Siamo lieti di segnalare i contributi dei Soci italiani. Ci vediamo a Praga!
22 agosto
WGCS – Collections in storage: prospects and potentials
14:00-15:30
Prague Conference Center – South Room 224
Lucia Ferruzza, member of ICOM Italy’s board, is a member of the WG
Solidarity Project – 2021 Results and Achievements
14:00-15:30
Prague Conference Center – Room Club A
The ICOM Solidarity projects focused on the challenges that museums face during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the resilience of museums and the way they adapted to the new situation. During this session, we will share the results of several projects that received financial support from the ICOM Solidarity initiative in 2021. These achievements evidence challenges museums faced through examples, best practices, challenges, and new models for museum practice that could be replicated or serve as the starting point for other initiatives implemented by ICOM members worldwide.
MPR – The Power to Inspire Hope
16:00-17:30
Prague Conference Center – Chamber Hall
Keeping in touch with Patrons | Author: Anna Dentoni – Secretary General, Promotori Musei Mare, Genova, Italy. Co-author: Cristina Chiaiso – Il peso di una piuma, Consultant (16:48)
Abstract
Genoa’s Galata Museo del Mare has been backed by the Association Promotori Musei Mare for over 25 years. A group of forward- looking and enlightened entrepreneurs have united to support the city’s maritime heritage and over the years the connection has grown and consolidated. However, during the lockdown and the closing of Galata Maritime Museum, a different approach was necessary in order to keep in touch with Patrons and maintain a close relationship with them. We organised and recorded short one on one interviews with the sponsors, using different approach according to our objectives and in total respect of their style. The short movies (max 3 minutes) were sent to a selected mailing list through the e-newsletter Logbook and are now in the playlist “Le Storie dei Promotori, 5 minuti con…. ” in the YouTube channel of Promotori. In my presentation I’ll briefly explain the idea behind the project and show movies’ excerpts.In my presentation I’ll briefly explain the idea behind the project and show a few movie’s excerpt as example.
The colour of Hope – raising awareness about the symbolic and identity value of our cultural Heritage | Author: Cristina Chiaiso – Il peso di una piuma, Consultant (17:00)
Abstract
What is the colour of Hope? “Colora la tua Lanterna – Colour (and light up) your Lanterna” was proposed in 2020 by the Monumental Complex of the Lanterna – Genoa Lighthouse and City Icon – during the Italian lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative was focused on involving children, raising awareness about the symbolic and identity value of our cultural, historical and artistic Heritage and inspiring hope for the future by a call-to-action to draw and colour the lighthouse with the colour of hope and courage, explaining the reason of that choice and sharing on the social networks (#IoColoroLaLanterna). The winner decided the Lanterna artistic lighting colour on 20th April 2020. Indeed, as many important monuments in the World, the Lanterna lights up with different colours to raise awareness about important topics, joining also an international UNESCO and United Nations schedule: by its artistic lighting system, it is in constant dialogue with the city, recovering its ancient communication role. The “Lanterna”, Genoa Lighthouse and City Icon, with its 77 metres in height (standing 117 metres above sea level), it is the highest lighthouse in the Mediterranean. The monumental complex of the lighthouse, which is part of the “Mu.MA Istituzione Musei del Mare e delle Migrazioni” (which is an Institutional member of ICOM Italia), includes also a promenade overlooking the Port of Genoa, the Open Air Museum in the park, which follows the line of the seventeenth-century fortifications and where is the nineteenth-century “Porta Nuova” (New Gate) of the Lanterna. At the base of the lighthouse, inside the ancient fortifications, is the Lanterna Museum. The Lanterna is strongly connected with its territory (Genoa is usually called “the City of the Lanterna”), but it is also projected in an international context. The artistic lighting schedule is available on the website; it is also possibile to enjoy the artistic lighting by the lighthouse webcam. Further information and a 3D virtual tour are available on the website: www.lanternadigenova.it
HELP project: museum digital education / Open licences, digital accessibility, sustainability. ICOM ITALY, ICOM PORTUGAL , ICOM CZECH REPUBLIC, WG Sustainability
16:00-17:30
Prague Conference Centre – South Room 225
23 agosto
