ICOM International Council of Museums - Museo Estancia Jesuitica ...

Nostalgia
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Mirror, window or showcase?
The museum and the past
Marc Maure 1 – Norway
In the film "Nostalgia" by the Russian director Andrej Tarkovski, the main character, a
Russian intellectual in exile in Italy, thinks with nostalgia about his country which is far
away, about his culture which is lost, about his language that he can no longer use.
Nostalgia is a profound and necessary emotion for all individuals and all societies.
Nostalgia is the feeling that something essential has been lost in time and in space,
and that it must not be forgotten. All museums cultivate nostalgia. In fact, this is the
fundamental reason for the existence of the museums.
But museums should not be only an instrument for the cult of nostalgia, that is to say
only a mirror that reflects the past. They should also be a window opened to the real
world of today.
Museums must help the community to come to terms with what has been lost and what
is being lost, to open up to the world and to prepare for the future.
A new role for museums
A great pioneer of the new museology movement, John Kinard (Anacostia Neighborhood
Museum, Washington DC) described the role of museums as the following:
"If museums are to meet the needs of the man of today and tomorrow, they must
involve themselves in every area of human existence. This is a responsibility that
challenges their most creative resources. Instead, they stand accused on three points:
1. failing to respond to the needs of a great majority of the people.
2. failing to relate the knowledge of the past to the grave issues confronting us today or
to participate in meeting those issues.
3. failing to overcome their blatant disregard of minority cultures".
(John Kinard, “To Meet the Needs of Today’s Audience”, Museum News, 1972)
New museum models
Museums which have the characteristics of this new museology can be defined by the
following paradigm.
Identity:
The valorization of cultures that were “forgotten” when nation states and national
identity were built. The culture of ethnic and others minorities becomes the areas
favored of the new museology.
Ecology:
An ecological approach, global and dynamic, to the complex inter-relations between
people and their environment, including the historical and cultural dimensions.
Participation:
The members of the community do not just passively receive the message delivered by
experts, but they take an active part in the operation of the museum, in dialogue with
professional museologists.
1 Marc Maure, museum consultant. Skarvaveien 95, 1350 Lommedalen, Norway, museo@online.no.