ICOM International CommiHee for Museology Comite intemational de I'ICOM pour la museologie

Symposium

MUSEOLOGY AND IDENTITY LA MUSEOLOGIE ET L'IDENTITE

Comments and views - Commentaires et points de vue

Buenos Aires, Octoberloctobre 1986

ISS 11 ICOFOM STUDY SERIES

Symposium

MUSEOLOGY AND IDENTITY LA MUSEOLOGIE ET L'IDENTITE

. Buenos Aires, Octoberloctobre 1986

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Contents

ICOFOH: Obstinacy in publishing by Vino§ Sofka ____________________________________________ _

Comments and views on basic papers presented in ISS No. 10 -------Deloche, Bernard - Lyon, France 1 3 Clementi, Hebe - Buenos Aires, Argentina 15 Gluzinski, Wojciech - Wroclaw, Poland 17 Laumonier, Isabel - Buenos Aires, Argentina 25 Hartin, Carol A - Tucson, Arizona, USA 31 Haure, Marc - Lommedalen, Norway 35 Hensch, Peter van - Leiden, Netherl ands 37 Hiquel, Domenec & Morral, Eulalia - Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain 41 Stransky, Zbyn~k Z - Brno, Czechoslovakia 4 9 Sulef, Petr - Brno, Czechoslovakia 6 1 Swiecimski, Jerzy - Krak6w, Poland 65 Varine, Hugues de - Paris, France 71 Zouhdi, Bachir - . Damascus, Syria 73

Additional papers to be inserted in ISS No . 11 received after closing dates fo r ISS No. 10 & 11

Basic pape rs:

Gr ohman Borchers , Walte r - Vina de l Mar , Chile B1

Comments and interventions:

This issue of ISS has been prepared by Vinas Sofka, Chairman of ICOFOM with the assistance of the Museum of National Antiquities Stockholm, Sweden

Closing date: Stockholm - October 15, 1986

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~mmaiffi

ICOFOH: L'entatement ~ publier par Vino§ Sofka

Commentaires et points de vue sur les memoires de bas e presentes dans 1'155 no 10

Oeloche, Bernard - Lyon, France 13 Clementi, Hebe - Buenos Aires, Argentine 15 Gluzinski, Wojciech - Wroclaw, Pologne 17 Laumonier. Isabel - Buenos Aires, Argentine 25 Martin, Carol A - Tucson, Arizona, USA 31 Maure, Marc - Lommedalen, Norvege 35 Mensch, Peter van, Leyde, Pays-Bas 37 Miquel, Domenec & Morral, Eulalia - Sant Cugat del Valles, Espagne 4 5 Stransky, Zbynek Z - Brno, Tchecoslovaquie 55 Sulet, Petr - Brno, Tchecoslovaquie 63 Swiecimski, Jerz y - Krak6w, Pologne 65 Va rine, Hugues de - Paris, France 71 Zouhdi, Bachir - Damas, Syrie 73

* Textes supplementaires a inclure dans 1'155 no 11 recus apres l' i mpression de l'ISS no 10 & 11

Memoires de base:

Grohman Bo r chers , Walter - Vi na del Mar , Chile 81

Commentaires et interventions:

Ce numero de 1'155 a ete prepare par Vinos Sorka, President de l'ICOFOM avec l'aide du Husee des antiquites nationales Stockholm, Suede

II a ete acheve a Stockholm, Ie 15 oclobre 1906

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ICOFOM: Obstinacy in publishing by Vin~s Sofka

There are several reasons why ICoFoM, and especially its Chairman, with such obstinacy and in spite of a chronic lack of means - money and helping hands to be exact - does all that is possible to immortalise in black and white, to print in other words, that which comes up at the Committee's activities: contributions and interventions to the yearly symposia, lectures on current issues of museology presented at the annual meetings, papers for and fr om workshops, proposals on different museological issues made by the members.

On different occasions, these reasons have been mentioned and commented, but never summarized. This time the call for papers for the ICoFoM sym­posium 1986 inspired many museologists from allover the world tci write down their ideas on museology and identity. Forty two basic papers arrived in the hands of the Editor, and are reproduced in ISS No. 10 as preprints to the symposium, and now we have here comments and views on these basic papers as ISS No. 11. There are many new writers participating in this big museology exercise, and several new faces will be present at the ICoFoM dis­cussions in Buenos Aires. Thus there is good reason to touch on ICoFoM's obstinate determination to publish, to present one of ICoFoM's working methods and to sum up the reasons for it .

There is an acknowledged need for an exchange of ideas and experience in general, and for developing them further through common efforts. The more specialised things become, the more this need increases.

2 ICOM tries to play such a role in the field of museums and the museum pro­fession. Its International Committees ( ICs ) are the bodies which have to fulfill this aim.

3 The ICs plan their activities in their Triennial Programmes - some of the more structured of them do so in long-term programmes as well - and then meet yearly to carry them out. That is, they try to meet each year if they have successfully found a host country ready to receive an interntional meeting with all the costs involved.

4 The members of lCoM participate, according to their specialised Interests, in the work of the ICs. To come to a meeting of the Committee of their choice is not always so easy. It depends on the place, the date of the meeting, and above allan the expenses for travel and accomodation.

5 Let's take lCOFoM now. We have at present about 280 members from about 55-60 countries. How many of them will be able to attend ICoFoM activities in Buenos Aires?

Experience shows that about 20-30 members can manage money and other means necessary to attend a meeting. Some 30-50 museologists from the host coun­try can be expected at the meeting, too. Summa summarum: ca. 50-60 partici­pants at an annual meeting, about 80-100 at a triennial meeting held in con­nection with a General Conference.

For the host country itself ICOFoM's activity can be a stimulating step forward in the field of museology. But how to satisfy the 240 remaining members of the Committee itself, those who cannot come to the meeting? How to supply them with all the knowledge and experience aired at the sym­posia where interesting and useful issues can be stated, discussed and con­cluded, but are condemned to fall into oblivion afterwards, being only in the minds of some of the participants?

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6 Here, at this point of reasoning, some time in 1983 or 1984, the idea came up of preserving in writing as much as possible of what the Committee had done in order to provide those members who were not able to attend the meet­ings with the benefits of the activities. Conclusion No.1 concerning the ICOFOM working model was conceived.

Once this reasoning was in motion, it touched on other problems too: sympo­sia are mostly composed of presentations in extenso of one or several papers which, when everything functions properly, are distributed after the meeting. If the distribution of papers can be made at the beginning of a symposium, the posibility of shortening the presentation time by using only resumes is given. But there remains, in spite of all, mostly very little time for dis­cussion, and if so, the discussion itself remains superficial , the partici­pants having had little time to becorre acquainted with the ideas to be pre­sented. And so it was with ICOFOM too. To publish the symposium papers in advance seemed to be inevitable - and conclusion No. 2 for the ICDFDM workIng model was stated.

When this idea was brought to the world and related to the limited possibi­lities of the membership to attend the activities, a logical conclusion No.3 was to open the preparatory phase ofa symposium to everybody , regardless of whether or not they could attend the symposium itself. This idea, further developed, required a longer preparatory time, with the introduction of written comments in advance. It also requests discipline among all, and confidence and trust between the organisors and the organised.

And so was born the new, improved ICOFOM symposium procedure, and so was con­firmed as well the obstinate conviction of the benefits of publishing.

7 How does this model work?

o The symposia are planned a long time in advance: in the ICOFOM long-term programme, and in the ICOFOM triennial programmes as well.

The agreed topic for the symposium is broken down into sub-topics before the call for papers is announced, in order to give a clear i ndication to the writers of what the framework is of the issue in question. In this way we try to have the matter concerned discussed more precisely, and t o avoid contributions which deal wi th general reasonings on the very sub­stance of museology itself.

o The call for papers is directed to appointed specialists as well as to everybody concerned. Membership in ICOFOM is not relevant here, nor does the possibility of attending or not the symposium create any obstacle to writing for it.

The reason for inviting selected museum people and other specialists to write is the aim to cover, if possible, all the regions of the world, as well as the different types of museums and museum activities - in addi­tion to having known specialists participate in the activity.

o The contributors, whether specifically invited or answering the general call for papers, write firstly basic papers concentrated on the topi c,

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or on a subtopic if such is the case. They follow technical instructions concerning the need to reproduce rapidly the manuscripts in the pre­prints, because there can be no retyping or editing.

The basic papers gathered represent an inventory of concepts and ideas from allover the world. They are reproduced in one issue of the Com­mittee's preprints ICOFOM Study Series (ISS) and are distributed to all the authors as well as those who registered for participation in the symposium.

All of this happens - the gathering, the reproduction and the distribu­tion - some two to three months before the symposium itself.

o All the writers are then asked to write down their views and comments on the basic papers of their colleagues. The views, received by a dead­line a month before the symposium, are immediately reproduced in another issue of ISS. The aim is to circulate the comments at the very beginning of the ICOFOM meeting where the symposium will take place.

o During the "commenting period" above, another group of well-trained spe­cialists is working hard - the appointed discussion leaders, who have to dissect all the basic papers and study the comments, break down the topic and sub-topics into more detailed issues, all of which is aimed at preparing a lively discussion at the symposium itself.

Their work culminates the day before the symposium, when they, together with the ICOFOM Chairman, work out the meeting scenario and divide their roles.

o When the symposium takes place, no reading of papers or presentation of resumes is made, but a hearing is arranged. Led by the appointed dis­cussion l eaders section by section, sub-topic by sub-topic , the papers are deeply analysed by the participants and the wri t ers present are in­terrogated and asked for explanations, as well as for meeting the posi­tions of the other authors. The ideas of the absent writers are care­fully taken inm account in the observations of the discussion leaders. The non-writers in the auditorium take part in the discussion whenever they feel they have something to add. Each discussed section or sub­topic is closed by the conclusions formulated by the discussion leader responsible for it. At the end, the Chairman of ICOFOM sums up the whole event.

All said at the hearing is recorded, and the discussion leaders have the duty to write down their conclusions after the end of the symposium.

o There is the serious intention, until now only partially fulfilled by gathering t he namuscripts, to publish in MuWoP - Museological Working Papers - a final report on each symposium arranged by ICOF OM. A report on the background and proceedings, with abstracts of all the basic pa­pers and c8mments, and finally conclusions by section, and on the whole event, will be made available in English and French. Those more inter­ested in the debates can then request the ISS preprints in order to con­sult directly the original paper.

But let us now stop here. Today, some two weeks before Argentina, we are fulfilling step two of the four steps in the ICOFOM symposium procedure. We are happy having gathered all the 42 basic papers in ISS No. 10, and enjoy now reading the views of 10 authors who made comments in ISS No . l1. If our hearing proves to be as fruitful as these two preparatory steps before, then the ICOFOM Symposium 1986 will be a vital contribution by our Commit­tee to the efforts of establishing museology as a scientific discipline, and by that of providing the museum profession with an indispensable tool for its work.

Stockholm, October 1986

Vinos Sofka

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Comments and views on basic papers presented in ISS No. 10

Commentaires et points de vue sur les memoires de base presentes dans I'ISS no 10

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Bernard Deloche - Lyon, France

Mefions-nous des debats abstraits

La lecture des nombreux documents que j'ai re9us m'a impressionne tant par la passion que j'ai pu decouvrir aupres de mes collegues de l'ICOFOM que par la qualite de rigueur et de serieux des textes rediges pour ce prochain symposium. Voila qui prouve, en tout cas, que la reflexion museo­logique se porte bien. Cette vitalite se manifeste ames yeux par Ie fait, parfaitement legitime, que se melent, selon la personnalite des auteurs, des problemes vecus sur Ie terrain, des experiences locales, des con­structions theoriques et des prises de position pragmatiques. La variete de ces modes d'approche m'apparait indispensable. On m'excusera de ne pas revenir sur Ie detail de chacune d'entre elles, mais j'ai parfois beaucoup apprecle certaines analyses, meme lorsqu'elles etaient orientees dans un sens que je ne partage pas tout a fait (c'est Ie cas, par exemple, de la contribution de Edward L. Hawes ) . II serait sans doute abusif de dire que l'ensemble forme un tout harmonieux, mais les dissonances ne font que confirmer 1 'importance de ces confrontations internationales ouvertes dans un esprit de libre echange des idees. Et a ce titre, je tiens a remerci er notre president, Ie Dr Vino~ Sofka, dont l'infatigable devouement permet de mener a bien ~e travail collectif.

Je ne sais pas si dire; en tout cas j'en avons "mauvais esprit", peu trop developpe. Je tation ... Qu'on veuille

c'est a moi qu'il revient de dire ce que je vais prends la responsabilite. On dit parfois que nous nous fran9ais, c'est-a-dire l'esprit critique un

vais donc courir Ie risque de confirmer cette repu­bien me Ie pardonner !

Une chose m'a frappe, c'est sans doute l'importance excessive accordee a des debats theoriques abstraits. J'insiste bien sur Ie mot abstrait. Ce n'est pas la theorie que je critique, etant moi-meme philosophe Je la considere comme tout a fait indispensable, car elle est l'ossature de la pensee. Mais une pensee qui tend a se perdre dans l'abstraction risque souvent d'oublier l'essentiel.

On s'est, a juste titre, interroge sur les fondements logiques (Woj­ciech Gluzinski) et ontologiques (Anna Gregorova) de l'identite, sur la nature de l'identite culturelle et son role dans l'evolution des societes (Josef Bene~, Petr Suler), sur l'articulation entre Ie musee et cette identite culturelle (Edward L. Hawes, Ousmane Sow Huchard), sur les ques­tions qu'elle pose a la museologie (Ivo Maroevi~).

Reclamer un retour au concret ne signifie pas pour autant l'adoption d'une position purement pragmatique, sans demarche theorique. Sans doute est-il capital d' emettre des mises en garde et de "tirer la sonnette d' a­larme" (warning) comme ont pu Ie faire, a des degres divers, Andreas Grote et Yani Herreman, en deplorant la dissolution des identites culturell es et en soulignant la responsabilite essentielle du musee dans leur protection.

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Mais cela ne suffit pas !

Ma remarque voudrait se limiter a ceci: pour beaucoup des textes que j'ai lus,les auteurs ont raisonne a l'interieur d'un systeme etabli et indiscutable, comme si la question qu'on leur posait etait une question innocente. Ce qui veut dire que l'on s'est appu ye generalement sur Ie presuppose selon lequel Ie role du musee est de retrouver, restituer et sauvegarder l'identite des groupes ethniques, sans voir suffisamment deux choses :

1. Que ce presuppose est deja en lui-meme un probleme, ou tout au moins une solution 8 un probleme que l'on a sans doute tort de considerer comme definitivement resolu. Certains textes ont rappele opportunemen t Ie carac­tere de nouveaute de ce concept d'identite et montre ce qu'il portait en lui de revo lut ionnaire ( Tomislav Sola, Andre Desvallees, Hugues de Varine, Marcel Evrard ). si l'identite culturelle a toujours existe, elle n'est con9ue comme un patrimoine collectif que depuis fort peu de temps, et cette decouverte a bouleverse violemment la sacro-sainte institution heritee du XIXe siecle.

