ISS 25 (1995).pdf - The International Council of Museums

Dr. Eurydice Antzoulatou-Retsila
Assistant Professor of Museoiog)" Ionian University, Corfu, Greece
Museums and Communities: Coping with Dilemmas. Or: Between
Museomania and Museotherapy
The fact that in the period between August 1989 and July 1995 the topic "Museums and
Communitites" has attracted -more than once- the attention of museum professionals as
a special subject to be elaborated in conferences 1 is a very eloquent indication of the
interests and concerns characterizing the contemporary world of museums.
Socially significant institutions and generators of social ideas themselves, museums
assume the responsibility to respond sensitively to the messages emitted by post-modern
society.
In a period of "cultural deconstruction" and "existential scrutiny"Z -and yet of an immense
fondness of museums, a real "museomania"- museums, as repositories of knowledge, value
and taste, are challenged to propose their own antidotes and formulate a "therapy".
Inserting in debates concerning social issues has been considered ontologically crucial by
museums, justifying in this way their existence. Yet, despite the enrichment In
perspectives, attitudes and practices such a line of reasoning can provide, it certainly
brings museums in the center of an intellectual -and not only- turmoil, leaving them often
exposed to various claims and accusations.
In this fact one could recognize the results of the civil rights and war protest movements
of the 1960's and 1970's through which every institution -of the cultural, educational or
governmental field- considered to hold power has been open to question, with "change"
as the ultimate postulate.
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