What is the role of museums in contemporary society? A series of talks kicks off

The Fondazione Brescia Musei’s Santa Giulia Auditorium will host the opening session of the talk series Open Doors on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at 4:30 pm. The Participatory Museum Today, dedicated to the role of museums in contemporary society. The meeting will also be streamed exclusively on the Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali platform(fad.fondazionescuolapatrimonio.it).

The project is curated by Professor Pierluigi Sacco, full professor at the University of Studies “Gabriele d’Annunzio” of Chieti - Pescara, former Visiting Professor at Harvard University, is promoted by Fondazione Brescia Musei in collaboration with Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali and NEMO - Network of European Museum Organisations. It includes nine appointments with experts from Italian and international contemporary museums and cultural centers with the aim of reflecting on the concept of the museum as a place of participation and active citizenship.

During the first appointment of the talk series, the scientific criteria and guidelines of the Open Doors project will be highlighted and experts will present the most interesting cases and perspectives: a program in eight thematic sessions, to try to make a comprehensive analysis of the concept of the museum as a place of participation and on the tools, techniques and best practices that involve communities and activate them in a constant dialogue between museum content and the great issues of the present mediated by cultural heritage.

Moderated by Stefano Karadjov, director of the Brescia Musei Foundation, the opening session will be introduced by Francesca Bazoli, president of the Brescia Musei Foundation; Laura Castelletti, deputy mayor and councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Brescia; Alessandra Vittorini, director of the Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali; and Julia Pagel, secretary general of NEMO The Network of European Museum Organizations. This will be followed by greetings from the partners of the Open Doors initiative, representatives of the most important institutions and think tanks of the Italian and international cultural system: Alfonso Andria, president of the European University Center for Cultural Heritage in Ravello (SA); Andrea Cancellato, president of Federculture; Alberto Garlandini, president of the Associazione Abbonamento Musei; Adele Maresca Compagna, president of ICOM Italia; Daniele Pitteri, president of the Associazione Mecenate 90; Vincenzo Santoro, head of the Culture and Tourism Department of ANCI - Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani; and Valdo Spini, president of AICI - Associazione delle Istituzioni di Cultura Italiane.

This will be followed by in-depth talks by Pierluigi Sacco, curator of Open Doors, and Doris Sommer, founder and director of the Cultural Agents Initiative at Harvard University. The idea behind this series of appointments is to create a design workshop open to insiders that is of interest to the whole community, identifying new museum models that safeguard the fundamental educational mission of museums and enhance their engagement and entertainment aspects, while managing to become effectively open and inclusive spaces, beyond any possible educational or socioeconomic barriers.

“For centuries, the museum was above all a temple of knowledge: a place that allowed access to some of the highest and most refined expressions of human culture in its many forms, and that imposed on visitors a system of very precise rules and rituals that had to be scrupulously and carefully observed,” said Pierluigi Sacco. “For many, the museum as a temple of knowledge risks being a place whose importance is recognized, but in which one does not always feel welcome, or comfortable. Museum practice in recent decades has done much to bridge this gap, especially through audience development initiatives designed to create a sense of welcome and inclusion to reach those who were not part of the museum’s regular audience.”

The thematic areas identified by the curator through which it is possible to structure the necessary paths of transformation of the museum toward a real space of social exchange based on active participation are eight: Cohesion and Social Connection; Empowerment; Education; Diversity; Wellness and Healing; Creativity and Expression; Co-creation; and Engagement and Problem Solving.

Open Doors is a project organized by Fondazione Brescia Musei in collaboration with Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali and NEMO - Network of European Museum Organisations, under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture; ICOM Italia - International Council of Museums; Federculture; Associazione Mecenate 90; Centro Universitario Europeo per i Beni Culturali in Ravello (SA); ANCI - Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani; AICI - Associazione delle Istituzioni di Cultura Italiane; Associazione Abbonamento Musei Lombardia; and Accademia Tedesca di Roma Villa Massimo.

In the talk cycle, as far as Italy is concerned, the participation of some of the most important museum participation sites is confirmed: Casa Paganini in Genoa, Caserma Archeologica in Sansepolcro, Castello di Rivoli, Cultural Welfare Center, FARM Cultural Park, Fondazione Fitzcarraldo, Fondazione MAXXI, Fondazione Matera - Basilicata 2019, GAMeC in Bergamo, MiC - Ministry of Culture | Office of the Diplomatic Adviser, Moleskine Foundation, mudaC of Carrara, Museo Civico di Bassano - OperaEstate Festival, Egyptian Museum Foundation of Turin, Autonomous Province of Bolzano - Department of Culture - and the network The State of Places.

From abroad, the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, the City Museums and Galleries in Nottingham, the Gallery of Matica Srpska in Novi Sad, the Manifacture in Avignon, the Mapadasideias in Lisbon, the Museo de Lisboa in Lisbon, and the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb will be participating, the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen in Amsterdam, the POLIN Museum in Warsaw, the Science Center Esplora in Malta, the United Cities and Local Governments network in Barcelona, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and the Zeeuws Museum in Middelburg.

The meetings will be held both in-person, at the Santa Giulia Auditorium in Brescia, by booking via email at cup@bresciamusei.com, and in streaming, after registration, on the Fondazione Scuola dei beni e delle attività culturali’s distance learning platform fad.fondazionescuolapatrimonio.it. Participation is free and free of charge.

All talks will be simultaneously translated into Italian, English and LIS (Italian Sign Language).

What is the role of museums in contemporary society? A series of talks kicks off

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