2. Que Ie te rme d'identite culturelle est trop souvent un outil, qui sert a dissimuler subrepticement d'etranges illusions. Certaines contribu tions ont insiste su r les difficultes liees a cette notion d'identite (Peter van Mensch , Alain Nicolas ) , j'ai moi-meme tente de souligner son ambigulte. D'une part, nous avons tendance a projeter notre identite propre dans la lecture des identites que nous essayons d'etudier; d'autre part, nous nous laissons griser peut-etre abusivement par l' idee d'une identite univer­selle, une so rte de pseudo-patrimoine; et l' on touche 18 un des dangers po r tes par l es boule versements que je signalais un peu plus haut. N'est - on pas en train d'agiter un fantome? A qui et 8 quoi cela peut-il se r vir ? Questions fort peu innocentes au demeurant, qui contraignent a mettre en cause les institutions, Ie pouvoir etab li (Ie pouvoir intellectuel autant que poli tique ) .

Ni la probl ematique abstraite .de l'identite ni d'ailleurs la pragma­tique de l'urgence du sauvetage n'aident a regler la question prealab le de la legitimite du concept d'identite culturelle. La prise de conscience de l'identite culturelle a secoue l 'institu tion du musee, nous devons nous demander pourquoi et au nom de quoi. Jusqu' ou nous faut-il defendre l'iden­tite cultu relle ? Cette question me paralt a la fois pleinement theorique et pleinement concrete. Theorique, car elle porte sur Ie fondement du concept; concrete, parce qu'elle engage avec elle l'attitude efFective du musee.

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Hebe Clementi - Buenos Aires, Argentina

One can consider two central ways of reflecting on this subject

a. The museum is part of the monumental history and therefore its objective is to glorify the past and show a link between the past and the present. This link is all the stronger for the face that the museum is considered educational and there fore,~nere's no doubt that a prestigious museum can improve the s ociety and the nation to which it belongs. the cooperation ~mong nations and in general, man on earth.

b. The museum relates to the past and thus to history. The dis­tance between the past and the present is subject to criticism and from this distance derives the possible identit y facing an image that mayor may not respond to a realit y and i t s configuration includes common appraisal ,my th and sense o f belonging. Therefore, there is concern over the theory that groups museum objects and its greater or lesser extent o f scientifism which includes a technological,historical and taxonomical consideration as well as the philos ophical an­thropology order and semantics.

As to the concept . of identity itself, borrowed from ph i losophy and p sychoanalysis. it sets the theme in a high tide of lucu­brations. Some assume their e x istence without di s c us si onjfrom a real identity--thus capable of being identified-- i n a meta­ph y sicalJso to speakJ acceptance or tacitly imp o sed acce p tance as is the case of "national identities" which ar e v aguel y c o n­sistent with fixed territorial designs and much less wi th c ul ­tural ones. In these cases, "national conscience" s hou l d be the medium to preserv e identity, all the more stro ng) th e st ron2 er collective memory is. The preservation of museums' wo r k t ends t o c o llective memory. The paramount dut y , as well a s t h e best significanoe of Museology would lie there.

According to this conviction) there are some who aim their action at the reprcduction of reality in the nearest possible way to reality ot to what is considered endowed with a certain sacred value-­sufficient enough to belong to a museum's collection--that supposedly means the exclusion of an important piece of reality, because it was not representative or dignified enough.

Thus the problem of patrimonial reappropiation appearsJ.funda­mentally dynamic as the history of nations. This sh o ul d b e approached based on the significance of a culture which c overs a huge quantity of objects. according to the global concepti o n of culture and that includes the cultural my ths gi v ing legal standing to the exhibited objects.

All these considerations seem to be a - necessary prologue to the real subject of cultural identity in museums of the so called third world or underdeveloped wor~countries, or more simply, new nations. This is the case of Latin America in general and Argentina in this specific case. ~ither museums are accepted as cold exhibition rooms) unexpressive and distant o r an eff o rt is made to provide them with significance and a sense of belonging. Here the archetype museums have alwa y s been elite

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~laces where usually sumptuous private or public co l lections exhibit objects and ways of living arranged with the necessary good taste to attract tourists and sometimes even with care­fully exhibited pedagogic values. They were compatible with societies that had limIT.red participation in political power and the integration of all sectors was unthinkable . In the same way; the phenomenon of colonialism has prevented that the value and dignity of each local culture be dependent of a closed imitation of cultural forms from countries with influence in these areas . The gradual identification of this situation and the social ad­vancement of all sectors starts to show more authentic socio­cultural aspects--previously ignored or excluded--, Consequently; representativity becomes more significant and genuine and nearer to the present which is also sensed as one's own.

There would still be a fourth alternative-- which Raymond Single­ton outlines more keenly- -in the sense that identity and change are in endless conflict. that identity depends on the amount of cohesion and stability and that museology is still - in Childhood stage inasmuch as its character is not yet established. So,even admitting change) what matters is to create social sensibility that may show the way FROM CHAOS TO ORDER. Identity)truth;liesJ expressive quality of the texts showing what is exhibited)the introduction of oral traditions)etc. are all problems to be ta ­ken into account . Identity is not even) Marcel Evrard will say. and what is really sacred ropreserve is: communication, the present situation of the new onlooker> the sensibility that everything is aesthetic--objects and work --and that they are in the museum to awaken senses and senseJ encouraging in the viewer a global experience. The museum should be the vivarium for the nourishment and the excerciseof memory) thought and v iew .

My last reflection is that if the history of a nation is the ordering work of the collecti ve memory of that nation

J we ~tin

American countries have not yet assumed the true collecti ve de nsi ty of our countries. This failure is reflected in the conflict that takes place through o ur historiagraphies . It is therefore logical and natural to transfer this conflict to mus eums. BeSides, the Museum is the progressive dynamizer in the formation of our identity) not only of nations individually) but of humanity's development as a whole.

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Wojciech GJuzhiski - Wroclaw, Poland

The great number of papers and wealth of thought comprised

in them have made it impossible for me to discuss in detail all

the received materials in the short time I have had after retur-

ning from my summer holidays. I will, therefore, confine myself

to some reflections brought to my mind by the perusal of the

texts.

The first reflection is of a methodological-philosophical na­

ture and refers to the notion of identity, whose definition, as it

seems to me, has caused the authors who have attempted it (I have

ccunted 13 of them for the total number of 3B papers) some diffi­

culties.

The semantic field of the notion of identity in its whole de­

notation (identity in general) can be, I think, divided into a

number of sections:

- ontological-formal with the notion of identity sensu stricto;

- logical-mathematical with the notions of sameness, equality, and genetic identity;

- epistemological with the notion of identification as cogniti­ve procedure; and

- psychological (including socio-psychological) with the notion of one's identifying himself with anything else.

In each of these sections the notion of "identity in general"

assumes a different sense and everything is in order so long as

we define from the start in which of the sections we conduct our

considerations and maintain throughout their course the adopted

sense. If this definition is lacking, then there is a danger of

mixing up the sections and, consequently, of mixing up the notio-

nal categories specific to them as. well. The definitional sense

of the notion of identity established in this manner will not ful­

ly fit any of the sections and as a result will be vague and -

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ccnsidered from the point of view of each sector separately -

inadequate. And so it is in the case when identity is defined as

a feature (complex of features, quality) of an object, in some

cases as a relative feature or even a feature which, relating

only to some definite fragments of an object, coexists with

"some un-identity".

First, thus defined identity cannot be synonymous with iden­

tity sensu stricto from the ontological-formal section, since

identity sensu stricto is not a feature (as the eminent Polish

philosopher, Roman INGAR DEN , the phenomenologist, disciple and

collaborator of Husserl poins out), wt "a certain formal moment

which makes all qualities possible." I would even go further than

that and say that it is a certain antic condition of all being:

whatever is, irrespective of what it is like, is always itself

as long as it lasts, and from the fact that it is itself results

that it can be the individual subject of the qualities which con­

stitute it. Since, however, in the suggested definitions features

are mentioned, the authors no longer speak about identity sensu

stricto, wt refer to the c r i t e rio n of an object's iden­

tity, whose function it is to define "from what moments or states

of objects (from what symptoms) one can infer the preservation

by an object of its identity (that it has remained itself in cou­

rse of its existence)" (INGARDEN), and that is already identifi­

cation, a mental operation (epistemological section) and not a

condition of the object. As a result, the definition of identity

built with the use of the notion of feature is not adequate with

the ontological-formal semantic section, or with the epistemolo­

gical section, it oscillates between them and thus is totally

vague.

Secondly, identity is "no relative feature [ ••• ] or, in other

words, something which would automatically falloff an object if

everything else ceased to exist. On the contrary, even then that

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unique object, remaining after everjthing else has been destroyed,

would still be itself" (INGARDEN). Also the abcve mentioned frag­

mentary "identity" must be considered a relative ' feature, since

the fact that an object could be partly identical and partly un­

identical would presuppose the existence of some point of referen­

ce in regard to which it could take place. An object is either

totally identical or non-existent.

Vagueness and inadequacy of the suggested definitions of iden­

tity leads in consequence to unauthorized application of the de­

fined term, flawed as it is by these faults, to some problems to

which it in fact does not fit and which should be considered in

entirely different categories. To problems of this type belong

the problems of the so-called identity of the museum, museum ob­

ject, collection, exhibit, and, further, of their authenticity

and originality, truth and untruth. It should be said here that

no thing is in itself true or untrue, these categories refer only

to judgements and logical propositions and constitute their logi­

cal value.

The singling out of significative sections of the semantic

field of "identity in general" makes it possible to reflect which

one of them is of real importance for museological considerations.

Surely it is not the ontological-formal sector with the notion of

identity sensu stricto. This notion is so highly abstract that

"to say abcut one [thing) that it is identical with itself, is

to say nothing" (WITTGENSTEIN). Therefore no empirical science

concerns itself with this notion. Identity sensu stricto is sim­

ply the basic condition of existence of all sciences, and is dealt

with by the branch of philosophy called ontology. The logical-ma­

thematical section may also be ruled out, due to its very nature.

The same applies to the epistemological section with the notion

of identification which is an epistemological and methodological

category. Only the psychological section with the socio-psycholo-

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gical sub-section is in fact very interesting for museology,

since museums operate in the field of culture which implies iden­

tification with its elements and factors, identification in the

subjective (individual) and intersubjective (group) sense.

A very lucid definition of cultural identity is given in the

paper of Judith SPIELBAUER. According to the author, cultural

identity is a "multifaceted concept"; I would rather say that it

is a summary notion of all kinds of one's identifying himself

(in all possible relations) with the things which constitute a

particular culture. So it is in the dimension of synchrony, and

in the dimension of diachrony cultural identity may only be under­

stood in the sense of genetic identity (logical-mathematical sec­

tion - see QUINE), as I have shown in my basic paper.

Papers devoted to the problems of cultural identity constitute

the most interesting and fertile part of the materials. It should

only be kept in mind that the aspiration to realize cultural iden­

tity in museums should not destroy the identity of the museum it­

self in the sense of identity sensu stricto. The slogan to "de­

musealise museums" has once already been vOiced in the history of

museology (KUHN), fortunately with no practical consequences.

The following reflections, brought about by the study of the

papers, are already of a material nature.

(1) There are many and very different definitions of culture,

but everyone will probably agree with the stateme~t that culture

is, broadly speaking, the way 0 f 1 i f e of the human race

and in this sense the biological aspect of this life cannot be

separated from its cultural aspect. In everyday experience, how­

ever, we are not conscious of this complex structure of our lives,

assuming that everything happens so to speak naturally. On the

other hand, however, in certain circumstances we are prone to op­

pose Culture to Nature and to remorselessly exploit tha latter.

I therefore tr~nk that to demonstrate the strict entanglement of

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Culture and Nature should be one of the more important tasks of

museums. As it happens, however, in museums of a historical-cul­

tural character we do not find Nature, and in museums of natural

history we would vainly look for Culture, both exist separately

despite their obvious relations. It might be worthwhile to revert

to the 17th century idea of MAJOR who, albeit on the ground of

different premises, recommended in certain circumstances joining

the collections of "Artificiel-Sachen" - artifacts - with collec­

tions of natural objects according to the natural substance of

the exhibits. We could start from the premise that the history of

man and his culture is also the history of his natural environment

and that the latter together with its characterietics and resour­

ces conditioned the historical development of culture.

(2) KROEBER has thus characterized the historical approach in

cultural investigations: "I see the basic chEracteristic of his­

torical approach considered as a scientific method in the i n -

t e g rat ion of phenomena in the framework of constantly

enlarged context with the preservation of possibly greatest qua­

litative organization of phenomena with which we are dealing, in­

stead of their analytical segmentation. Context signifies the

location of phenomena in space and time, and thus [ ••• J in a de­

finite sequence. However, I consider the specificity of narration

as an inc ide n tal rather than fundamental question for

the historical method in the broader sense. The exposure of qua-

11 ty and organizational pattern seems to me much more important."

As things are, however, in the exposition of our museums, nay, in

the specialization of museums itself reigns the "analytical seg­

mentation", and the "specificity of narration" in a chronologi cal

sequence (which is allegedly the documentation of development)

eclipses the "disclosure of quality and organizational pattern."

However, man cannot identify himself with development (it is not

given him in the experience of actual reality, and if it is, then

21

only fragmentarily), but he identifies himself with qualities,

pRtterns, and values given him directly or through the mediation

of tradition.

(3) One's identifying himself with culture (in the broadest

meaning of the word) is not only an intellectual act but also -

or even first of all - an emotional phenomenon together with va­

luation. I do not identify myself with everything but only with

things to which I have a positive attitude. Similarly, social me­

mory is in a like manner selective and always tinged with emo­

tions and orientated towards some values. If, then, the museum

is both a symbol of specific identity configuration and a tool

used in the creation and the maintenance of identity" (SPIELBAUER).

then it should, to my mind, in a greater degree than has been

the case up to now refer in its expositions to emotional and exio­

logical factors of cultural identity. Objective-scientific criteria

of expositional arrangement are by themselves inadequate for the

experience of cultural identity, an experience which is always

considerably tinged with emotional factors and valuation . In this

ccntext the esthetic aspect of an exhibition cannot be merely so­

mething added, meant only to formally embellish the expositional

message as its setting, a message built in itself according to

epistemological codes, but it should constitute an integral com­

ponent of the message, participating in the creation of its sense

through appropriate esthetic codes. If expositional message is

really to be effective socially, effective along the lines of cul­

tural identity, then it must not be limited to its referential

function only, but has to have at the same time an emotive func­

tion, which in turn involves the application of definite rheto­

rics.

22

Notes

1. Roman INGAR DEN , Spar 0 istnienie 5wiata (The controversy over the existence of the world), vol.II, Warsaw 1961.

2. Alfred Louis KROEBER, The Nature of Culture, 1965, Foreword. Quotation retranslated from Polish, emphases mine.

3. Alfred KUHN, Aufgaben der Museen in der Gegenwart (The tasks of museums in present times) kunde", vol.XVI, 1922 (paper written in 1919). of the author are undobtedly correct, as if in

, "Museums­Many statements the spirit of

the discussed papers, but the conclusion seems to be too radi­cal.

4. Johann Daniel MAJOR, Unvorgreifliches Bedenken von Kunst- und Naturalienkammern insgemein (Unprejudiced considerations on Kunst- and Naturalienkammern in conjunction), Kiel 1674. See also Theodor Volbehr, Sammeltendenzen des siebzehnten Jahrhun­derts (Collector's tendencies in the 17th century

, "Museumskunde", vol.V, 1909.

