Programme

The history of the museum is a history of displaying, arranging, and assembling objects and design elements in space for the purpose of mediation. Regardless of whether they are arranged as total works of art (Gesamtkunstwerk) that you can stroll through like the cabinets of curiosities, or spacious museum halls using labels to provide information on encyclopaedic collections; or whether they are realised as environments, or prepared according to didactic principles; or whether they are staged using atmospheric media, or designed for interaction – every form of presentation is an expression of its time.

Thanks to Switzerland’s cantonal structure, there is a great museum every couple of kilometres. We would love to visit them all, but since this isn’t possible on a three-day trip, we have selected a number of interesting museums covering a wide range of types, sizes and sponsors.

In 2008, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research (bmwf) started the forMuse – Research in Museums programme and thus, for the first time, created a funding instrument for museum research projects. We would like to take this programme, which is currently in its final phase, as an opportunity to take a closer look at the overall picture of research in Austrian museums. 

The privatisation of the Universal Museum Joanneum in 2003 was probably the museum’s biggest organisational change in its 200-year history. 

In the course of its history, Istanbul has been the centre of power of three empires and is today a cosmopolitan city on two continents with around 13 million inhabitants and more than 50 museums. On account of its historical significance and location, Istanbul has been shaped by two cultural spheres, which overlap and mix in the structure, appearance, and everyday life of the city. 

Museums primarily define themselves through their collections. The public is often told that one of the reasons for the expensive conversation of such collections is that the viewing of art works, for instance, is a joy and a pleasure, or that new knowledge can continually be gained from collections, which, when presented in the form of exhibitions, promises the public new potential insights. 

The American anthropologist Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett has stated that museum objects and in situ presentations are not given as such, but only come about through specific meta-cultural operations and museum practices. These always involve an interpretation of remains, which is inseparable from current world views and didactic concepts. 

For many visitors, taking a final, leisurely stroll through the shop is a natural part of any museum visit. For museum professionals, however, the topic of the shop is a particularly tricky one (...)