MPR, The Power to Engage in Conversation
14:15-17:45
Prague Conference Centre – Small Theatre
The power of innovative platforms and technology to help meet Museums’ Visitors needs’ and how they are a tool to serve, guide, engage and comfort the Museums’ audience | Anastassia Belessioti – Alfabi studio d’Arte e Restauro
Abstract
Nowadays more and more museums are embracing digital innovations, and according to a general research, this is a worthwhile investment. At the present time of overwhelming challenges, how innovative platforms or formats can be a powerful tool to help meeting museums’ ‘Visitor needs’ and exceed guests’ expectations? How and in what ways a museum’s strategic plan is supported by technology in order to engage the audience, deal with tough topics, and eventually make visitors return? Traditional organizations are quickly realizing the importance of data and how knowing the taste of the audience is important to develop appropriate strategies, both artistic and in marketing. In this paper is presented how Beacon technology and digital analytic platforms nowadays can be, if not are already, a powerful and revolutionary tool to collect ‘data’ that can transform museums’ standards to Serve, Guide, Engage and Comfort their audience in order to make THE difference for their visitors. ‘The Dalì Museum’ located in Tampa Bay, USA, is one of the examples that are included in this presentation and it is shared how a museum deals with tough topics and manage to exceed guests’ expectations, and fulfils the goals to support its mission, educate, and promote understanding, equity and inclusivity.
AVICOM, MPR, ICOM GERMANY – The COVID19 Challenge: Museums and their digital engagement in times of crises. Results of the Solidarity Project of AVICOM, MPR and ICOM Germany
14:30-16:00
Prague Conference Centre – Small Theatre
The impact of lockdown on public engagement and involvement in small and peripheral museums: the case study of Swapmuseum digital strategy | Authors: Elisa Monsellato, Carola Gatto (15:00)
Abstract
Swapmuseum is a project of cultural participation, based on a mutual exchange between teenagers, between 16 and 29 years old, called “swappers”, small museums and companies. The project aims to involve an under-served target group in museums, that of teenagers, in order to carry out non-specialised voluntary activities, agreed upon with the scientific direction of the museum. The exchange process is as follows: museums identify activities suitable for their own context, such as communication activities (contests, blogging, social), promotion (creation of memory archives, organisation of visits and events for teenagers); fruition (emotional audio guides, sensory paths, simplified captions, maps, treasure hunts). The young volunteers can choose the activities according to their aptitudes, in exchange for benefits commensurate with the number of hours spent, ranging from a series of discounts granted by affiliated shops, to the possibility of using cultural services, to the recognition of training credits. The project was launched in 2016 with funding under the “Con Il sud che partecipa” call for proposals by Fondazione con il Sud, and has been refinanced several times by various public and private bodies to date. Geographically, the project is located in the Apulia region (Italy), and has intervened precisely on the consolidation of the museum network, acting in particular on small and peripheral museums. Due to the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, all project partner museums were forced to close. Therefore Swapmuseum invested in the creation of digital content using different online tools to reach and engage the target group. The project turned into a transmedia experience during the lockdown, thanks to the integration of innovative digital tools and proven engagement strategies. Digital has thus become a tool to increase active participation, as it contributes to the expansion of the museum-world through user-generated content, triggering processes of enjoyment and emotional involvement. Storytelling takes on the connotations of a transmedia narrative, becoming a collective narrative. This paper analyses the data and outputs of the project before and after the lockdown, investigating the ongoing transformation in terms of engagement and effectiveness of the methodology.
ICAMT, Sustainability
14:30-16:00
Prague Conference Centre – South Hall 2a
State of the art in the application of a sustainable circular economy among museums of Lombardy and main barriers to be overcome | Author: Maria Cristina Vannini – Managing Director, Soluzionimuseali-ims sas, Milan, Italy. Co-author: Lucia Pini – Director, Galleria d’Arte Moderna Ricci Oddi, Piacenza, Italy.