5. Willard van Orman QUINE, From a Logical Point of View, 1964, in essay IV formulates the maxim of identification of what is undistinguishable in these words: "Objects which cannot be distinguished in the terms of a given type of statement, should for the use of statements of this type be treated as identical." (Quotation retranslated from Polish) •

6. Judith K. SPIEL BAUER , The Implications of Identity for Museums

and Museology - basic paper in the framework of the present Symposium.

7. Ludwig WITTGENSTEIN. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 5.5303. (Quotation retranslated from Polish).

23

Isabel Laumonier - Buenos Aires, Argentine

Face a la multitude de reponses et la diversite d'opinions pr1 sentes en ce qui concerne Ie theme de l'identite, i1 est dirri cile de trouver une methode adequate pour realiser n'importe quelle sorte d'evaluation. C'est pour cela que nous avons choisi, pour adopter un cadre de reference, Ie triangle operatoire de Giraudy/Bouichet, cite par

Ie Dr. Sow Huchard, car . nous croyons nue chacun des parametres fondaT'1entaux .. en ce qui concerne la museologie (le musee, les collections -objets-, Ie personnel et Ie pUblic) ont ete trai­tes sous differentes optiques de la part de plusieura des au -teurs des 33 travaux presentes.(au 10 aout)

a) Les objets-temoins

a.1) Pour Ph. Dr. A. Gre~orov: "l'original, l'objet authentioue,

celui-ci seul possede une valeur de musee ••• un ob,i et de m)d see est porteur d'information. (Cet objet aura pour but) ••• "aider a connaitre et a affermir l'identite de l.'hor.lme et de la nature dans sa continuite developpementale aseendante ••• "

a.2) Tandis nue pour Ie prof. Hugues de Varine: .•• "t he eul tural and natural heritage from the past must be consi dered as the raw, or semi-refined, material left at the free ctisposa] of our contemporaries and of their successors, to help them build their own project", ceci parce que: "conservinf': some objects may be needed, but not as means of' achiev i nr the mu­

seum [1:0 al a ••• "

b) Le personnel

A leur tour les objets sont manipu1es, jup-es et exposes par le personnel du musee (b), et 18. Bussi les opini.ons di .l'ferent.

b.l) " the role of museums is to preserve anct to present the facts, the truth, impartially and without bi as, d:f'ficult thouth this is when practi.cal considerations impose a m e~u

re of selecti.fi ty in all presentations" (Raymond Sinrle t on)

Cependant,

b.2) "A partir d'une observation et une etude serieuses on neut regarder la fa~oD dont on organise un r.lusee: Ie fenre des

collections, Ie format des pieces des expos:i ti.ona, eto.,

2 5

pour arriver a une determination aseez precise sur co~~ent

ceux (lui sont charges de la direction du musee interpretent

la realite". (C. Martin).

0),1 encore :

:"Ilhat a rluseum curator considers important is collected ann/or

documented. What isn't collected or documented doesn't exi st

wit'1in the reality of the museum. Museum are full of "invisi ble

b . "d ."." . b1 " CP V" ) o Jects, ocument~ng ~nv~s~ ._ e groups. • an I' ,ensch .

c) Le public

Le public aura

AU bjen un role passif, en contemplant:

c.l) ••• "l'ob j et authentique ••• " " ••• different de tous les autres"

et dans ce cas :

"C the) ••• visitor must receive his share of scientific know

ledge whether he wants to or not". (1'1. Gluzinski).

ou par contre

c. ? ) "(the community) has to make use of (the museum) as a tool,

for its own development ... (and) it has to control it pema­

Bently ••• " (E. de Varine)

ce oui fait Que

d) Le

'~a participation de la population locale au sujet de toutes

les activites de ~usee est consideree comme un element de

premiere importance et la strategie de "recherche populaire"

a ete proposee comme methode de developper l'identitee cu1-

turelle".(Bjarne Flou). ,

musee

Selon l' opinion d' un museologue, le musee comporte un rol e deci sif

car :

d.l) " ••• where else can man acquire and become intimately familiar

wi.th a concrete notion about the development 0 f ~i s spe c:i es,

nation, mariking, an even nature, thanp precisely in museums?

I-/here else can be more readily gain and deepen a feelini" of

respect for the ardcruous, toi lsome road of his development?

(Ph. A. Gre~orov).

Ce aui semble differer de l'opinion suivante :

d. 2) "Developin~ nations hesi tate to become involved in such a

26

complex and demanding institution and some must wonder

at the wisdom of becoming committed to that seems like a

foreing idea". (Te Warena Taua).

et de plus,

"In some societies, museums seem to carry an aura of sepa­

ratness from indir;enous peoples - an elite institution, the

territory of scholars, scientist and tourists •.. ". (du rr;~me auteur) •

Ceci n'est Qu'un tout petit echantillon des divergeances des diff~

rents travaux presentes a la mi-aout. On peut attendre de nouv~les

presentations, -tout assi controversables-, a la fin de la !'loi sson.

''L'innocence'' des musees existe-t-elle?

Au tout premier abord, il est factible d'observer Que pour ouel ­

ques auteurs, l' impartiali te du musee est un but non seulement d~

sirable, rlais possible . Et cela, en appliquant au maximum "les m~

thodes scientifioues abjectives"; :il faut maximal iser les eff'orts

concernant les techna.oues pour determiner: " •.. the size ••. the features ••• the purposes, time and place of nanufacturinp; •.. the

ori{"in and "legend" ... the physicals state ... ecc . etc, des ob -

jets. (Juri Pischulin).

11 semblerait oue la collection de documents authentiQues, dans

tous 1 es cas po ssible "originaux", comporterai t un messap;e uni vo­

Que concernant lthomme et son cheminement vers une'evolution tola

Ie. Pour d'autres, par contre, il ne s'agit ja'llais d ' un messap:e "neu­

tre": " ••• Museums are institutions that collect and preserve ob­

jects; that is part of any definition. Some of these objects are

mere signs ••• Some have deeper symbolic content ••• But there are

some which gain symbolic content when they are placed in the mu­

seum ••• " (E. Hawes).

Ce qui semble inevitable aux uns, se presente comme un defaut evi­

table pour d' autres : "~luseology should investie:ate the interrela­

tions of musealia characteristics which contribute to the determi­

nation of an identity and their other characteristics, avoidinp; a

certain idiologisation which would have been contrary to the demo­

cratic substance of expression and perception of an object's cha­

racteristics and the creation of an identity of different forms".

(1. ~laroevic).

Et parfaois, Ie doute, tout simplement, ne se pose meme pas: ''Le

musee nous fait plonger nos regards dans le passe et dans l'ave-27

nir. 11 semble au service de tous. 11 est vraiment impartial.

11 est donc l'objet de 1a fierte de tous ••• " (E. Zouhdi).

Positions diverses, opinions contraire, doutes ••• Mais, l'inno­

cence des musees existe-t-elle? Peut-on parler de la "liberte

!les musees"? Car, s'il est vrai au'ils collaborent a la creation,

ou a la formation ou au soutient de 1 'identi te cul tllrelle ••• "il

existe un seuil au dela dunuel seuls les pouvoirs Dolitinues sont

en mesure de creer une memoire "collective" et d'imposer sur elle

un consensus social" (A. Nicolas). Et cela doi t nous all erter :

"'lie should also be careful1 '-lith the political dream of national

cultural identity" ••• National identity is almost always the ex­

pression of a dominant (sub) culture. In order to legi timise the

dominant sub-culture as national identity partly new traditions

are jni;ented... \'/ho' s identity is reflected in national museums?

~1ho' s past? INho' s naterial cul ture • • ?" (P. Van Hensch).

Car : "Evidently, the Huseum ••• and each museum ••• ref'} ect inevi­

tably the identity of its creator, who always belongs to the do­

minant social sector (economical or/and intellectual, or/and id~o

lop-ical, or/and political) ... The identity the ~1useum transmits

becomes a source of identification in its tur: a "wanted" identi­

ty, in contrast with a "sensed identity". In our opinion the Hu -

seum ••• shows itself then a a useful system to reproduce the si -

tuation of domination" (Domenec/Horral).

Un cC::1mentaire nous a ete sollicite apres la lecture des 33 tra­

vaux ,H'esentes a l'ICCFOH. En lisant celui que je presente ici,

on peut signaler que ce H'est qu'un decoupafe fait arbitrairement

au depend des efforts de tout le monde, un salmigonclis il'."or"1e.

Cependant, il m'a semle tirer deux fils conducteurs tout au long

des documents: la voix des muses solidement insta1les dans leur

belle "r.lUsealia", surs du message a delivrer, se faisant un "de­

voir" d'illuminer de la brillante lumiere de la culture (C1uelJ.e

culture?, disons la "grande" culture, au peut etre bien, la "cul­

ture officie1le"), s' exigeant la perfection technique, la parfai­

te documentarion ad majorem gloriam identitatisj et la voix par -

fois exasperee des pays qui ont souffert de la colonisation ou

bien d'une see:re[ration ethnique et aui s'interroe:ent justement

sur "1 'innocence" des musees, sur l'image de l' identi te dont ils

sont porteurs.

Pour rn a part j'ai trouve bien des rel?onses a beaucoup de ces Clues

tions en lisant "Rethinking the Museum Concept" (H.de Varine). Et

je me permets d'employer une des phrases pour finir ce commentaire:

28

toutes les qllestions ont 6t6 pos6es, toutes lea dirferences ont 6t6 6tablies; il faudra chercher la r6ponse a tout cel a, "1ai s : . . . "whatever the answer, it has to be clear, honest, exnlicit " (si possible).

29

Carol A Martin - Tucson, Arizona, USA

The followinlr comments on Identity and Museology apply generally to all papers reviewed. with , specific references to particular text s as necessa­ry. :

For a topic wi th such broad parueters for discussion aud such potential for controversy. it was surprising how much agreement there was on the important issues. Running like a bright thread through almost all th" papers was the belief that the definition of identity and the linkage between that definition and museology is crucially important to the role museums must play in the societies of which they are a part . Simultane­ously. there was a recognition that stich a definition is not going to be easy to come by; that there are almost as many interpretations as thel'e are authors addressing the topic. No one. however. se"meJ to feel. that the definition put forth in his / her own paper was the only one possible . Many recognised and stated the terms can be defined at various level s and some definitions can encompass others . Almost all implied. if they didn't explicitly state, that the definition of identity and how it i s important to the fledgling science/philosophy of museology is determined largely by the social and political context of museums.

In general. I would say definitions of identity ' fell into two broad categories . Some. such as Evrard. define identity as consciousness of self, of the attributes which make an individual unique among all others. and of the sharing of certain aspects of those attributes witll others to form a collective identity . This implies an act of will. of recognition and involvement by the individual and/or the group . Identity is defined from within and presented to others: "See. this is what we are,"

This perspective also implies an active role in society on the part of museology and museums since, as Benes states. " .. . the main can tl' i bu ti on of museums to the development of society is incorporating cultural va lues to our present life." He goes on to say that museums canllot J, ,, r:!e,'ely " store of dead valuables because then they are merely decorative (and. by implication, relatively useless.) Such a viewpoint. however. does not take into account the use of museums as keepers of the national herita~e ,

Maranda brings this up by mentioning that large. internationally known museums such as the British Museum. the Hermitage. and the Louvre hold collections belonging not just to the individual ethnic group or nation. but to the world as a whole. This raises a question. however, which neither she nor any of the other authors addressed in depth: do reposito­ries of heritages which transcend the identity and / or needs of any single group or nation serve a larger purpose in focusing on the identity of humanity? Maranda says. "The attachment the public has with these museums is not one of identity but ... of education, admiration and reverence," I submit that the • attachment' is indeed one of identity but at u more encompassing level in that we are dealing with "this is what we BI'e" as human beings.

Gregorova and Ley ten agree with this by noting that the museum idea can be simultaneously an expression of historic sense and specific ability "not merely as an individual or member of a certaill group, but also as a member of Homo sapiens sapiens generally."

Hawes. Jelinek. and Laenui take the next logical step. By linking museums to active definitions of identity. they feel museums play an important part in educating their visitors in what it means to be human, and ill what ethnic and national groups have in common. not just what makes a group or environment unique .

31

The second category into which many other authors, including Maranda fall, defines identity quite differently, as coming from the outside "" .to be that which tells people who they are." In this instance, the indivi d uul and the group find self mirrored in the eyes and actions of others. Thi. is a \'ery pas.ive definition; self is defined by the per.pecLi ve. uf otllers. Khat others see and say sets the parameters for how the group / in­dividual sees and identifies self, This presents some major pt·oblem •. \,ithout active involvement from the "identifi-ee" to correct misconcep­t i un. and bi ases of the "identif fer," stereotypes, misinformu t iun dud prejudices can be established and perpetuated to the detriment of every­one .

Of course, leaving the question of identity to be defined solely by the owner of the identity creates other problems. Stereotypes, mi.information and prejudices are as apt to be perpetuated by the owner of an identity as by anyone else. What is required is a combination of the two in order to have not the "truth" (for truth, like beauty, lies in the eye of the ueholder), but an . added depth and diversity to the definition which enriches all.

Many papers use the ecomuseum as a good example of the concept that i den t lty is best defined by those holding the identi ty. Few seem to recognise, however, the problems that may occur if this is the only source used to define ident i ty . Ecomuseums, far from being an example of the best type of museum to define identity, may, without care and cooperation between those holding the identity and t!tose professionally trained to re.earch it, be those most vulnerable to error. Bellaigue alludes to the problem when she asks what can be done to insure research-worket·s will "acknowledge the dght and ability of others to speak for their own in.ide the cultural institution . " While she states "workers, engineers, techni­cal designers .. . ~an and must be allowed to stand on an equal foot ~itll

the research-worker or the curator," she approaches it mainly to correct tile exclusion, with only a brief mention of the importance of cooperation between museum professional and holder of the identity.

Alollg with widespread recognitioll that defining identity is a complex and can be approached from a number of equally valid perspectives, is the recognition that identity is both a process and a product of changing con tex ts. Emerging national i sm and the need to discover or rees tabl i.1t . u ~~ l · ~ssed cultural ide ntities in former colonial countries mdY require a more egocentric and agressive approach on the part of museums than is de.irable for nations that are not trying to recover from such a pa.t. Flou gives a good example when he states, "In a situation of radical challge as, for example, a community-development project, the need for the local population to understand their cultural identity is most crucial." TI,,' role of museums in such circumstances both to help others reach undel'standing of what they are and to preserve some of the physical attributes of identity can be a critical one.

Wili Ie many authors such as Jel inek define identity as someth ing wh i ch make. an individual a part of something else, and feel the role of museums and 1I1useology is (as Gluzinski writes) to provide a link beLween ",hut was, .-hat is, and what is becoming, there is another important but little cOl1sider~d aspect of the role of museology. Only one or two surfaced the idea that identities are defined by contrast. This is an important idea that de.erved more attention than it received. By comparing differences and learning what one is not, one can, according to Benes, better under­.tand what one is .

Khen speaking of museology vis a vis identity, once again there are almost as many perspectives as authors. Yet there are also broad areas of

3 2

consensus which. as in the case of the defini tion of identi ty. call be placed in one of two categories. The first is to treat museology as a scientific discipline whose objectives are to improve the preservation and exhibiting of objects. The purpose of such preservation and exhibition may be unimportant. The second is to treat museology as a phi losophy whose primary objective is to actively shape and define cultured identity.

