On December 12, 2013 we invite you to the conference "New Museums, New Collections. The Place and Role of Collections in Historical Museums".

Over the recent years over a dozen new historical museums have come into being in Poland, including the Warsaw Rising Museum, the Museum of Polish History, the Museum of the Second World War, the European Solidarity Center and the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Some of them have already opened, others will do so soon.

In 2012, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews organized an important conference, “Polish Historical Museums in the European Context,” addressing the concept of historical narrative and the relationship between history and memory in museums. The issue of museum collections, one of particular importance to new historical museums, also appeared in the discussions.

The purpose of new museums is often to present narrative exhibitions, with collection-gathering becoming a secondary activity. All of the above museums launched their activity with very scant collections. Their current situation is different – some have built up impressive collections, which are still growing.

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, initially planned as an institution with virtually no collection, has also amassed an original museum collection over the past few years. This has made the Museum reflect on the role and significance of collections for new museums.

Conference topics will include:

• the role of collections in a narrative museum,
• the role of collections for national identities; a nation’s self-portrait,
• what sort of collection? (what to collect?); collection gathering policy,
• personal objects vs. historical narrative,
• artworks vs. historical narrative,
• the place of contemporary artworks in a narrative museum,
• artifacts and museums in the virtual era.

We will also inquire into the nature of the relationships between:

• the (personal) object – memory and presence; forgetting,
• the personal object – work of art,
• the (personal) object – personal stories – oral history.

We invite historians, art historians, museum professionals, anthropologists, cultural scientists and sociologists to take part in the conference and offer their ideas on whether it is worthwhile to build new museum collections. We will also reflect on the role of collections in shaping a museum’s identity, and on the role of historians, art historians and curators in creating distinctive museum narratives.

The one-day conference, to be held on December 12, 2013, will accompany the “Biographies of Things. Gifts in the Collection of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews” exhibition (October 18, 2013 – February 17, 2014).

Organizers: Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Polish National Committee, International Council of Museums.

Supported from the Norway and EEA Grants by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

 

www.eeagrants.org, www.norwaygrants.org