Abstract
Although museums have been facing numerous difficulties, Just before the pandemics, the Lombardy Regional Coordination of ICOM Italy created a Working Group on sustainable installations to verify the attitudes toward recycling. The group launched a survey on the current environmental sustainability best practices activated by Lombardy museums, which focused on the fittings of permanent and temporary exhibitions. The need for recycling started with the necessity to comply with the Ministry of Ecological Transition’s Minimum Environmental Criteria. The group collected a significant sample that confirmed the high interest in the topic and the existence of some of the best practices already in use. Critical issues were uncovered during data analysis, mainly related to the design authorship and the administrative regulations of the museum owners. Also the governance of the museums resulted to be a barrier of some kind to a certain extent. Each of the emerging issues will be the topic of the second phase of this project, which will be enlarged to collect and compare best practices from abroad, both from the museums’ side and the private sector. Research results will be used to draft guidelines for fostering effective recycling practices to be applied by the regional legislation which regulates participation in tenders and supplies and eventually, in the definition of a platform to set up a database to enable the sharing of museum fittings available for recycling, with the support of institutional and private stakeholders. The results achieved so far will be presented by the Working Group composed by museum consultants (Annamaria Ravagnan, M. Cristina Vannini), lawyer specialized in art law, cultural heritage law and ip issues related to art (Cristina Manasse Roberts), registrars (Danusa Castro, Federica Manoli), directors (Lucia Pini, Mara De Fanti), curators (Laura Aldovini, Melissa Tondi) working in the public and private museum sector.
ICFA – Fine Arts online. How?
14:30-18:00
Prague Conference Centre – South Room 224
Ongoing digital open access museum transformation: FAQs on legal aspects. A practical tool by ICOM Italy | Authors: Sarah Dominique Orlandi, Deborah De Angelis, Pierfrancesco Fasano, Cristina Manasse;, Anna Maria Marras, Mirco Modolo (15:30)
Abstract
Museums once called to mind dusty places. The closures caused by the Pandemic pushed GLAM institutions to invest in digital communication, showing their relevance in the community: facing changes, seeking innovation, supporting community resilience, attracting new skills, making heritage accessible through Open Access policies and its inclusivity and public engagement values. Many GLAM professionals don’t know copyright legislation. This generates negative implications, also when applying Open Access’ principles. The Directive 2019/790/EU offers opportunities providing for mandatory exceptions to copyright crucial to know. The project offers a legal analysis of these rules providing practical support to the cultural heritage institutions. Therefore we have created the Open Access: FAQs Author’s Rights, Copyright and Open Licenses for culture on the web. 100 questions and answers for museums, archives and libraries (Free online version CC BY-SA https://zenodo.org/record/4608430). The topic was treated in an European and international perspective to provide a global vision and to connect common issues of GLAM institutions as to find the right balance between copyright and public domain. In terms of innovation, the approach to the research has considered the dramatic boost of digital transformation for GLAM institutions and their best practices on copyright and digital tools, related to collection, conservation, study, exhibition, marketing and managing online and onsite visitors. The ICOM Italy research group, composed of three lawyers and three cultural heritage professionals, worked a year to create a practical tool released in Open Access, with the involvement of a large number of international reviewers to obtain a cultural exchange with experienced colleagues. A free version of the FAQs and an open version has been presented in a dedicated conference (March 2021), with expert panels and with excellent participation. The FAQs have been defined as an important practical tool that was missing for digital activity, to help institutions in their transition to creative online alternatives.