Morral correctly points out the problems with the first definition: if the museum's mission is to preserve artifacts, and museology's mlssioll is to find better ways to accomplish that preservation. where daHs the concepL of identity fit? Identity. Morral says, is an intangible concept that is in a state of continuous transformation and change. Preservation implies something static and frozen. How does one reconcile the differences between the two? He feels that past efforts have too often led to the museum' 5 being a reflection of the identity of its cl't,ator. "who always belongs to the dominant social sector." Museology thus becomes caught in a trap where efforts to establish itself as a definitive science with formal theories and procedures preserve the object only as a physical item. not as a symbol of unique identity.

Museology as phllosophy has somewhat more appeal in that it links the physical object wi th the living, changing community which produced it. Oberti speaks for a number of museum professionals from less technologi­cally developed countries who feel that museology as philusuph\' shuuld play a strong role in fostering consciousness of national identity and erasing past injustices of the "neocolonial bond that hinders any authen­tic aesthetic and cultural manifestations and is the cause of underdevel ­opment." Clementi seconds this belief, saying the search for identi ty wi 11 have meaning only when the contents of museums include eVel'\'Olle without depriving or forgetting any citizen.

Yet there is a danger here as Maranda' clearly recognises. There is choice on the museum's part regarding what to collect. what to exhibit and huw to interpret those exhibits. Such choices fall in the realm of creating identity and thus the museum is involved in influenCing the public's thinking. Maranda says. and correctly, that such an activity has strong pol i tical overtones. She believes that opponents of the val·ticular choices l view of the museum will bring that opposition into the polit ical arena where the museum's activities will be accepted or rejected on political grounds rather than esthetic merit or scientific contdbution.

The cause of fostering awareness and understanding of cuI turdl identity will be lost .

Whatever the differences between viewpoints, and whatever the strengths of the various arguments presented in the ICOFOM papers, everyone shou ld be able to agree on at least one thing: museums play an importallt role in today's world. They are one of the few social institutions that have tangible evidence of intangible concepts. How that evidellce is cared for. how it is presented to the museum visitor, what museums do or don't do in the community at large, has an impact . Museum professionals call 110 IOII~er

enclose themselves within the walls of their institutions. little knowillg or caring what is going on around them. Museum are no longer the private property of their creators. They are keepers of symbols, powerful ones. and ones that will not be still. The medium carries a message whether we want it to or not: what we must do is insure that the message is as honest as we can make it.

33

Marc Maure - Lommedalen, Norvege

La variete et l a richesse des textes est teEe <JU' il est bien di fficile d'en faire une analyse complete, et qui rende justice aux diffarents auteurs, Je rre contenterais de dire en que).ques !TOts quelles ont at~ rres princi­pa les r~ctions a ).a lecture de ces textes,

Tout d'abord le fait que ce recueil. de textes constitue - au second degra - une description tout a fait unique et fascinante des diverses idrologies r~'Jissant J.e travail. musful, Indapendanrrent du fait que certaines analyses peuvent ap~aitre plus canpU!tes que d' autres, et que certains arguments soient plus faciles a admettre que d'autres, J.a sarrne des contributions est un nat~riau tres int~ressant. !~ chercheur qui voudrait faire une analyse du role des musaes dans notre sociata - avec ses nuances nationales, r~gionales, cu1.turelles, politiques et autres - trouverait la un inventaire assez repr~sentatif des principales tendances.

, ~.

Ensuite le "ait <JUe "1.e mythe de la nation", autrerrent dit l.e f ait de consid~rer "l. 'identita culturelle" came synonyrre de "J.'identit~ natio­nale", occure une pl.ace centrale - plus ou lTOins expliciterrent - dans ncmbre de contributions. Personnel lanent il rre semble tres imp:>rtant que les responsables des musaes fassent une r~"lexion sur le rOle que joue leur institution dans leur soci~t~. Je veux dire par la que rrettre le musae au service d' une identit~ de caractere national n'est pas un choix neutre. Les nations ne sont crOOes, e t ne se craent, qu' en passant par l' oub 1 i et l a r~pres­sion cultureJ.le de groupes et cul.tures minoritaires, r~ grand chal len:Je des musaes aujourd'hui est,a ITOn avis, de prendre ses distances !'Jar rapport a la dirrension nationa.l.e du rOle des musaes, pour prendre en consid~ration la variat~ des identit~s et des cultures, et 5' engager en faveur du davel.oppement des 3rouDes minoritaires.

A ITOn avis iJ rre semble que ncmbre d' auteurs conc;:oivent et utilisent le concept d' identit~ de fac;:on un peu trop statique et uniquerrent tourn~ vers J.e DaSS~, L'identit~ cu1.turelle n'est nas quelque chose de passif, donn~ une fois pour toutes, et se d~finissant et etant v~ de fac;:on objective et immu­ab.1.e. La notion d'identit~ renvoie au contraire a un processus dynamique; }'identit~ culturelle d'un qrouoe est quel .que chose qui se cr~, se trans­forme, ~volue et s'exprirre de fac;:ons differentes suivant les circonstances. A la base de la cr~ation des musaes, de tous les musaes, on trouve le besoin de rendre consciente, Signaler, di:t:fuser une identite. r,e groutJe culturel dont le musae est J.'expression y trouve la r~ponse aux grandes questions - aux mvthes - qu'il se pose sur sa provenance, son avenir, ses normes, etc. r~ pass~ n'a pas de va).eur en soi, il est important dans l.a rresure oD on y trouve des al~nts de r~ponse aux problemes actu~ls. r~ domaine de l'identit~, et le domaine des musees, ce n'est pas le domaine des sciences exactes, nais celui des mythes et des symboles.

35

Peter van Mensch - Leyden, Netherlands

Although the diversity of content and approach in the papers presented is considerable, some basic focus points can be recognized.

The first question to be answered was: what is identity? Most authors <including myself) concentrated on "cultural identity" = the culturally defined identity of a social group. Some authors however went into other aspects of identity, often starting from a philosphical concept of the identity of a phenomenon as the essence of it (Gregorova, Maroevic, Martin). There is an identity in every phenomenon. Within the field of

"museology we are dealing with the identity of an object (Gregorova, Sow Huchard, Pischulin, Swiecimski), the identity of a collection (Ley ten) , the identity of an institution (Ley ten, Scheiner), the identity of a represented culture (most authors) and the identity of museology itself (Scheiner).

Each of these approaches (to which identity as a psychological concept should be added) can be used as theme of a separate symposium. In view of the majority of the papers presented it seems obvious to devote the Buenos Aires symposium to the problem of cultural identity, but I will use this IIcommentll to make a few additional remarks on the other aspects of i . rlcnfi~y ~s well.

Interesting papers were presented by Swiecimski and Sow Huchard. Unfortu­nately these papers stand alone, dealing exclusively with the identity of objects. I suggest that these papers are included in the "final" analysis of the papers and discussions concerning the theme "Originals and subsitutes in museums" (Zagreb 1985).

Without going into details, I consider an object as having a three-layered identity: conceptual identity, factual identity, actual identity. Conceptual identity refers to the idea behind the object, the idea that through the application of technology (craft or industry) is materialized into the concrete object. The concrete object itself, as conceived by the maker, has a factual identity. Very often an objects acquires during its life history a "historic quality": part of the primary information gets lost, new information (traces of wear, adaptations, repairs, patina, etc.) is added. On this level we can speak of actual identity (Van Mensch 1986).

These identities are connected with the conceptual contexts in which they are found. The conceptual identity of an object makes sense in the frame work of the conceptual context of the maker. After many years the conceptual context of the viewer/user will be different from that of the maker. There is a relation between the perceived actual identity of an object and the conceptual context of the viewer/user, but there is at the same time a tension or discrepancy between the conceptual identity of the object and the conceptual context of the viewer/user. After the object is removed from its original, primary context to the museological context ("museali­zation") this discrepancy radically increases (Van Mensch 1984, Van Mensch 1986). When an artifact -even the most commonplace one - enters the museum

37

it becomes a relic (Evrard) and a symbol. As such each museum object is part of a "dreamland", a suspension of reality (Prince 1985). A museum is an institutionalized dr'eamland. If the visitor wants to be part of this dreamland he/she has to accept the judgements and interpretations that constituted it.

Recently the concept of identity started to play a role in management theory as "corporate identity". It is my opinion that marketing techniques should be used more often in museums. But it is important to realise that it is not sufficient to hire a marketing specialist to "sell" an image. The corporate identity of a museum is more than its architecture, its exhibition design, the design of its publications, its house style. Its corporate identity is in the first place its dreamland aspect. A complicating factor is that the intende!image of a museum does not always meet the images held by people who visit (and not visit) museums. This is an interesting field of museological research (see Prince 1985).

This discrepancy between the dreamland of the curator and the dreamland of the visitor is particulary felt when the museum represents contemporary cultures. Very often there is a discrepancy between the conceptual context of the visitor, coming from the same conceptual context as the maker of the object, and the conceptual context of the curator. In an exhibit this discrepancy becomes clearly visible when only the factual identity is communicated and no attention is paid to the relation between the conceptual identity of the object and the conceptual context of the maker (Laenui).

The identity of a museum should reflect the ultimate aim of its activities. The aim of museums can be defined with help of the polarity between an .:l.utonomous ( internal directed, introvert, input oriented) and an external (extrovert, output oriented, social directed) legitimation*: the museum as archive versus the museum as tool for community development.

In the basic papers many authors express a very explicit point of view: the aim of museums should be to constitute, or at least to strengthen, a cultural identity. Some define cultural identity as national identity (Benes, Laumonier, Zouhdi, Schreiner), others stress the importance of museums for the preservation and communication of regio'nal or ethnic subcultures (Laenui, Te Warena Taua). This brings museums into the political arena. Is it the task of museums to play an active role in the shaping of human life? Maranda has a clear opinion: museums should not become agents of a new life. There are other institutions to serve political ends. "To implicate museums in a future of identity creation is a confusion of terms which has the possibility of becoming dangerous. The possibility being that those insitutions entrusted to preserve values would become the same insitutions creating values". The same view can be found in the results of a su'rvey among museum directors in the USA (Museums USA 1975). Only a small minority (17 %) consider "encouraging positive social change" as very important purpose.

If this means that museums as institutions with a responsibility to preserve values cannot, or should not, serve political ends is a naive point of view. The preservation process itself cannot been seen isolated from the social (political, etc.) context. In my own contribution to the symposium I tried to analyse the concepts of cultural identity and national identity. Key question is : who is in control of national identity? Too often an economic, military and/or political dominant group use museums as political instrument. "New" identities are created on the basis of political theories and museums are expected to spread the ideology (Flou, see for example also Goldberg 1981, Mobius 1986, Wernicke 1986). At the same time "old" identities disappear or are sometimes even

3 8

intentionally suppressed. Culture, once destroyed, cannot possibly be reconstructed purposefully (Grote). It is the paradox of museum work that much energy is spend to preserve cultural heritage while at the same time the society it sprang from is destroyed.

Very often national museums treat regional cultural identities as rudiments of a near past, immobilized by the suffocating nostalgia of the alienated city-dweller: picturesque folklore with only a touristic relevance. Under pressure of tourism cultural identity is amputated. Only a superficial, thin layer of material culture remains. Tourism may contribute to the Gross National Income, it is a curse for cultural identities. The integrity of a culture is corrupted.

Are museums able ,to counterbalance the international trend of cultural catration, or are they also victims of expanding tourism? This brings us at the question: who's responsible for who's heritage (Grote, Bellaigue)? To what extent can, or ,should, museums act as advocates? The Berlin (West) "Museum fur Volkerkunde" stated in one of its educational leaflets that it is the task of this museum to preserve the heritage of Oceanic cultures because these societies are not yet able to appreciate thei'r own traditions. Comparable arguments are sometimes used to legitimize the presence of the Elgin marbles in the British Museum. But: "In presenting indigenous cultures, museums must present not the museums' view of indigenous cultures, for too often that view is shrouded with judgmental values based on that museums' particular approach to spirituality" (Laenui).

Advocacy fails anyhow when cultural identity is narrowed down to material culture. I think this is the basic problem of museums: is cultural identity hest exprp.ssed by material culture? is cultural identity beat preserved by preserving objects ? (see also Bellaigue) The identity of culture is not the mere sumtotal of its material components. An object-oriented museum is never able to grasp the identity of a culture. The " l anguage of the real thing" (De Varine) is not sufficient to communicate culture, nor in its narrow sense, nor in its broad antropological sense. To preserve, communicate, develop, renew, enricht, etc. cuI tural identity "new'! approaches should be developed. Models of such new approaches are presented by Te Warena Taua, Maure and Evrard. Important is that these new approaches leave room for the dynamic character of culture (Bellaigue, Evrard, Spiel bauer) .

New approaches however are useless when we forget to ask "why" before we ask "how" (Maure). This brings us again at the question of the ultimate aim of museums . What will be, or should be, the aim of the future museum? The same goal but with the use of different methods, or new goals? Many authors stress the collective approach to cultural identity (national identity, ethnic identity), a few go beyond this approach and describe as ultimate aim of museums the development of a new, critical awareness of the individual (Gluzinski, Laenui, Maroevic, Suler, Bellaigue, Evrard, Spielbauer).

Perhaps the ultimate aim of museums can be described as the aim to enable people to acquire knowledge of and insight into the conditions for living (cultural as well as natural) and the way in which human actions affect the quality of these conditions, so that they can, with a sense of responsi­bility, make well-considered personal and social choices which do justice to the complex relationship between culture and nature.

39

References

Goldberg, L. (1981) The museum enters the political arena. The Museo1ogist winter 1981:

Mensch, P. van (1984) Museo1ogy and the object as data carrier. Leiden.

Mensch, P. van (1986) In1eiding in de museo1ogie I Het object als infor­matiedrager. Leiden.

Mobius, P. (1986) DDR Geschichte, Nationalgeschichte, Erbe und Tradition in der Tatigkeit der Geschichtsmuseen in der DDR. Neue Museumskunde 29, 1986, (1): 12-14.

Museums USA. Purposes and functions, programs, attendances, • ... Research conducted by the National Center for the Arts Inc. National Endowment for the Arts, Washington. 1975.

Prince, D. (1985) The museum as dreamland. The International Journal of Museum ManagemenL and Curatorship 4, (): 243-2Su.

40

Domenec Miquel & Eulalia Morral

- Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain

After a quick reading (fast. and thus consequently not sufficiently pro­

fund) of the considerable amount of basic-papers. which form the dossier we are working on. there are. in our opinion. two ways of reflection are drawn ahead of us. which are not only compatible. but they should indeed be complementary.

1. On the one hand. departing from the notable unanimity the various contri­butions show. come to the main characteristics a) of the identity itself

.dynamic concept. in constant evolution and transformation .

. impliying unquestionably difference

.which involves conscious and inconscious aspects

.which has various ingredients. each evolving in a different way

.which is a cultural product. the result of the human look upon its

own community or outwords (upon other communities. era. nature. ob-jects ... )

.which can be. as the same time. of a diverse character:felt. impo­

sed. wished. b) of the multiple connotations. possibilities and l imitat ions of the

Museum on this topic .as a creator of identity. with a constructive or a destruct i ve f i­na Ii ty

.as a support of iaentit ies which are searching the way t o projec t

themselves .as a translator of the creator's identity or of the impeller's iden­tity .

