RELIGION AND MUSEUMS - Allemandi

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ology of museums: the first virtual museum of religion is accessible online www.VirtualMuseumofReligion.com.However this introduces a new area for reflection whichwe cannot delve into at this point - even if we reserve the right to do so shortly in anotherplace. 12The third type of museum is the one where the attention for museology and museographyof religion should be more elevated. It is also the most popular (in some countriesit has been widespread) and there are many comparative and coordination initiatives.A good basis for research are those sites which gather and present these museums, 13 whilstthe real and proper debate and comparison is animated within associations similar toAMEI (www.amei.biz) in Italy or Die Deutschsprachige Arbeitsgemeinschaft kirchlicherMuseen und Schatzkammern in Germany (which is a kind of Association ofMuseum and Church Treasures). A new inter-disciplinary mediation is being studiedand promoted by Europae Thesauri, European Association of Treasures andChurchesmuseums, tha also wants to increase the involvement of the public in theawareness and understanding of the museum institutions. Finally, the interest to safeguardthe minorities has already inspired large European projects like for example “RE-LIGARE”, which wants to incentive the inter-disciplinary cooperation related to religiouspluralism in Europe (http://www.religareproject.eu). Other networks have beenorganised on analogue thematic (e.g. religious sociology and religious mediatisation)but they do not provide a specific significance to museums. Naturally there are otherlocal coordination entities at various levels.First of all the identity of these museums is not defined once and for all and in reality itis not univocal. How can these be classified? To what typology do they belong? Theycannot be strictly defined as historical museums, if some of the objects, at least in theirpotential function, are currently being used and especially if the conserved images arethe object of an existing faith and of a practised devotion. However the memory theme- embedded in the same origin of the museum and in its reason for existence - is alsofounded in the majority of the religions (the catholic faith is perpetuated with the commemorationof the Last Supper and the continuity of the rituals is the basis of almostall the religions).This type of museum, in contrast with the previous cases, does not have the concern ofpositioning itself as neutral, however it always resolves for scientific type objectivity.Among the museums dedicated to the religious heritage there will be monasteries, cathedralsand other religious centres where there is access to masterpieces, but also to Treasurymuseums and missionary museums. Those museums earmarked for the conservationof the identity of a precise minority will be included within this same category, likethe Jewish museums and the Waldesian museums. Different typologies can also coexistwithin the same museum and the museological and museographic approaches canbe very different.19
However the most consistent group is the one of the diocesan museums, which relatesto the territorial communities. It is about a very diffused typology especially in Italy,France, Germany and Spain. I would like to take this opportunity to summarily lookat a few museographic characteristics of the diocesan museums within the Italian context.They present the most diverse heritage, from a usage aspect, quality and period. Therewe find major artefacts but also popular objects of devotion, liturgical objects, very oldtestimonials and recent documents but many times have a lack of a real theme structure.Part of the research could branch out to deal with the organisation, systemisation,set-up and narrative adopted by these museums, since the manner in which the museumcommunicates, heavily influences the message and interpretation by the visitors. Butabove all, since you can not abstain from communicating, it is fundamental to master as muchas possible the contents which will inevitably be carried also by the spatial set-up.I believe that the lack of a specific museology will also have strong repercussions on thelack of a specific religious museography. This is confirmed by the fact that these museums,depending on the closest type of museum they resemble, from time to time, assumethe form of a museum of archaeology, ancient art, history or interpretation.The mostly used ordering choices are basically two. The first one follows a criteriawhich is possibly objective and scientific, with an approach which is very similar tothe artistic historical museums: the criteria by excellence, which overrides the others, isthe chronological one, which gives the opportunity to underline the evolution over time.The second one is related to thematic groupings that can be declined in various differentways: for example, a recurrent choice is articulated around the sacraments, or bykey figures of the local religious history, or in relation to the specific devotion felt on theterritory.In the first group the exceptionality of the product will be documented, whilst in thesecond group additional space will also be provided to the series sequence (the repetition)of normal objects, therefore the most popular ones.Inevitably, the first group will have observations aimed more at the exterior, stylisticand formal aspects of the artefacts, with particular attention to the art history and otheremergencies; in the second group the faith content will override the aesthetic beauty carryingthem.In other words, notwithstanding that these are institutions which are not neutral, thefirst group will have the observant view whilst the second group will have the participativeview.A good example of the first group can be the diocesan museum in Turin, whilst thediocesan museum in Bergamo could be in the second group. It is interesting to see howmuch these museological choices will have repercussions on the museographic ones.The diocesan museum of Turin 14 is housed in the Cathedral’s large crypt: the striking20
Page 1: RELIGIONAND MUSEUMSImmaterial and M
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Page 7: ForewordVALERIA MINUCCIANIFinally m
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Page 24 and 25: BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCESR. Beier-de
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Page 28 and 29: domaine du patrimoine, de l´histoi
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Page 44 and 45: BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCESM. Ames, Ca
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PL. 3. THE “MADONNA DELLA CELLETT
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Diachronic Connectionsin Diocesan B
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For the general public, understandi
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II. MUSEUMS
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“Madonna of the Violet” by Stef
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than rational (Joachim Plotzek spea
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Fig. 1. Kolumba. View of the buildi
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puts it, since “each exhibition p
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The Diocesan Museum. Artworks and P
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veil its “authentic truth” he b
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Fig. 2. Frescoes by Giotto-Rimini s
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tip of the Volterra city walls. In
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ecame explicit in such a harsh spac
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Scarpa did not create “museum sys
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Mother’s welcoming to a Child who
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The Slovene Museum of ChristianityN
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plays more accessible to visitors w
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The Judenplatz Museum in WienMARIA
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Fig. 1. Museum Judenplatz,view of t
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AuthorsVALERIA MINUCCIANISince 2001
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low at the Politecnico of Torino, h
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