to be discussed in this conference touch upon the politics of collection, curation and representation: how to revise collec- tions vis-à-vis changing societies; how to represent inconvenient and confl icting pasts; how to tell sto- ries about the future with collections from the past; what are the limitations and relevance of museum collections and what challenges they present to the curator in making heritage(s) and empower visitors? Last but least, the conference critically revisits the ideals and practices of participation and collab- oration in the museum: what does it really mean to give authority over museum content to the cit- izen; how to target multiple groups and to discuss complex subjects with visitors; what characterizes the visitor involvement on site; how to successfully encourage debate and fi nd new ways to engage com- munities; how to assist museum professionals when engaged in tension-creating discourses? The conference is organized by the museums and memory research group at the Department of Ethnology, University of Tartu, and by the Estonian Welcome from Ene Kõresaar, National Museum on the occasion of the 110th birth- Associate Professor of Ethnology day of the ENM. We are happy to welcome an inter- University of Tartu national body of more than a hundred registered participants, academics and museum practitioners from a vast variety of countries to join in discussion This conference aims at problematizing the role of over the past, the present and the future of museums museum institutions, museum practitioners and mu- in the contested fi eld of history and memory. seological representations in dealing with contested pasts in contested present. In an era of rising global demands on history and culture institutions muse- Ene Kõresaar ums are increasingly embedded in the fi eld of (trans/ Associate Professor of Ethnology national) politics of memory and heritage, diverse, University of Tartu often disparate group interests, and power relations. While expanding their work from collecting and pre- serving to supporting, educating and empowering communities, museums negotiate between emotion- al, ideological, political, and commercial interests. More than ever, dealing with the past is full of im- pediments and challenges for museums. This conference tackles with the diversity of re- sponsibilities, roles, practices and challenges of and for museums from three angles. The fi rst range of questions deal with how mu- seums negotiate politics and policies of memory when dealing with diffi cult and contested pasts: PROGRAMME Wednesday, 24/04/2019 • Kelly Diaz. Queer and Trans Museums: Successes and Limitations in Reach, Audience, Place, and Location: Estonian History Museum Maarjamäe Experience History Centre Discussion 15:00 Registration: Film Museum 16:00 Opening and Welcome Address: Cinema Panel 2B: Involvements and Collaborations: and Conference Hall Cinema and Conference Hall • Alar Karis, Director of the Estonian National Chair Agnes Aljas, Estonian National Museum Museum • Aleksandra Kubica. Engaging with Diffi cult • Merilin Piipuu, Ministry of Culture Undersecre- Memory about Jews in Collaborative Museum- tary for Cultural Heritage Making: Museum on Wheels on Tour in Rural Poland 16:15–17:30 Keynote 1: Cinema and Conference Hall • Jakub Jareš. Czech Museums as Agents of Uncon- Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Museums and the tested Memory Politics of History • Alisa Maximova. Small-Town Local History Chair Pille Runnel, Estonian National Museum Museums in Russia: Participation, Agency, and Discussion Survival 17:30–19:00 Session 1: Cinema and Conference Hall Discussion Panel 1: Memory Regimes I: Breaking Old Narra- 11:15 Coffee Break: Fireplace Hall and Estonian tives Film Museum Cafeteria Chair Maarja Kaaristo, Manchester Metropolitan Uni- 11:45–13:45 Session 3AB versity, University of Tartu Panel 3A: Critical Museum and Global Narra- • Vikki Hawkins. The Imperial War Museums’ Sec- tives: Fireplace Hall ond World War Gallery Regeneration Project Chair Siobhan Kattago, University of Tartu • Natalia Romik, Justyna Koszarska-Szulc. Be- • Kristin Josvoll, JoAnn DiGeorgio-Lutz. “Memo- yond Autonomy. The Curatorial Struggles Against ry Words” and Museums: Promoting Never Again Contemporary Anti-Semitism. The Case of the in Post-Confl ict Societies, a Look at Guatemala Exhibition Estranged. March ’68 and Its After- and Bosnia math • Pin-chia Feng. Revisiting the Past and Recon- • Janicke Kernland. Fiction as a Means to Help fi guring Transformative Changes: “Anne × Ama – Change the Established, Collective Way of Re- Girls Under Fire in WWII” at Taipei’s Ama Museum membering the Past Discussion • Margaret Helen Freeman. “Don’t Touch, I Am 19:00–21:00 Opening Reception at the Estonian Very Monumental”: Museums of American Indian History Museum: Summer Hall Culture and History as Sites of Ongoing Coloni- alism Thursday, 25/04/2019 • Thomas Overdick, Sven Klomp. “Rum, Sweat, Location: Estonian History Museum Maarjamäe and Tears”. A Change of Perspective in Curating History Centre and Displaying Colonial History 9:00 Registration: Film Museum Discussion 9:15–11:15 Session 2AB Panel 3B: “Diffi cult” Collections: Cinema and Conference Hall Panel 2A: The “Specifi c” Past – Global Futures: Fireplace Hall Chair Kristina Jõekalda, Estonian Academy of Arts Chair Kristel Rattus, Estonian National Museum • Kersti Tainio. Old Masters Meet Russian Revolu- tions • Valeria Pica, Ilenia Atzori. Remembering and Forgetting: How Memories are Taken for Granted • Lea Grüter. Le Musée du Louvre and the Orphan Art Works of Salle 804 – A Lieu de Mémoire in the • Kirstie Jamieson, Marta Discepoli, Ella Leith. Discourse of Nazi Looted Art Restitution The Deaf Heritage Collective: Collaboration