. as an agent. and therefore useful and perillous at the same time; the capacity to act in one or another sense shows the needed hones­ty of the professional.

2. On the other hand. to bring to attention those other implicati ons.which

do not show up in the texts. or which are only slightly noted. reading between the lines. and which. as we understand it. have to be taken in ac­count -and replevied within the field of the Museology- in order to mesure as correct as possible the phenomenon Museum as an integrant part of our own

cultural identity.

The fact that in quite a few reports there is talk of differencies between

what has been called "traditional museum" and "novelties·. is quite surpri­sing to us. There is even question of "revolution" (B. De!oche). and there

41

are quite a few who mention the ecomuseums or more recent realizations (thematically or by treatment). in contrast with previous methods. when it is just the grace. the ability. or the subtle cleverness of our society. the very fact of hiding behind the alteration of the fa~ade the continuity of some aspects. which remain immovable. and fully useful in their func­tions. even if it would give a feeling of shame. The Museum forms an undis­sociable part of the identity of our occidental society from the XIX and XX century at least :

As a discharge of the conscience. when findind oneself not capable to as­

similate the transformation in which we are involved:we go and freeze things. putting them apart. that include the secret. the clue to unders­tand this evolution. and so it is not necessary for us to stop to think. As an evident marketmechanism. Without compromising in the dealing the Museum has the role of an unquestionable arbitrator. deciding what is and what is not patrimony (the museality of qhich talks I. Maroevic); a mu­seumobject is an-object-of-value. and this qualification earns it its immediate placement on the market . In this sense it is hard for to us to understand the genuineness of the Museum referred to by L. Maranda ("the Museum has to presrve. not to create"). How can we avoid doig so. when the very moment we make a choice to preserve. we are creating an object. ma­king it different from all the others. not chosen? As a social passportmechanism. wich surronds the one who participates (as promotor.as customer). as an aura necessary to establish or project oneself socially (the elite of J. Spielbauer and E.L.Hawes) As an afirmation of ourselves by ourselves (A. Gregorova). that we take even the liberty to interfere in what we want the future generations to think of us. Fortunately. all kind of remainders that will last at the margin of the museums will permit the archeologists of the future to form a more trusworthy image of what we have been . .. As an expansionvalvule of our need to admire. It is the fascination of the exotic. the misterious. the amazing; it is the need of myth (E.L.Ha­wes) against the boredom of everyday's life. That is why mirror-museus are successful only at the beginning. with the initial discovery of the self. but later on. only the turists like them -unless these museums find the imagination and the system to provide someting new all the time- and fall into oblivion.

And an etcetera which is probably very long. and which we believe to be as

attractive as it is necessary to go into. And finally. it would be very dif­

ficult to comply with our duty correctly and consciously if to o~r promises of responsability and professional ethics if we did not add the greatest pos-

42

sible knowledge of the reality in which we are immersed.As J. Spielbauer says,

if we want to go forward, we must accepted what is good and what is bad, the ideal and the real.

* * * We would say that one of the main problems is to get to see the difference

between Museology (Science, or something on its way to become it) and Museum (one of the possible places, not the only one, where this science has a prac­tical application) . Science is something that can have various and often not thought of applications. Reducing it to the experimentation of one type of laboratory only (the Museum) or to say it even more concrete with one spe­cific type of museums -ethnographic, for exemple- means to impoverish it and to mutilate it, and in any case, not advancing on the right way of research.

A last important aspect refers to us, professionals of the museum, as a

whole, or, if you want, as an intellectual class. In our every-day life we go on to establish subtle differencies, which permit us to situate us on a superior level -those who have the clues- regarding the greater part of the public. It is only this way that we dare placing art -supreme expression which exists by itself- or science and technology -obviously always neutral­apart from the identity problem. This is, in reality, an absolute deceit.

'~t and science, work of men, are framed within space and time coordinates -specific culture- and are likewise a sign of identity as the act of crea­ting a Museum is.

We talk about identity from ivory towers: the identity which belongs to the

ruling classes in history, and there is no need to say, that we, museolo­gists, are part of the dominant class, while the "others", workmen,peasants, indians from the Amazone are ethnographically situated by us. For us, urban people, sociology; for the others ,anthropology. It would be a curious thing to invert the terms of the essay and set up a Museum on museologists, a human collective with its customs, rites -acces to the places of work,con­gresses .... -, mythes -colleagues almost elevated to the divine condition­internal and external tensions; in short, a band of hunters-collectors with its own identity

43

, ,,-- .

Domimec Miquel & Eulalia Morral

- Sant Cugat del Valles, Espagne

A la suite d'une lecture (trop rapide, donc ne pas sufisamment approfondie) du grand nombre de basic-papers qui constituent Ie dossier de trava i l de cette annee, deux voies de reflexion se presentent, pas seulement compati­bias mais, a notre avis, necessairement complementaires.

I. D'un cote, "concluire", d'apr~s la remarquable unanimite des diverses contributions, les traits principaux a) de I 'identite, elle m!me

concept dynamique , toujours en evolution et transformation qui implique necesairement difference qui comprend des aspects conscients et inconscients qui est composee par plusieurs ingredients, qui evoluent de manieres d i fferentes qui est un produit culturel, resultat du regard humain sur la pro pre

, :c- . communaute ou sur I 'exterieur (nature, objets, d'autres communautes . . ) qui peut etre, au m!me temps, diverse: sentie, imposee, voulue.

b) des multiples connotations, possibilites et limitations du Musee face a ce sujet

comme createur d'identite, aux buts cons t ructifs ou destructifs comme soutien d'identites qui cherchent la voie de s'autoprojecter. comme traducteur de la propre identite de ses createurs comme agent, donc, au m!me temps utile et dangereux; la responsabili­te de Ie mener dans l'un ou I 'autre sens fait evidente la necessaire honetete du professionnel.

2. De I ' autre cote, detacher des autres aspects qui n'aparaissent pas dans les textes, ou que s'y lisent tres timidement entre lignes et que, a no­tre avis, il faut en tenir compte -et les revendiquer dans Ie domaine d'etude de la Museologie- afin de mesurer si correctement que possible Ie phenomene "Musee" , comme partie de notre pro pre identite culturelle.

II nous a surpris que, dans plusieurs textes, on fait des references

aux differences entre ce qu'on nomme "musee traditionnel" et les "nou­veautes". M!me B. Deloche parle de "revolution", et plusieurs se referent aux ecomusees ou a des realisations plus recentes (du point de vue the­matique ou pour Ie traitement donne) en contraste avec les anterieures;

45

tandis que, precisement, la subtile perspicace et Ie succes de notre societe

a ete de dissimuler au des $US des changements de fa~ade Ie perpetuellement des aspects qui continuent inamovibles et pleinement utiles a son fonction­nement, malgre qu'elle en soit un peu"honteuse~ Le Musee fait partie indis­soc iab le de l'identite de notre culture occidentale des siecles XIX et XX -au moins,

comme 1 'aquit de sa conscience, devant l' incapabilite d'assimiler la trans­formation dans laquelle nous sommes pris : on met a cote et "surgele" des choses qui enferment Ie secret, la cle pour comprendre cette evolution.De cette maniere, il ne faut plus s'arreter a penser. comme un evident mecanisme de marche. Sans se salir les mains, Ie Musee agit comme arbitre incontestable, et il decide ce qui est ou n'est pas patrimoine ( la musealisation dont parle I. Maroevic); objet -de~musee est objet -de-va­leur, et cette selection lui signifie la mise en place automatique dans Ie marche. En ce sens, il nous est difficile a comprendre la purete du Musee preconisee par L. Maranda ("Ie Musee doit preserver, jamais creer"). En quelle mesure pouvons-nous eviter ~a, si au me me moment de Ie choisir pour la preservation, nous sommes en train de creer un objet, en Ie faisant dif­ferent de tous ceux ' qui ne sont pas selectionnes ?

comme mecanisme de "passage" social, qui entoure ceux qui participent a lui (createur, usager ... ) dans l'aura necessaire pour l'affermir ou projecter socialAment (1 'elite do~ parlent J. Spielbauer et E.L. Hawes) comme un auto-afermissement de nous memes (A . Gregorova), que meme nous prenons la liberte d'intervenir sur ce que nous voul ons que ceux qui nous succedent pensent de nous.Heureusement, des choses de toute sorte trouvees au dehors des musees permettront aux archeologues du futur de se former une image plus complete de ce que nous avons ete ... comme une valvule d'expansion de notre besoin d'admiration. C'est la fasci­na tion de l' exotique,du misterieux, de I 'epatant; c'est Ie besoin du my the (E.L.Hawes) contre l'ennui quotidien. C'est pour ~a que les musees-miroir ont du succes seulement au principe, avec 1 'auto-decouverte, mais apres font plaisir uniquement aux touristes -au moins qu'ils aient l'imagination et Ie systheme pour offrir toujours quelque chose de nouveau- et ils tombent dans I' oubl i.

Et un et caetera qui est, bien sur, tres long, et que nous croyons aussi ne­cess~ire qu'attractif d'approfondir. En definitive, si a nos voeux de res­posabilite et d'ethique professionelle on n'y ajoute pas une connaissance de

46

plus en plus complete de la realite dans laquelle nous sommes immerges, diffi­cilement nous serons capables de faire correctement et conscientment notre tache. Comme dit J. Spielbauer, si I 'on veut avancer, i I faut accepter Ie bon et Ie mauvais, l'ideal et Ie reel.

* * * On dirait qu'une des questions principales c'est d'arriver a differencier en ­

tre Museologie (Science, ou quelque chose en voie d'y devenir) et Musee (un des lieux possibles -pas I 'unique- ou cette science trouve une application pratique). La. science est une chose qui peut donner lieu a differentes et sou­vent imprevues applications. La reduire a 1 'experimentation dans un seul type de laboratoire -Ie Musee- c'est l'appauvrir et la mutiler; ou, en tout cas, ne pas avancer correctement dans la recherche.

Un dernier aspect important est ce qui se refere a nous memes, professionels

du musee, comme collectif -ou , si vous Ie preferez, comme classe intellec­tuelle- Dans notre quotidiannite nous faisons encore des subtiles diffe­rences qui nous permettent de nous situer a un niveau superieur -ceux qui possedent les cles- face a la plupart du publique. Seulement en cette position on ose de mettre 1 'art -expression sublime qui existe pour elle-meme- ou la science et la technique -toujours neutre- au dehors du probleme de 1 'i dentite. En realite ce n'est qU'une absolue mensonge. Art et science, travail des hom­mes, s'encadrent dans des coordonnees du temps et de l'espace -culture speci­fique- et ils sont un signe d'identite comme il I 'est la pro pre creation d' un Musee. On parle -nous parlons- d'identite du haut des tours d'ivoire: celles de la classe qui domine I'histoire, et il ne faut pas dire que nous -mu seologues­faisons partie d'une classe dominante tandis que les "autres" (ouvriers,pay­sans, indiens de l'Amazone) ,nous les situons "ethnographiquement " . Pour nous, hommes urbains, la sociologie·;· pour eux, I'anthropologie. 11 serait tout a fait curieux de bouleverser I 'etude, et de realiser un Musee de museol ogues, collectif humain avec ses habitudes, ses rituels -I'acces a la profession, les congres . .. - et ses mythes -des collegues eleves a la cathegorie presque divine- ,ses tensions internes et externes; en definitive, une bande de chas­seurs-recolteurs avec sa propre identite !

47

Zbynek Z Stransky - Srno, Czechoslovakia

O. The great number of basic papers presented ut the

ICOF011 Symposium 1986, the many important idees presented and the many new ideas,suggested proved not only the topicality of the given theme but also the growing awareness that mere experience is not enough for the work in the museum. That is wh,Y the most advanced approaches to the given problem were represented by the participants who attempted to apply thoroughly scientific interpretations of the theme /GLUZINSKI, lI"AROEVIC, van MENSCH, SWIECIMSKI, MIQUEL/MOR.lAL and JPIELBAUER/. I do not want to say that contributions based on reflections

are useless: They just cannot solve the problem. What I also find extremely'important is that we could learn from some papers /LAUMONIER, OBERT I , TAUA, CLEMENTI/ about the actual situation in some non-European countries regarding this problem and this helped us to realize the one-sidedness of o~r approach based on European social history only.

The topicality of the relation between identity and social situation in the developing countries and the Latin­-American countries caused that most participants only dealt with the cultural side of the problem. Consequently, ethnological, SOCiological and historical interpretations prevailed. All of them are certainly very important but they unfortunately overweighed the essential, museological approach. Some authors were also too absorbed in their own problems end re8ched more general level with difficulty or not at all. This holds good for some of the supporters of ecomuseums, too. Vie cert&inly welcome their activity because this new type of museum can play an important role in making people more aware of their cultural identity. We should, however, have in mind at the same time that each new idea must be based on knowledge of ~hat was achieved in the past to reach the standards of the time, because otherwise there is a danger of discovering the already discovered and being proud of something only seemingly new.

Preparing this symposium a special chosen group of experts considered very carefully not only the specification but also the structure of the theme. Subthemes were not chosen

at random. There was an intention to approach the problem

from three different sides so as to come to a relatively complex conclusion. Hot all the participants noticed this intention,

49

'I.'hich can be seen not only from the contents but also I~rom the structures of their contributions. Consequently, the presented basic papers do not cover the whole problem and the individual ap proaches cannot always be compared.

1 • The term i dentity was quite intentionally decided

to be the basic question. Most participants, however, viewed the term too one-sidedly. They in fact did not realize sufficiently its general importance and its relation to the te.'ms "developr,1ent" o.nd "Demory". I vlOuld therefore like to point out the best analyses of this term presented by MIQUEL/MORRAL and St'IELBAUER.

In my opinion the analyses should be based on general understanding of identity as correspondence. In logic this c :mld be expressed by the formula A=A, or, in concrete words, Socrates is Socrates. This is abstract identity. There is also real identity, i.e. two things or two terms X and Yare identical only if quality P of thing X is a quality of thing Y too, and vice versa. The formula expressing this is X:Y. This real i dentity

can be found both in the nature and in the society. If we want to apply the term identity to museums,

or museology, we must attempt to cover the whole structure of

the phenomenon, not only its most outstanding or mos.~opical elements. In T1\Y opinion this symposium should not only answer the question of the museums' role in or contribution to the intensification of the feeling of cultural identity, as somebody may think, but also consider and evaluate the importance of the term identity for the museological approach to reality. We may say that we would like to find out whether the term i dentity can become a theoretical museological cathegory.

Viewing things from this angle I have found very

imnortant what both Spanish participants said: that identity is a relation. Having this in mind they realized that the static character of identity can only be overcome by establishing the relation between "model" and "reality". This is of general importance for each concrete relation of identity. The same dynamic approach to identity can be found in the cont~ibution by SPIELBAUER emphasizing that identity cannot be taken as an isolated phenomenon because it is a social one. Dealing with

i de ntity in its whole social context we can only understand its

p~esent t J picalit~

2. Much more attention was paid to the relation between field the cultural approach identity and museum. Even

prevo.iled. The topicality

of i mnortant observations

50

in this of this relation brought a

and reflections which will

number

move

museological thinking forward and will be important for the actual

muse~ work, too. The preference of this orientation, however,

caused that some equally important questions connected with identity - museum relation were not sufficiently analyzed. First'of all, the identity of museum itself was mentioned just once, by Mrs • . SCHEINER, in spite,of the importance of this idea for the development of museums: the need of a new orientation of museums and new museology is the result of this identity. Shall museums be museums or shall they be something more? There is also an idea of "making museums non-museums". The result is that new institutions of the museum kind are not called museums any more. Some museologists systematically try'to create "anti-museums". On the other hand, there are voices supporting "making Wus.aums real museums". All this shows that we may come across the problem of museum identity even inside our field, which means that this question has become essential for further development of museums. However, no contr'ibution dealt with this.