ICLCM – The power of Composer´s museums
14:30-18:00
Prague Conference Centre – Meeting Room 1.2
The museum outside the museum: “On the steps of Dante” | Authors: Alessandra Bosco, Silvia Gasparotto, Margo Lengua, Pietro Baruzzi (16:30)
Abstract
Despite the immeasurability of the material and immaterial heritage preserved, and the cultural value of the Supreme Poet and his writings, the “Area Dantesca” of Ravenna is now mostly visited by schoolchildren, random tourists and academics. Starting from these premises, the project “On the step of Dante” proposes the realization of an interactive exhibition able to tell the story of the relationship between the Poet and the city of Ravenna through the use of technologies and the activation of co-design processes in order to enhance the heritage by involving local citizens and institutions. The exhibition, located inside the Oriani library, a public space close to the “Zona del silenzio”, and developed with the middle and high schools of Ravenna together with some citizens, is the first pilot project of MEET. MEET – “Multifaceted Experiences for Enhancing Territories” is a format developed by the research unit in “Design for Heritage and Culture” of the University of the Republic of San Marino starting from March 2021(Gasparotto, Bosco et. al., 2021). It aims to enhance the relationship between a historical figure, a territory and its community through the proposal of an interactive narrative path (Bonacini, 2020) placed in a public place. The museum “comes out of the museum” to pool citizens and culture in an exhibition developed together with teachers and students. Young citizens thus become at the same time central player and ambassadors of local culture. The use of digital languages and interactive technologies creates engagement with a broader audience and allows them to experiment with unconventional learning methods. The exhibition includes: “The Ravenna of Dante”, an interactive map showing 16 Dante’s places scattered over the territory; “Dante’s pages”, an interactive table where visitors can deepen some aspects of Dante’s poetry through audio-video contents created in collaboration with local schools. The last installation, “Conversations on Dante” is a 1:1 scale projection in which four citizens recite passages from the Divine Comedy becoming spokesmen for the local culture. The project can be implemented and can involve different stakeholders, activating multiple relationships and knowledge of the territory.
WGS (Working Group on Sustainability) – Museums for climate emergency: Bridging local governments, communities, and climate activism
14:30-16:00
Prague Conference Centre – South Hall 1b
Integrating sustainability in Italian Museums for the ecological transition – project and vision
Michela Rota, ICOM Italia (14:40)
AVICOM, News from the world of audiovisual and digital museum
16:30-18:00
Prague Conference Centre – South Room 220
Conversational assistants, chatbot: how language technologies interact in the everyday life of museums | Anna Maria Marras, Università di Torino (16:56)
Abstract
The term “conversational interface” indicates a set of human-machine interfaces based on dialogue which includes:
– voice assistants
– chatbots (or chatterbots the dialogue systems of some robots)
This type of technology is continuously developing and improving and can be excellent applications for museums as well. One of the first conversational interfaces in museums dates to 2005, it is the conversational agent named Max, installed in January 2004 in the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF), the computer museum in Paderborn (Germany). For the first time, an interface prototype enters a real museum context and confronts real visitors. One of the most recent is Art Museum, the application was the winner of the Conversations Skill Challenge Alexa. Works on Echo Show or another Alexa-enabled multimode device. All media used are in the public domain and available from the Art Institute of Chicago Public API. In this contribution we will explore the history of these applications in the museum environment, telling their evolution and highlighting future applications.
COSTUME, The Ritual Power of Clothing
16:30-18:00
Prague Conference Centre – South Room 221
“Casula vero significare debet opera” – Metaphors, allegories, and the mystical significance of liturgical garments in the accounts of the Fathers of the Church | Sara Paci Piccolo (17:00)
Abstract
The style of liturgical clothing is not random: it is always a reflection of historical-economic-political circumstances and the construction of an imaginary that corresponds to them. However, explaining the made choices is not always easy, not least because they are often the result of a more or less rapid process of change in thinking that takes place for several reasons. In the Catholic world, the Council of Trent, based on a long tradition and in the process of revision prompted by the Reformation, decisively affirmed the importance of liturgical clothing in keeping with the expression of Christian values. The explicit educational objective of promoting the Word coexisted with the intention of transmitting the power and hierarchical expression in relation to other Christian currents and other monotheistic religions – Judaism and Islam – in a language understood by all. In the Bible, in fact, the garment is one of the most powerful metaphors, even if today we sometimes overlook its mystical meanings. With the advent of modern rational thought and the related social transformations, the spiritual links with the forms and uses of the garment as described in the sacred texts have slowly loosened. To recover them, we are helped by medieval thinkers – Gregory the Great, Raban Maurus, Innocent III, among others – whose detailed explanations of the forms or characteristics of liturgical garments, although sometimes incongruent or difficult to accept, tell us how they are not only an expression of functionality – implicit – but also of meaningful planning. The number and quality of the Fathers who devoted themselves to this subject give us a clear indication of how the garment was one of the most engaging and thoughtful elements of reflection, making it interesting to go to the roots of the deep meanings of liturgical clothing.
