Konferencja Muzeum w świetle reflektorów. Wystawa – naukowe laboratorium czy artystyczna kreacja, 12–14 października 2011. Próba refleksji

CONFERENCE MUSEUM IN THE SPOTLIGHT. EXHIBITION – A SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY, OR AN ARTISTIC CREATION, 12–14 OCTOBER 2011. AN ATTEMPT AT REFLECTION From 12 to 14 October 2011, the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków hosted an international conference titled Museum in the Spotlight. Exhibition – a Scientific Laboratory, or an Artistic Creation. The subject of this exhibition was, in the broadest sense, the museology of art and theatre. The issues discussed during that academic meeting included the specificity of art and theatre museum collections, the influence of new phenomena and forms of exhibition presentation on the structure and the ways of constructing exhibitions, the management of cultural institutions, and educational offer. Certain works that should help museums find their place on the constantly growing market of culture and entertainment are already underway. However, success in this field requires the introduction of changes which will enable the reclassification of museum resources and collections. It is essential to redefine the notion of a museum exhibit. This is necessitated by the outpouring of novel and avant-garde currents in Polish theatre. Contemporary artistic and theatrical developments that call for archivization force museum staff to search for new methods of collecting theatre memorabilia and direct them towards innovative multimedia solutions. Exhibitions as such also undergo changes. Those exhibitions that incorporate theatre techniques combined with the new media more and more often attempt to join the current of contemporary art events. The creation of the exhibition as a separate reality is supposed to facilitate and optimize the process of depicting the phenomenon of stagecraft. All of the elements used in the exhibition, combined with the carefully selected forms of interaction, should make an impact on the viewer and on his/her emotions. The new trend in which the audience is invited to become involved in the museum’s projects is called participation. Its goal is to create a platform of communication between the visitor and the museum. This new form of contact gives the audience an opportunity to propose and create their own projects and, more importantly, to incorporate them into the exhibition. Participation is also strongly connected with research and artistic programmes carried out by museums, since education is definitely one of the essential spheres of their activity. The part of the conference dedicated to educational activity has proved that museum staff who are responsible for education are gradually opening up to using the experience of other institutions and create all kinds of workshops in cooperation with scientists, academics and artists. While actively attending the classes and events prepared for them, the participants acquire knowledge from a given field in an unusual way. Interestingly, the diversity of exhibition and educational activities offered by museums helps to build their positive image as the places that actually set new trends in the arts. The image of museums that has emerged after the threeday conference shows that in order to function well in the modern cultural market, these institutions need to become friendlier to contemporary audiences.