The qQestio~ of identity of museum workers and museum is equally important. This serious problem is closely connected with museological qualifications of museum workers. Many positions of museum workers are now occupied by young people with university degrees of various kinds, who, however, have not anywhere learned anything about museum work. , This gives rise to a certain conflict. The young graduates try to keep pace with the development of their branches. What museum wants them to do is not always identical with the need of their branches. · Applying a science to museum work in the form ,the museum needs it is therefore considered nowadays as endangering or even spoiling the workers' 'qualifications. They are, on the other hand, mere amateurs in the actual profession of museum workers. People with such professional orientations naturally do not identify themselves with the museum. l:luseum, however, needs workers who would fully accept its mission to develop successfully and defend its position. The question of the I'lOrkers' identification with their museum, or their acceptance of its principles and needs, is not a static one again, but must be viewed as a dynamic phenomenon. This question was dealt by none of the

participants either. From the museological point of view there is another,

even more important question: , the question of identity of museum

objects, or museum collections. This problem was dealt with especially by MAROEVIC, MARTIN, PISCHULIN and SWIECn;SKI.

Museum is reality sui generis. It is not reality as such,

it is meta-reality in a ce~in relation to natural and social reality 5 1

we belong to. If we take a single object out of a museum collection and jUdge its relation to reality we usually say that it was originally a part of reality of a certain kind. Can vie say, however, that the object is identical to the reality? We certainly cannot because the object is not the whole reality. The object is identical to the reality to some extent, though, because it carries certain features identical to the features of t he reality. Museum collection too cannot be identified with the original reality. The collection, however, reflects one thing an individual object can never represent: the reation. Therefore the collection is more identical to reality than an individual object taken away from this reality, however valuable or rare the object may be. Only if we preserved the whole reality we would achieve complete identity. There are such tre.nds. This, however, arises a question if we are really interested in identity in the first place, i.e. in preserving t he reality as it is, as a whole, or in the identity of the essential in the reality, which is likely to survive the original reality because of its importance for the future.

SWIECn.~SKI presented a detailed analysis of identi ty from the viewpoint of museum pres entation. We may come across trends towards optimalization of the amount of identity even here, the exe.mple being exhibitions presenting pseudoreali ty. This is connected wi tho th~ay we understand. the purpose of museum presentation. If you find the purpose of museum exhibition in presenting what actually exists then you will try to achieve optimal identity. If you understand museum exhibition as a sci entific intepretation of natural or social reality then you can only achieve a certain limited amount of identity.

In both cases, as I have suggested, not only the question of the amount of identity, but also, and first of all, the question .vhat determines the amount, is very important, and so far left unanswered, I am afraid.

3. It is true that the subtheme dealing with identity and museology was paid less attention, but we must take into account that all basic papers touched more or less the field of museology even though they are not yet oompletely acceptable from the ~ethodological point of view.

-We cannot expect that museologists will find

interpretations of the theme and immediately think out thoroughly the consequences of the new ideas for museology itself. I find even single and partial conclusions in this field very important. They will have to be worked out and proved later.

52

I w:mld like to point out here Mrs •. :CHEINSa's idea of the identity of museology.

Generally I think that ,the presented besie napers as a whole unambiguously state that the term identity is a highly positive contribution to the development of museology and can bring n~w ideas and methodological stimuli essential for the theory and practice of museum work.

The present confrontation between museum or museology and identity is the first of its kind. We must have this in mind evaluating the results of the symposium. However, we must also be aware of the fact that this is the first step only. We cannot stop here. Only further investigations in this field can bring essential conclusions characterizing the relation between identity and our branch, and help to incorporate this

theoretical cathegory into the structure of museology.

53

Zbynek Z Stransky - Srna, Tchecoslovaquie

O. La quantite des contributions au symposium de l'ICOFOM 1986, la richesse de leur contenu et les impulsions qu'elles

apportent temoignent non seulement du caractere d'actualite du theme choisi mais aussi de la conscience de plus en plus approfondie de ce que l'experience 8 elle seule ne suffit plus dans Ie travail museal. Et ce sont surtout les auteurs qui ont tente une explication scientifique consequente /p.ex. GLuznlsKI, MAROEVIC, van MENSCH, SWIECIMSKI, !nc;,UBL/)::OHRAL, SFI ELEAUER/ qui ont Ie plus avance dans la solution de Ie problematique donnee . Cela ne veut pas dire que les contributions evoluant sur Ie niveau des reflections ne soient pas utilesj elles ne peuvent cependant pas resoudre les problemes donnes. Ce qui est

aussi tres important a mon avis, c'est qu'on trouve ici des articles qui nous familiarisent avec cette problematique dans

\ la situation concrete des pays non europeens et nous font voir l'etroitesse de notre approche basee sur Ie contexte historico­social eurcnpeen. Ici, je pense aux contributions de LAU"ONIER, OBERTI, TAUA, CLEMENTI.

Le caractere d'actualit~ de la notion de l'identite dans Ie contexte de la problematique sociale des pays de l'Amerique Latine et des pays en voie de developpement a eu pour resultet que la grande majorite des auteurs ont con9u cette notion

seulement sur son niveau culturel. En consequence, les conneis­sences ethnologiques, sociologiques et historiques - certes ineluctables pour Ie probleme comme tel - predominent au de­triment de l'essentiel, c'est-a-dire du point de vue museolo­gigue. Certains auteurs sont trop concentres sur leur propre thematique ef ne sont pas capables d'en depasser les bornes. Cela concerne aussi certains combattants pour les ecomusees. 11 faut ssns aucun doute saluer ces efforts cer ce type de musee nouvellement con9u peut jouer un role tres important dans l'approfondissement de la conscience de l'identite cultu­relle. ;.!ais en merne temps il ne faut pas oublier que toute

tentative de renouvellement et dans la pratique et dans Ie theorie museales doit prendre en consideration ce qu'on a

deja decouvert et realise au passe car seulement ainsi on peut eviter de decouvrir Ie decouvert et s'enthousiasmer pour ies

55

choses qu~ ne sont neuves qu'apparemment.

L'equipe chargee de la preparation de ce symposium de , ."". 1 ICOFOM a beaucoup reflech~ et au theme et a sa structurat~on.

Les sous-themes n'ont pas ete chois~par hasard. Cn a prevu l'approche a la thematique donnee sur trois niveaux fondamen­teux qui permettront de saisir Ie phenomene etudie de fa90n relativement la plus complexe. Pas tous les auteurs ont comprEs cette intention de la direction de l'ICOFOM ce qui se reflete non seulement dans Ie contenu de leurs contributions mais aussi dans leur structuration. En consequence, les articles presentes n'embrassent pas toute la problematique et ne permettent pas toujours la comparaison des points de vue de differents auteurs.

1. Avec notion de

premeditation on a choisi comme probleme centralIa l'identite. Cependant, la grande majorite des auteurs

l'a con9ue trop etroitement. En consequence, ils ne se sont pas suffisamment rendu compte de son role fondamental et sur­tout de sa relation envers la notion de l'evolution ou de la memoire. Je considere done important de souligner l'apport important a l'analyse de cette notion presente dans les articles de rn~UEL/MCRRAL et de SPIELBAUER.

A mon avis, il faut prendre comme point de depart la con­ception generale de l'identite comme conformite, ac cord. En

logique, on l'exprime par 1 'equation A=A. Concretement: Socrate est Socrate. lei, on evolue au niveau de l'identite abstraite. Mais il y a aussi une identite reelle. Dans ce cas-Ie, il vaut que deux choses ou notions x et y sont identiques seulement sous la condition que la qualite P de l'objet x est en m~me temps une qualite de l'objet y et vice versa. Schematiquement, on 1 exprime x=y. Cette identite concrete peut etre per9ue dans la nature de meme que dans la societe.

Si l'on applique la notion de l'identite au musee, resp. S la museologie, il faut se rendre compte de ce qu'il faut tenter de la saisir dans la structure tout entiere de ce phe­nomene, non seulement dans Ie moment qui nous apparalt Ie plus prononce et actuellement Ie plus urgent. A mon avis, Ie but de ce symposium n'est pas seulement la solution de la question du role du musee dans Ie renforcement de l'identite culturelle -comme certains Ie pretendent - mais Ie jugement de l'importance de la notion de l'identite dans Ie contexte de l'approche mu­seologique a la realite. Ce qui nous interesse, c'est la question si la notion de l'identite peut avoir, en museologie, la fonction d'une categorie theorique.

56

De ce point de vue je considere tres ' important ce dont se , ,.

sont rendu compte les deux auteurs espognols, c est-a-d1re que l'identite est une relation. Et c'est justement grace a cette approche relative qu'ils ont compris que Ie caractere statique de l'identite ne peut etre depasse que par 1 'application de la

relation entre Ie "mod~le" et la "realite". Ceci est de l'im­portance generale pour la conception de l'identite dans toutes les relations concretes. "J.SPIELBAUER voit l'identite aussi

comme dynamique et souligne qu'on ne peut pas concevoir ce phenomeme isc lement ~'l:~, is seulement dans un large contexte so­cial car seulement ainsi on peut comprendre son caractere d'ac­tualite.

2. Naturellement, les auteurs des articles ont prete une attention beaucoup plus grande au rapport identite-musee. Vais egalement dans le cas de ce sous-theme, le point de vue de l'identite culturelle a prevalu. Le caractere d'actualite de

cette relation a apporte beaucoup d'observations et de connais­

sances incitantes qui representent un apport incontestable a l'approfondissement de la pensee museologique, sans parler de leur importance concrete pour la pratique museale. Cette orien­tation predominante a relegue 8 l'arriere-plan certaines ques­

tions non moins importantes de l'identite et du musee. Pre­mierement, l'identite du musee-meme n'est traitee que par un seul auteur - Mme SCHEINER. Et pourtant, il s'sgi t d'une moment tres important du point de vue museologique et de celui de l'e­volution contemporaine des musees: l'exigence d'une no~velle

orientation des musees ainsi que celle d'une nouvelle museolo­gie est une expression de cette problemstique de l'identite du musee. Le musee, doit-il etre un musee ou devrsit-il etre deja

A autre chose? On rencontre meme les tentatives de ls "demusea-lisation des musees". Elles se manifestent concretement entre autre per l'exclusion du nom du musee de la denomination des etablissements nouveaux de caractere museal. II y s rn~me des tentatives de la proclamation des "anti-musees". Mais d'autre pert, il ne manque pas des combattants pour ]a "musealisation

des Musees". II est evident qu'on se heurte ~ la problematique de l'identite directement dans notre domaine museal. Ceci est de l'importance essentielle pour l'existence-memc des musees et pour leur aveni$r. Malheureusement, aucun des auteurs n'y

~ a prete attention.

La question de l'identite des travailleurs des musees avec Ie musee est, dans ce contexte, aussi importsnte. C '"est

57

un probloeme tres greve dont Ie solution est en reletion etroite surtout avec 1 'education museologique des traveilleurs des rnusees. Dans la pratique, on voit tres souvent de jeunes gens entrant au musee avec une qualification universitaire dans telle ou telle specialite mais n'ayant aucun renseignement detaille sur Ie musee et Ie travail museel. Quend ils s'integrent eu travail du musee, un certain conflit ne tarde pas e surgiI'. Le jeune specieliste tache naturellement de travailler dans son domaine et mercher au meme rythme que Ie progres de sa specie­lite. Ce que Ie musee exige de lui n'est cependant pes toujours i dentique aux intentions de Ie specielite. L'epplication de Ie specialite eux besoins du musee est souvent consideree comme une mise en danger ou meme degradetion de la qualifoication s pecialisee. Et pourtant, du point de vue de la profession mu­seale, ces gens-Is sont de purs amateurs. Les travailleurs 0-

rientes einsi ne s'identifient naturellement pas eu musee. ~{,eis si Ie musee doi t se developper, defendre sa pIece, il e besoin des traveilleurs qui s'identifient evec sa mission. L'identificetion, l'identite des treveilleurs et du musee ne

peut pes etr e con9ue comme statique meis il faut partir de la conception dynami~ue de l'identite. Melheureusement, aucun des auteurs n'a encore treite cette problematique.

A mon avis, une questiol'l; encore plus importante du point de vue museologique est la question de l'identite de l'objet de musee, resp. des collections de musee. Cette problemetique a et e trai te surtout par MAROEVIC, MARTIN, PISCHULIN et S\,I IE­CIMSKI •

Le musee comme tel est un fait sui generis. II n'est pes une reelite, il est une mete-reelite qui est dans une certaine relation evec Ie realite naturelle et sociale d&ns laquelle nous vivions ou vivons. Si l'on choisi de la collecti6n de mu­see un objet et Ie juge du point de vue de sa r elet ion en­vers Ie realite, on constate d'habitude que primitivement, il faisait partie de telle ou telle reelite. Meis peut-on dire qu'il soit identique avec cette reelite? Probeblement pes, car il n'est pes la realite tout entiere. Mais il a un certain degre d'identite car il porte certains traits identiques aux traits de la reelite primitive. De meme, Ie collection, c'est­a-dire Ie systeme des objets de musee ne peut pas etre identi­fiee avec la realite primitive. Dans Ie cas de la collection, il y a enc ore quelque chose que l'objet isole ne peut jamais r efleter - les r elations. A l'aide du systeme de Ie collection,

58

ces r~lations peuvent etre fixees. 11 en decoule que la col­lection poss~de toujours un degre superieur de l'identite par

rapport a la realite primitive que l'objet isole, extrait de

cette realite tout precieux qu'il puisse etre. Mais le degre optimum de l'identite, c'est-a-dire l'identite absolue pourrait etre atteint seulement en saisissant la totalite de la realite.

Les tendances de cette sorte existent. Mais la, on se heurte sur une question museologique tres importante: est-ce vI'aiment

l'identite qui importe, c'est-a-dire l'image de la realite telle quelle, ou l'identite de ce qui est essentiel et capable de survivre la totalite primitive de la realite, qui a a dire non seulement au contemporain mais aussi ~ l'avenir?

SVIIECIMSKI a faii: une analyse tres detaillee de l' identi te du point de vue de la presentation museale. :.:e~e dans ce cas, on rencontre les tendances visant e l'optimalisation du degre de l'identitej comme exemple peuvent servir les expositions

con9ues comme pseudorealite. Ceci est en relation avec la con­ception du sens de la presentation muse ele. Si l'on voit Ie presentation seulement comme une maniere de montrer ce qui existe, on tentera certainement une identi te optimum. 1.lais si la presentation museele doit etre un temoignage scientifique sur la realite naturelle ou sociale rec onnue, il do it forcement s'agir d'une certaine mesure d'identite.