Women of Fashion Museums. Stories of enlightened women, art historians, collectors, and editors who have brought fashion into museums | Virginia Spadaccini – Dottoranda di ricerca presso l’Università degli Studi “Gabriele d’Annunzio” di Chieti-Pescara (17:45)
ICTOP, The Power of Training
16:30-18:00
Prague Conference Centre – Meeting Room 3.1
Well-being and technology in the training of Museum Educators: an analysis for the development of good practices in two Postgraduate Courses in Italy during the pandemic | Antonella Poce, Giulia Innocentini, Luca Contardi, Sabina Pirchi, Maria Tolaini, Eliana Maria Torre (17:10)
Abstract
For years, culture in all its various forms has been given an important role both in supporting the psychological well-being of individuals and accompanying the work of those committed to promoting the development of different skills, competencies and intelligence, in full compliance with the objectives set by the New European Agenda for Culture 2030. Considering the studies on the role of art and culture in promoting a healthier and more inclusive society and the difficulties faced by the sector due to the Covid Pandemic, this study investigates the contribution offered in this regard by post-graduate training courses for cultural operators. It specifically analyses the postgraduate joint degree courses offered by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and the University of Roma Tre (General Museum Didactics and Advanced Studies of Museum Education). A particular focus is on students and their well-being concerning strategies adopted in 2020 – 2022.We adopt quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus group) methods to investigate whether the training strategies applied have been able to contribute to the participants’ and teachers’ well-being. The goal is to contribute to the development of best practices in a space of international comparison, promoting the development of successful strategies in postgraduate courses for museum professionals, with the possibility of improving well-being, accessibility, and inclusiveness in further formal and non-formal education contexts. Results are presented in detail in the full contribution.
25 agosto | OFF-SITE MEETINGS
COSTUME, The Ritual Power of Clothing
08:30-18:00
Museum of Decorative Arts
“Tradimus vobs Pallium”: Investiture and the Passage of Costumes and Textiles in the Palio di Legnano Ceremonies | Alessio Francesco Palmieri-Marinoni – Docente di Storia del Costume Teatrale e Storia del Costume della Moda, Fondazione Arte della Seta Lisio, Corso biennale Sartoria Storica e per la Scena (09:00)
Abstract
Today, is it possible to speak about rites of passage involving textile objects or clothing? What values (tangible and intangible) can we identify in contexts such as historical re-enactments, in which investiture ceremonies and rites involving historical costumes are still there? Do people perceive clothing and textiles as “decor” and “staging elements”, or do these elements take social, cultural and identity values? In the Italian landscape of historical re-enactments, the Palio di Legnano present a specific peculiarity linked to religious and civil ceremonies in which costumes take on a specific meaning. Starting from a tradition dated back to the Middle Ages (Dimitrova – Goehring 2014; Koslin – Snyder 2002), established and regulated in the 1930s and confirmed with a papal decree in 1952, historical costumes in the Palio di Legnano ceremonies are closely related to the idea of rituality, sacredness and historical authenticity. Contemporary scholars (Marinoni 2015) refers to them as the “liturgy” of the Palio, within which capes, chasubles, reconstructions of 12th-century costumes are fundamental tools to express both the continuity of a cultural tradition and the staging and embodying of history (Davidson 2019). This paper investigates the function costumes in the religious and civil ceremonies of the Palio di Legnano. Analyzing the so-called “Cerimonie di Rito” (ritual ceremonies) and the cultural practices of every Contrada (i.e. district), I will outline the different typologies of rites of passage concerning costumes. Through some examples, the analysis will focus on three fundamental aspects: the liturgical garments offered by the Palio di Legnano to the Archpriest for the religious investiture, the rituality linked to the use of the so-called “civil” cloaks, and the use of historical costumes according to the different ceremonial of each Contrada.