, Dans les deux cas, c est donc non seulement la notion du

degre d'identite qui est tres import ante meis avant tout la question par quoi ce degre est determine. Et c'est une question qui reste jusqu'a present ouverte.

3. Le Eous-th~me "Identite et museologie" a attire une moindre attention mais il faut se rendre compte de ce que tous les articles constituent un certain apport du point de vue museologique, meme s'ils ne sont pas encore tout a fait satis­faisants du point de vue methodologique.

Aussi ne peut-on pas exiger que les auteurs estiment, immediatement apres l'explication du theme, tou tes les con­sequences et la portee des connaissances acquises pour la mu­seologie-mame. Mais j'apprecie beaucoup les observations et impulsions meme partielles que l'on rencontre ici et qu'il faudra elaborer et surtout examiner ulterieurement. Je consi­dere cocrme impulsion importante p.ex. la rernarque de Tereze

SCHEINER concernant l'identite-m~me de la rnuseologie. So~e toute, je s~s d'avis que tous les articles presen­

tes prouvent de fa~on univoque que la notion de l'identite 5 9

, , , est tres perspective pour la theorie museologique et qu a son aide on pourra aboutir aux connaissances et impulsions methodo­logiques importantes non seulement pour la theorie mais surtout pour Ie pratique museale.

Cette confrontation du musee et de l'identite, resp. de l'identite et de la museologie est la premiere de son genre. II faut s'en rendre compte et ne pas l'oublier en jugeant cette initiative. l":ais em meme temps il faut avoir en vue que c'est Ie premier pas. II ne faut pas se figer sur ce niveeu mais tenter d'avancer dans les conclusions de ce symposium. Dans Ie processus ulterieur du travail createul! nous reussirons non seulement a devoiler les traits essentiels de l'identite ayant trait 8 notre sphere mais aussi 8 integrer cette categorie no­tionnelle de fa90n vraiment organique dans Ie systeme de la

:nuseologie.

60

Petr Suler - Brno, Czechoslovakia

The great number of papers on the above-mentioned theme showed how topical the theme of the symposium 'lias. I still cannot help thinking that different people understoocl the n; iven prob lem differently. I think that all the presented contributions can be divided in two basic groups:

1/ Papers dealing with the question of cultural identity and function of museums and museology in the process of creating, keeping and preserving the cultural id entity;

2/ Papers understanding the problem of identity a s a question of seeking basic elements of the inner structure of the theory of museum work.

I do not doubt that museums and museology I no matter o::hether the latter is uncerstood as a methodology and technique of mus eum work or as an independent science / have a lot to say about cultural identity. I do not doubt that in the present Vlorld of permanent changes and man's seeking his place in the nature and the society museums can play a great role lalthough I claim at the same time that man has always, since t he prehistoric

period, sought his place in the world, which then chcnged t oo, mostly due to the man's own activity/ . I still think that the second group of papers, those which seek inner pr i nci nles of museology within the given range, is more i mnortant f or us.

T. C. Schreiner is certainly right defining a nUffiber of i denti ti es and trying to find their rela tion to mu~eology. However, it is more important to underline v:hat wa s s aid by several other participants, most precisely probab l y by J . K. Spielbauer:"Identity is a current, contemporary and dyna::lic phenomenon." If we deal with identity of museum objects we must accept the thesis of non-existence of permEnent ~alues, t he eternal treasure of mankind, as well as admit tha t t he creat ion of i dentity is a social phenomenon and is ca r ried out by social institutions, and thus by museums, too land even to a great

extent nowadays/. This would shift the function of mus eums L 'om mere

documentation leven if "active", to use Mr. ~ tr4nskj 's terml to real i den tity creation. And this is what brings our colleges

from developing countries a possibility to get 'r id of the heritage of cultural neocolonialism, to reject the concept

of museum structures artificially set in the native cultural

milieu, and to c::'eate their own identity / cultura l, e.thnic or '

61

even museum identity, if you like/. How -Vie have come to another important statement:

;, few papers, trying to find the essence of identity, mentioned the existence of a specific "language of museums", or better ''If:mguage of museum exhibitions". This ide., first used by Duncan Cameron in 1970, stands out very markedly at present, and many museologists seem to deal , with it. This must be true, because trying to find the dynamism of museum objects identity changes we must come across the question of gra~mar and :_;yntax of the "museum language". I suppose that this question should become a theme of some future ICOFOM Symposium.

This is also suggested by another interesting idea presented at the symposium: there is a considerable difference between the structure of values and documents of the collection and tha t of the exhibition. Each of the two phenomena has d-ifferent function and character, too. We must then carefully distinguish between semantic structure of the collection and the character of the museum language, which takes in some further rules.

The contents of the presented paper~s well as expected co~ments promise interesting development of the conference. In any case many urgent questions have been presented. I believe that this was - and will be - for good.

62

Petr Suler - Srno, Tchecoslovaquie

La grande qu~tite des contributions obtenues sur Ie th~me cite ci-dessus temoigne du heut degre d'actualite du th~me de la conference. Et pourtant, je ne peux pas m'sffrsnchir de l'impression que pas tous les auteurs aient compris Ie th~me de Ie m~me fa90n. II me semble qu'en principe, on pourrait diviser toutes les contributions dans deux groupes:

1. Articles concernant la problematique de l'identite culturella et de Is fonction du musee et de Is museo­logie dans Ie processus dela creation, conservation et protection de l'identite culturellej

2. Articles concevant Ie problematique de l'identite comme qu~te des elements fondamentaux de la structure interne

de la theorie du travail museel. Je ne doute pes que les musees et la museologie / soit-elle

con<;ue corrune methodique et technique du travail qluseal OLl comme une discipline scientifique indepenfante/ ont beaucoup ~ propos de la problematique de l'identite culturel1e.

, . a dlre Je ne

domte pas que dans Ie monde des changements permanents et de la qu~te de l'homme de sa place dans la societe et dans la nature, les musees peuvent jouer un role jamais vu au paravant /meme si je ne cesse d'affirmer que depuis toujour~, depuis la prehistoire, l'horrune cherchait son role dans Is societe et la nature soumises aux changements qu'il avait souvent provoques lui-m~me/. ~ais malgre cela je suis d'avis que la problematique

du second groupe d'articles est pour nous plus importante car dens son cadre les auteurs de ces articlas cherchent les lois internes inherentes au musee.

T.e.Scheiner a sans aucun doute raison quand elle distingue plusieurs identites et cherche leur relation envers les sffeires des museeA. Mais il faut souligner ce qui a ete clairement dit dans plusieurs contributions et exprime peut-ihre Ie plus exscte­ment dans celIe de Judith K. Spielbauer: "L'identite est un phenom~ne continu, contemporain et dynami~ue." En reflechissant a l'identite des objets de musee il faut donc accepter la these de l'inexistence des valeurs eternelles, du tresor eternel de

l'humanite. Et de m~me faudra-t-ilconstater que la creation

63

de l'identite est une manifestation sociale assuree par les

institutions sociales dont les musees qui y participent actuel­lement de fa90n tres active.

Par la, Ie musee depasse les bornes de la documentation

/quoique active, pour rappeler Ie terme de Z.Z.StranskY! et de­vient Ie createnr souverrain de l'identite. Et c'est justement ici que de larges possibilites s'offrent a nos collegues des

pays du Tiers monde - se liberer du patrimoine culturel du neo­colonialisme, refuser la conception des structures museales etrangeres imposees au milieu culturel originel et creer sa propre identite /culturelle, ethnique ou, si vous voulez, mu­seale!.

Cela nous connexite avec

, " amene a une la quete de

autre constatation interessante: en l'essence de l'identite de l'objet

de musee plusieurs auteurs rappellent l'existence d'un "langage museal" specifique, plus exactement du "langage des expositions

museales". Cette these, avancee pour la premiere fois par Duncan Cameron en 1970, entre aujourd'hui au premier-plan et attire

l'attention de beaucoup de museologues. Ceci est logique - si l'on tache de devoiler la dynamique des changements de l'iden­

tite des objets de musee, on aboutit forcement a la question de l a grammaire et synxaxe du langage museal. Je suis d'ailleurs d'avis que justement cette thematique devrait devenir Ie sujet d 'une des conferences futures de l'ICOFOM.

Ceci implique une autre idee import ante - il y a une diffe­rence considerable entre la structure des valeurs et temoignages de la collection et celIe de l'exposition. La fonction et la forme exterieure des deux phenomenes sont differentes. II ~aut donc soigneusement distinguer la structure semantique de la collection et ne pas transposer les realites constatees dans les regles du langage museal qui est soumis a beaucoup d'autres lois.

Le contenu des contributions presentees ainsi que les comment aires prevus promettent Ie deroulement interessant de la conference. En tout cas, on a ouvert la boite de Pandore des questions tres urgentes. Je suis persuade que cela a ete - et sera - utile.

64

Jerzy Swiecimski - Krak6w, Poland

To write comments on about 30 articles and to writ " them not only respon-

sibly,but also in a constructive way,is really a difficult task to do.Even,

when these articles are devoted to one,common topic.Tho reason of this diffi-

culty li=s in the fact that,in such a case,we are encountering not only a

vast multitude of different points of view,s multitude of various interpretat-

ions of the given topic,of selected aspects,etc,but also with a multitude of

mutual interrelation8 between the assertions formulated by particular authors.

A comment made on such a diversified material should demand not only making

a complote sample of critical remarki on each of the given 30 papers,but also

a systematizing of all the~es,interpretations/or trends of understanding the

subject matter/by dividing them into groups according to the type of tendency

, they represent,type of content etc, ID4 ' aoalysing all distinguished groups:

separately and in mutual relations.A comparative pattern of trends would

emerge as the final result of that work.

Although such an analysis would certainly be interesting,the tim e

that was at my disposal became a cooling agent; having the time-li J~it in rGgard

I had to reduce my rolo of a "commentator" to a practically manag eabl" ext an t.

It is really a minimum and I am aware of that.I cannot,therefor . to present

hare any compendium of critical remarks ~it would mean writing another 30

papers,paralall to those I have receivedl! nor a true synthesis of the given

material.Th. only thing I could afford to do was to pick up from the articles

soma elements that seemed to me characteristic (e.g.some theses repeated under

identical or similar form in various papers! or just interesting,and to present

them in a more or les~ synthetic way.In other words th" diocussion I present

here is nothing more than a sample of spontanously-written,J'first-glance"

impressions.

1.One can notice that nearly all articles start with the clarification of

65

the term IDENTITY.This means that the term in question is not clear enough

or that it allows various interpretations.A term which is absolutely clear

or,the meaning of which is univocally understood,does not demand any clarifying

definition.The interpretations of the term IDENTITY we find in particular

papers are various in fact: some authors understand it as a quality whi ch can

be as cribed to als 1 n g 1 e object only; on the other hand there are inter­

pretations according to which the term IDENTITY is understood in a relative

sense and means "the closest possible similarity" which can appear between

more objects.In the latter case it is visi ula when these objects are compared

together or when they ara compared with an abstract "model" conceived as a

standard,norm or an i dea in which pa r ticular objects find their concrGtization

and which is represented by th em.Irrespe~tive of the kind of interpretation

the term IDENTITY is understood more or lass closely to the meaning of the

tarm ESSENCE an c denotes a specific,determi ning mark <:esp.a synthetic defi­

ning feature) by whic h an object ~ndividual or general,e.g.a typo of objects)

can be recognized "as such " and distinguished from any oth~r objact or group

of objects.

2.Most of the authors put an equation mark beheen the g e n era 1 idea

of IDENTITY (and,consequently between general content of that term!

and its d eta i 1 e d meanings,which denote particular t y pes of

I llENTITY ,e.g. "na t ional i dentlty ","cultural identity","socia l Lentity" etc.

Such a concretization of meaning determines,8s a consequ . nce,the whole line

anu r a nge of the discussion: t he authors discuss consequently particular

t y pes od IDENTITY (in the most cases na t ional and cultural

discussed) while the problems conn ected with the g e n era 1

IDENTITY is

i dea of

ID!lNTITY ~:r~missing.ln the same way the question about the relatio n bet~aen

.he role of museums ,re sp.of museology and IDENTITY is in all these cases

li n,ited , in its range: the authors concentrate on the relation \; hich appears

between the rol e of museums,resp.of museology and some chos en t y p e of

ID~NTITY sO,as it were IDENTITY understood as a whole ,in its gen 3ral

all-embracing content.The image of these discussions bec om~ therefore fra gme n-

tary,sometimes even accidentary.

6 6

Huking this remark I have absolut a ly no intention do d e val u ate the

importance of the d eta i led problems of IDENTITl,especially those of

national or cultural one; in my foe ling these problems should only be diiicus-

sed aft e r general oneS are definitively solved.It seems,however,that

tho tendency of shifting the discussion toward d eta i led probl ems of

IDENTITY has alr ', ady b2en su ,;ge sted in the initial paper by Tomislav ;jola.

His line of reasoning could have suggest ed tho majority of authors to dev elop

thGir ideas in the same dir ection.

3.50me authors give,however some r e marks on the g e n era I problems of

IDENTITY. Hhat is , the most charzcteristlic in these remarks)is the differe r,ce

in the in te rpretation of the term IDENTITY as re ga rds tho question of the

can s tan t c han g e that is observable in t he surrounding us reality .

Some authors try to identify IDENTITY with soma persistent or stabile eleme nts

which can be found within the flow of the constant change; the othors,on tho

contrary,recogni ze th e. change of reality as intrinsic el8~ent of t he objocts'

IDENTITY.

~.Most of the authors aggr ee that pre s e r v i n g identity

is ana of the fundame ntal tasks of muse ums ZID~NTITY is understood there in

on .. of its detailed meanings,as social,cultural,national etc).Very intaresting,

how ever,ar e these papers where museums,and in particular museum exhibiti uos, I

are recogniz ed as a forum for c rea tin g new meanings for mUSeum objects

which leads consequently to the establishing of new t y pas of IDENTITY,

proposed for museum audiences as new "concoptual models" for ••• imilation.

Museum,in particular museum exhibition,is understood therefore as an

act i v e agent in the development of social consciousness.

In connection with that/the problem of val u e of the new,proposed

concepts appears.Some authors stress)that such concepts,when pr oposed arbitrar­

ly or uncritically may appear des t r u c t i v e for CULTURAL IDENTITY,

for the i mag e of cultural <resp.nationall heritag d becomes in such cases

tra nsformed so fa r that it loses its authenticity. In othpr cases nOH mod uls

may have important,constructive rol a .

67

5.It is not without importance from the sphere of which cultural regions

the theses about museums' task of preserving cultural/national IDENTITY

ar~ formul~ted.RegioDal differentiation is clear especially when vulnerable

problems come to the fore,e.g.those at the sur v i val or of r e -

gaining IDENTITY of national minorities,of the cultures tha t onca

have been opressed or humiliated.In all such ca~es preserving the documents

of IDENTITY and presenting them in museums become the vital problem for the

given na tion or society.The ro1 3 of museums is,in such cases especially i mpor-,

tant.Most of the authors are of this opinion.In ODe separate case this point

of vi ew (ana probably tha whole museum progra~ connect ed with it?) was

eValuated negatively as a "symptom of inferiority complex".Hay bo the author

of this r ema rk was f actually right (to soms extent at laast,or as reGards some

cases! but the re 'uark may be hurtful for lJany reade rs: es pecially for thoso

who represant the Dations or cultures which des pit e tra3ical course of

their histo ry made all possible efforts to save what could be savad,tn restore

what could 00 r estored ,to collect,preserve and present the doc u men t s

of thei r IDE NTITY : as a material wittn es" of their past,as a symbol for their

present,as a RATIO EXISTENTIAE for the ir future.