ICOFOM, Taboos in Museology: Difficult issues for museum theory
09:00-18:00
National Technical Museum
Defining a method for uncovering “taboos” in Museums | Barbara Landi, Head of Communication, Events and Special Projects, ICOM Italy (Working session 1: Neutrality and Activism, 13:00–14:15)
Abstract
Se alcuni contesti, per la loro specifica storia, presentano chiari segnali di esclusione (di gruppo di persone, di oggetti, di narrazioni, ecc.) e “tabù” / censure e musei già avviati porsi alcune domande a riguardo e come andare avanti, in altri contesti apparentemente può essere difficile scoprire preconcetti, pregiudizi e in generale capire che “noi” (qualunque cosa significhi “noi”) non siamo – e non possiamo – essere totalmente neutrali in ogni caso. Si rende necessario individuare un metodo che permetta ai musei di guidarsi in un processo di scoprire la propria “verità” e i suoi pregiudizi. Il processo sarà lungo, ma a Praga saranno presentati i primi risultati emersi dal questionario “Musei e tabu”.
Reflections for reframing the taboos of collections | Manuelina Maria Duarte Cândido, University of Liėge, Giusy Pappalardo, University of Catania (14:45 – 16:00 Working session 2: Collections and Publics)
Abstract
The concept of collection and the idea of collecting can be problematized in several ways. In this contribution, we move from Mathilde Bellaigue’s notions of institutional collection and operational collection, applied in the Creusot Ecomuseum, and subsequently spread among Brazilian ecomuseums and com-munity museums. Based on such notions, we argue that collections can have different forms, and we focus on the process of generating collections. First, we contend that ecomuseums and community museums are not museums without collections; rather, they adopt extended categories of collection. Then we discuss a broader extension of the notion of collections.
GLASS, Glass as a powerful (museums) material
09:00-12:00
Museum of Decorative Arts
Medieval Glass in Motion – Portugal within a European Context | Anna Cristoforetti (09:20)
INTERCOM, Museum Leadership – Taking the pulse
08:30-18:00
National Museum of Agriculture
Managing a museum network: a matter of balance. The case study of Fondazione Musei Senesi | Elisa Bruttini, Fondazione Musei Senesi (11:39)
POSTERS
CAMOC
Online
Inclusive Museums for well-being and health through the creation of a new shared memory. The Inclusive Memory project | Antonella Poce, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Maria Rosaria Re, Mara Valente, Università Roma Tre
Abstract
The poster aims at presenting the theoretical framework, the methodological approach and the first results of the Erasmus+ KA220 Inclusive Memory (IM) project, coordinated by University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy). The IM project aims at promoting the building of a common shared social memory realised through a museum based social inclusive system, through the link Art-Health-Wellbeing. The core idea of the project stems from the potential benefits of the cooperation between HEIs, Health and Social care Institutions and Museums of cities, as a strategic partnership to advance in museum education to support the design, realization, monitoring and evaluation of art-based actions specifically addressed to people with social care and health problems. There is an expanding body of research that support the case that the arts have an important contribution to make to health and wellbeing. Museum education activities have been found to alleviate anxiety, depression and stress while increasing resilience and wellbeing. However, the potential contribution of museums to health and wellbeing has, as yet, been all too little realised. Too often, education programmes of museums of cities for health are temporary, and provision is uneven across the different countries. For this to improve, culture change is needed. Through the reversed community approach, the IM project challenges habitual thinking and asks for new collaborations to be formed across conventional boundaries.
Online
Museums are closed due to Covid-19? Let’s move objects virtually to their sites of discovery! | Annamaria Ravagnan, Gruppo Archeologico Milanese
CECA
Holiday Inn hotel near Congress Centre
August 24th, 10:45-to 11:30
The ICOM Glossary as a tool to support the design of a museum education laboratory: the case of Festival della Scienza 2021 for the Galata Museo del Mare | A. Saracchi – DIBRIS University of Genoa, Genova, Italy, A. M. Sugliano – Associazione EPICT Italia, Genoa, Italy, F. Acerenza – ICOM Liguria Regional Coordination, Genoa, Italy
Abstract
The adoption of digital technology for the preservation, documentation and communication of cultural heritage is a topic of attention in the museum sector. The thematic commission on Digital Technologies for Cultural Heritage of the Italian section of ICOM (Council of Museums) testifies to this attention with several actions, including the creation and editing of the ICOM Glossary: a constantly updated object that collects and explains the terms of museum language and is intended to support “museum designers and directors in choosing the most suitable technologies for their own context”. The present work illustrates the design of the museum didactics laboratory realized for the Genoa Science Festival 2021 in the framework of the collaboration between Galata Museo del Mare, the EPICT Italia Association, the DIBRIS Department of the University of Genoa and LIGURIA- ICOM. The project foresees the use of some of the technologies and methodologies indicated in the ICOM Glossary: augmented and immersive reality tools with a storytelling that intends to propose a dialoguing approach with the works on display and that includes elements of gamification.
COSTUME
Online
From rock art to fashion. The power of a symbolic form | Patrizia Schettino, Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera e CNR
Abstract
This poster will summarise the creative process of two Italian fashion designers who designed a collection based on some symbols from “Val Camonica”, the first Italian Unesco Heritage site. The paper will attempt to address a more general research question: how can designers take inspiration from a local community, from its heritage, including rock art, in a mutually engaging and respectful way? What is the connection between “transmigration of symbols”, cultural appropriation and the design process? Wittkover described how symbols can be adopted in different places, when artists, designers, craftsmen move from one community to another. Cassirer wrote that some of those symbols are also universal, a “symbolic form”, and can be found in different parts of the word, with similar of different meaning. How can the curators of local museums, the expert archaeologists of the Unesco site and the local communities play an active role in the design process? The poster will also include some of the results of interviews with key stakeholders (designers, archaeologists, members of the local community).
ICMAH
National Museum, Historical and New Building (Národní muzeum, Nová budova)
August 25th
From soil to glass case: Chinese prehistoric past in museums today | Sofia Bollo
Abstract
How can an old vase of the past be relevant for today? This poster takes the case of Neolithic Pottery from China to explore the uses of the past in the present within the museum space. Since its first excavation a hundred years ago, the perceived value of China’s Neolithic pottery has undergone various changes, often in response to historical events in the country, going from a dusty object to a valuable heritage treasure. Today Neolithic pots are on display in many public museums in China, are sold at commercial antiquity markets, and are even used in contemporary art installations. As these objects are increasingly showcased in many museums in China and outside China, new accounts of China’s prehistoric past have unfolded for a global audience. “Is a Neolithic vase dipped in paint […] more valuable as a contemporary artwork than it was as an original?” Tim Marlow and Adrian Locke, Ai Weiwei: Royal Academy of Arts (London: Royal Academy Publ, 2015), 155. This poster raises questions and provides insights into different efforts to turn the Chinese prehistoric past into a universal heritage in museums and various practices to create international social connections through archaeological collections.
ICME
Online
Re-creating works of art at home. A pilot study based on digital ethnography | Patrizia Schettino, Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera e CNR
Abstract
The “Getty challenge” and “Tussen Kunst en Quarantaine” are two challenges for museum visitors and social media users in general to imitate a work of art using household objects. These challenges began during the first lockdown, in 2020, but people are continuing to create photos and share them. The poster is based on the digital ethnography method: I took part in the challenges and created pictures, choosing works of art from different museums and writing comments on social media, etc. Gombrich analyzed the process of making art by “imitating” nature, showing that there is always a point of view of the viewer in the work of art; it is not possible to have a “virgin” eye. The perception is also influenced by culture, memories of previous images and our interpretation. In these challenges, the process is the opposite: the viewer imitates the work of art using “real” objects found in the home, with a “mise en place” involving relatives, friends, personal objects, pets. The poster is a reflection of this process of “making meaning”, in this way engaging visitors with works of art in museums during the pandemic. Does this process show the power of museums and their collections, the creativity of the audience and, more in general, the power of art in very difficult moments, such as a lockdown?
The social value of university museums. “third mission” and the “inclusive memory” profiling tool and web app | Antonella Poce, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Maria Rosaria Re, Mara Valente, Carlo De Medio, Università Roma Tre, Lisa Zuliani, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Abstract
University museums and collections are essential resources for research, education and preservation of socio-cultural and scientific heritage, conveying, through specific development actions, important benefits to local communities and society (UMAC, 2017). The historically intrinsic link between museums and universities, which sees university institutions as “natural generators of heritage” (Lourenço, 2015), necessarily leads, in the post-pandemic era, to the redefinition of additional ways of using the collections. One of the most important strategies to make museums accessible and inclusive could be to provide visitors with tools to access personalised educational experiences. Therefore, the Inclusive Memory project developed a user profiling tool delivered through a multifunctional web app. Before using the developed methodology with individuals at risk of social exclusion, it was decided to conduct a preliminary validation with 15 museum educators in training to test the hypothesis that there are correlations between artistic preferences and personal characteristics of museum visitors, and to collect feedback from museum educators on the use of the web app for social inclusion purposes. A second pilot phase, involving 34 post-graduate students from museum education courses, was also recently conducted. In both cases, data were collected through the integrated use of questionnaires and focus group discussions. Preliminary results indicated a relationship between extroversion levels, artistic preferences, and how the museum is used. Further administrations of the questionnaire were conducted in experimental settings to verify the data obtained in the two-pilot phase and, in particular, the correlation between extroversion/introversion and different types of cultural mediation tools.
UMAC
Prague Conference Centre
August 23rd
Cultural heritage and the virtual museum of the university of milan: an identity element and an engine of development, innovation and inclusion for a heritage community | Marcella Mattavelli, Cultural and museum heritage Manager of University of Milan
Abstract
The University of Milan has got an important, rich and heterogeneous heritage, made up of historical, artistic and archaeological collections and scientific objects of significant value, inherited from the research Institutes that gave rise to the University. The collection has been enriched over its 90 years of life, and it is constantly growing thanks to new acquisitions, donations and projects. In several cases the findings have been the subject of intense research and major exhibitions, closely linked to scientific research. This cultural heritage – tangible and intangible – can be made accessible and inclusive through digital technologies that are increasingly designed and developed by universities themselves. In addition, under certain circumstances such as the ones related to the Covid-19 outbreak, digital technologies are the only solutions for reaching audiences which otherwise would be excluded. During the current health crisis and in the post-pandemic world, universities and their cultural heritage take on a crucial role and constitute a place where students, professors and citizens can identify themselves as a community and they have been decisive both from the point of view of training and scientific research and treatment. The process of creating the Virtual Museum of University of Milan – conceived in the pre-pandemic era and which is currently under development – underlines how university museums are one of the relevant factors for reconstituting or building a “community of heritage.” Accessibility and inclusion in museums are cross-cutting challenges that involve all the different sectors, in order to build a more inclusive, accessible, and fair society.
Communicate, educate, and engage the public on the environmental sustainability: The challenge of the University Museum of Paleontology and Prehistory ‘P Leonardi’ | Chiara Parisi, Brunella Muttillo, Ursula Thun Hohenstein, University of Ferrara/University Museum System of Ferrara, Italy
Abstract
In its history, the museum has been the protagonist of many changes. While remaining faithful to its main role, that is the preservation of cultural objects, the museum must “keep up with the times”. The museum, as a place of learning, has the responsibility of educating about cultural and natural heritage and, in this latter aspect, scientific-naturalistic museums can make an important contribution. In fact, today there are international agreements that place education in nature conservation and sustainability among the museum’s objectives. Environmental sustainability is one of the themes that most influences the current international museum panorama. Scientific-naturalistic museums, libraries of life par excellence, have the potential to explore the various issues that bring us closer to hot topics on environmental matters, such as global warming and pollution. These museums play a very important role in our future. The Museum of Paleontology and Prehistory “P. Leonardi” of the University of Ferrara moves precisely in this direction, through projects implemented by professors, PhD students, students and with the participation of volunteers from the Universal Civil Service. The protagonists of this university museum collaborate in order to create thematic projects and paths in line with the goals for sustainable development defined in the UN 2030 agenda.