6.In connection with the d i scussion about museums' role in the documentation

of the past and of the present,in particular their role \~ ill u s t r a -

tin g the development of nature and culture,some theses seem to me doubtfu l.

I have in mind these theses precisely,according to which only aut h 8 n-

tic a b j e c t 5 should be recognized as th os e of m use u m val u e,

I answer: one can fully aggree that authentics are documents for sci e n-

t i f i c res ear c h.lt is,however,docbtful whother this thesis could

"-be accepted .(tD full extentl/ as regards m use u m e x h i bit ion.

It is wall known,tor instance ,that in many cases <!n Natural History mUS,lums

in the first line/many Obj ects which are valuable as documents for res ea rch

have scarce or even n 0 value as museum exhibits (pr ecisely,as conveyers of

sci entific information) and raversely,objects which are valuable as 8Ahibits

may sometimes have no value for sci.ntific research.All kinds of auxiliary

68

exhibits,e.g.models,coples,reproductions,imitations et c being valuable as

conveyers of information ~ome of them i r rep lac e a b 1 e in this

function?) n eve r become incorporated into museum collection and cannot

be calles m use u mob j e c t s sensu stricto.Not only museums of Natu-

ral Histor y are characte ristic in this re gard; similar situations occur

e .g.in museums of ART where e.g.scuftures ar e collected and presented in exhi-

bition.The border between authentic objects and reproductions <!or instance in

bronz e sculptures which always are casts> is in many cases of no importa nce

or does not exist at all.Besides,oDe caD notice that authentic objects often

los. their authenticity <:0 some ext ent,at l ea st!7as soon as they are

being transformed into exhibits.Speaking about lOO"~ authe nticity of zoological

preparates is,in t his r ega r d ,a simplification. The same on e could say abo ut

'" objects of othe r types ~ . g .Of many types of paintings/ which before be in g; put

on museum display undergo conservation and restor at ion treatment and cha nge

their primary col our,texture and consequently aesthetic qualities.ln all such

cases one can only a sk w h at in suc h obj "cts factually rem a ins

authentic and what is seconda r y ,e.g.originates in some sci ontifi c i deas,

aesthetic preferences,in th e kind of conservation process,in the programme

a nd technique of r estoration etc.I am of the opinion that in any case of

objec t s wh ic h ar e collected,praoerved,presented,conserved and rostored in

mus eums the crucial problem is in the val u e o f i n for mat ion

they "keep" and transfer: in the t rut h or u n- t rut h that can be

"read" in them or through them: in museum sci entific l abor at ory or in museum

exh ibiti on.A uthenticity or non-authenticity of the object is,in t hi s r e&n rd,

only a f actor which is i n v 0 I v e d in establishing th~ obj ett's val ue.

It is true,indeed,that in many cases authentic obje cts are conveyers of true

infor mat ion.It happens,howev er,that authentic obj ects are "bearers" and coove-

yers of some u n- t rut h ~De have to ask,of course,of what i mpo rtance is

th is untruth when it appears ,often inevitably in 9Xhi b itio~.It happe ns too,

that some kinds of truth can be transfered only by non-a uthentic objec t s.

Simplifica t ion which i s so often committed here lead, as a rul e , to various

69

misunderstandiogs and,even morc,to the creation of bad ~xhibitions.

~o fDr my remarks 00 the articles.lt is really a pity that the time that

was loft to me was so scarce.The material of the paper~ is extremely interes­

ting and deserves thorough,systematic and not only "first glance",spontanously

written remarks.I am glad not to be the single "commentator".Since my comment

will be one among 30 other ooes,I am extromely curious of the full scope

of scritical reviews that appears as the final image.I hope that the discus­

sion on the topic of IDENTITY gives rise to new problems,vital for contempo­

rary museology.

70

Hugues de Varine - Paris, France

OBSERVATIONS

- Je pense qu'll faudrait classer les documents en fonction de leur nature : les plus phllosophiques, dont Ie jargon et les references sont parfois difficilement accessibles a des non philosophes, pourraient faire 1 'objet d 'une rubrique a part.

Il faudrait, par quelques mots d'introduction, au bien pendant les reunions de Buenos Ayres, revenir sur Ie vocabulaire : i1 semble, une fois de plus, que plusieurs personnes utilisent Ie mot Uecomusee" selon des sens radicalement dlfferents, d lOU une confusion croissante, surtout pour les jeunes museologues.

- 11 Y a une nette ambiguite sur Ie role et les missions de conservateu .. Par exemple, en matiere d'identite, le conservateur doit-il avoir la responsabilite finale pour decider du contenu de cette identite, et de la meilleure maniere de la mettre en valeur ? Ce pouvoir de choix (cf. SINGLETON) n'est-ll pas dangereux, si l'on songe Ii la necessaire subjectivite du conservateu.. Je prefere personnellement la thilorie des subjectivites simultanees, qui va bien avec I'association des usagers (public/population) Ii la decision concernant le contenu du musee.

- Toujours sur 1 'identite, elle se rapproche souvent du nationalisme et il est evident que les musees sont un des facteurs elas de 1 'education, de la propagande et de la poli tique en matiere de nationalisme. Or il y a deux nationalismes 1 'agressif, de type Nazi, qui marque une volante de superiorite et de domination et aboutit a la violence; et Ie nationalisme dHensif, celui des peuples colonises au domines qui doivent affirmer ce nationalisme afin de ne pas ~tre dissous dans une identite dominante etrangere. Il est indispensable de bien poser les definitions pour eviter les confusions.

Je crois interessant de mieux definir les deux tendances de la museologie moderne la museologie statique, celle qui s'appuie sur des regles de conservation, sur un bAtiment, sur une collection, sur des regles institutionnelles strictes; et la museologie de mouvement, celle qui prend en compte le territoire, le patrimoine et la population. Il ne faut pas, je pense, 1es opposer, mais les rendre comp1ementaires. II n'est pas question de supprimer Ie Louvre, mais de creer un autre secteur d 'action museologique qui rsponde A des besoins nouveaux.

Je pense que 1 'on pourrait ainsi definir Ie role du musee (et des institutions educatives et culturelles en general), en matiere d'identite : donner a chaque bomme et groupe les moyens de prendre conscience de son identite et de parti-ciper a sa creation permanente et continue. Mais le musee n 'a pas a lui presenter cette identite, comme si elle lui "tait imposee. Le musee, pour moi, n'est pas un miroir, mais une banque de donnees.

71

Questions materielles

a. Xeme si 1 'on ne peut pas corriger les textes, sur Ie plan linguistique, il est indispensable de les rendre intelligibles : certains sont reellement incomprehensibles tels quels .

b . Dans Ie texte de Yani HERREXAII', p. 1, corriger "banc" d 'objets qui ne veut rien dire at mettre "banquell d'objets .

c. Dans mon propra texta, placer une note precisant que ce texta a ate presente II la reunion de Jokkmokk et qu'il a eta prononce en anglais (sinon les gens na comprendront pas le debut et la fait qu'un fran~ais

fournisse un texte anglais).

d. Attention au texta de B. FLOU : il sa refere II des projats de 1975 dont il faudrait verifier qu'ils ont eu des suites . Sinon cette declaration remarquable aurait moins d'impact. Au moins faudrait-il fa ire un bilan honnete dix ans plus tard .

72

Bachir Zouhdi - Damas, Syrie

A la demande de l'ICOFOM, trentehuit interessantes etudes sur la "Museologi e

et l'identite" sont realisees en langues fran~aise, anglaise - et quelques

unes sont en espagnole et en allemande - par des collegues competents de

vingt-et-un pays du monde. C'est une veritable contribution internationale

aux dites etudes de la "museologie et l'identite". C'est aussi un meilleur

modele - exemple d'un travail commun et serieux b I'echelle internationale.

Ceci prouve I' importance du dit theme "museologie et l' identite" et l' interet

des chers collegues pour traiter un tel sujet assez interessan t . Quelques uns

ont considere Ie "probleme de notre monde contemporain est celu i de l'identite"

( Sola ) . Chacun a traite Ie dit theme de sa propre fa~on et d'un point de vue

inspire de son milieu culturel et de SA profonde specialisation (anthr opo­

logie, ethnographie .. ) . Quelques uns aussi ont choisi, comme exemple, leu r

pays (Argentine, Hawaii, New-Zealand, Amerique Latine) .

II est a noter que malgre la diversite de ces dites etudes, il y a tout de

meme un certain d'accord de points de vue entre les auteurs, par exemple:

- Tous veulent garder leur propre identite nationale et leur propre visage

culturel. Le concept de I' identite est tres lie a celui de la culture.

- Chacun semble fier de son patrimoine culturel. Chacun a besoin de sa

propre identite.

- La necessi te de respecter la diversite culturelle et de contribuer a la

collaboration pacifique entre les peuples. II est indispensable de prend re

toutes les mesures necessaires pour la protection de l'i dentit e qui est en

danger d'extinction.

- Le musee joue son noble r61e dans la vie d'aujourd'hui et celIe de

l'avenir.

- Tout peuple qui ne conserve pas sa memoire collective perd ses rac ines ,

ses origines et son identite.

- Le recours b l'identite se manifeste aux temps critiques et des crises

pour y chercher les racines, les origines et la source des forces morales .

- Les pays en voie de developpement ont des nostalgies pour leur propre

culture et s'efforcent de creer un musee national comme incarnation de

l'identite nationale·, La notion de I'identite etait a la base de l' exist ­

ance de beaucoup de musees.

73

NOTION DE L'IDENTITE:

La notion et Ie sens du principe d'identite ne sont pas toujours entendus

de la meme maniere. L'identite est, en general, Ie caractere ou la

qualite de ce qui est identique reste Ie meme, demeure identique a soi­

meme. Elle est aussi la condition primordiale de toute pensee. Elle semble

aussi l'acte illuminant qui permet de comprendre tout et la faculte de

sentir la dignite et Ie sentiment de rester toujours soi-meme malgre son

evolution . Elle est ainsi la vitalite forte (VIS VITALIS ). Elle tire

l'homme de son angoisse, de son inquietude, de son solitude, de sa perte,

de son egarement et de son hesitation. Elle contribue a la formation de

l'homme et de la Societe Humaine.

D'apres A. GREGOROVA, l'identite est une prise de conscience d'un accord

absolu avec soi-meme, avec differentiation simultanee de tout autre; en

meme temps, elle est une prise de conscience de l'originalite, de l'authen­

ti cite et, de ce fait, de l'impossibilite de remplacer l'un pour l'.autre .. "

Peter Suler dit aussi que '~'identite est plutOt une preuve du dynamisme des

changements que de la stabilite des valeurs". Joseph BENES considere

l 'identite "comme substance ~e l'ensemble des creations choisies illustrant

la vi e e t Ie travail des gens sur Ie territoire donne dans leur evolution

et refletant les traits essentiels de la culture nationale comme une com­

posante eternellement valuable du patrimoine culturel'~ Andre DESVALLEES

considere "la notion d'identite est par essence une notion culturelle".

Marcel EVR ARD explique "l 'identite, du latin idem, Itre Ie meme que soi-meme . .

L' identite est la conscience qu'une personne a d'elle meme . . " Domenec-

Miquel Eulalia MORRAL dit que "I'identite signifie etre egal et on la

definit comme "qualite d'etre Ie meme qu'on suppose .. " D' apres Jan

J ELI NEK, l'identite peut-etre biologique, culturelle et d'environnement

nature!. .". Carol A MARTIN constate que Ie terme "identite" a plusieurs

deFini tions:

- ressemblance dans tout ce qui constitue la realite objective d'une chose;

- Ie caractere ou la personnalite distinctifs d'un individu;

- la condition d'ltre Ie mIme que ce qu'on a decrit ou affirme. Ensuite il

dit que "la theorie semantique nous montre que quelque chose de tout

different se presente sous la surface ... " Bernard DELoCHE dit que "notre

identite peut-etre comprise comme 1 'ensemble des caracteres qui nous defi­

nissent et nous distinguent d'autrui en tant que personne individuelle. II

ajoute que la psychologie montre bien "comment l'enfant constitue sa per­

sonnalite au moment ou, se reconnaissant dans un miroir, il devient capable

de dire (moi) et de distinguer I'image de soi de la realite tout entiere.

Cette conscience de notre identite apparait comme I'un des traits fondamen­

taux de l'humain ... C'est dans Ie miroir que l'enfant realise son unit e.

74

C'est dans l'identificati~n au mod~le du p~re ... qu'il devient homme".

L'APPROCHE DES MUS[ES A L'IDENTITE

A GREGOROVA consid~re "comme objet identique et, de ce fait irremplacable,

que l'original, l'objet authentique" qui "seul poss~de une valeur de musde".

Un objet de musee est porteur d'informations. C'est un document, et par

consequence auss i une identitd". Le but des musees doit aider a conna itre

et a affirmer l'identitd de l'homme et de la nature dans sa continuite .. "

Le musde semble un refuge a l'identitd et son bastion, Ie miroir dans

lequel la Socidtd Humaine peut reconnaitre sa propre identite et son

environnement.

En effet, Ie musde fait une histoire concr~te. II contribue a constituer les

bases d'une personnalitd, des normes et de la mdmoire collective. 11 contri­

bue dgalement a faire connaitre la rdalisation du passe, a faire sentir la

propre personnalitd culturelle. 11 fournit aux hommes des symboles de leur

identitd. Ces symboles doivent signifier Ie pouvoir illimite de l'homme sur

les choses. II contribue aussi a former la memoire collecti ve d'une commu­

naute vivante, active et creatrice. II contribue dgalement a faire de

l'homme "patriotique", attache a sa terre, a so~ patrimoine et a son

identi td culturelle. Le musee semble un moyen de liaison avec Ie passe

culturel et un moyen de preserver l'identitd. 11 contribue a rdvei ller et

developper l'amour du pays natal. 11 est en face de grand changement

menaqant l' identite. 11 est defenseur d'une image idol,ltre de 1 'homme. 11

contribue a la crdation de l'identite culturelle.

C'est ainsi que chaque peuple poss~de son propre "musee national", qui est

1 'objet de sa fiertd nationale. Le nom "musee national" confirme 1 'attache­

ment des nations a leur propre identite et a leur patrimoine culturelle.

Le musee regional represente aussi l'identite locale. Toutes les mino rites

sont a la recherche de leur identite par les moyens des musdes. Le musee

semble ainsi un meilleur moyen de rdveil national, de communication

educative, de la diffusion culturelle et du rayonnement de la jouissance

esthetique.

L'homme fa~onne donc sa propre identite par ses oeuvres culturelles. Les

objets du musee semblent les vecteurs suffisants de l'identite, les

porteurs d'informations, les temoins d'un stade historique de l'evolution.

lIs sont aussi une preuve exacte de l'existence nationale et de la realisation

culturelle. lIs reveillent les puissances endormies en homme. Tout renforce

donc l'identite nationale, illustre la culture de l'homme et son identite

culturelle. C'est comme l'archeologie dont Ie but principal est non pas de

recueillir et de conserver des chefs d'oeuvre, mais de trouver les temoins

75

significatifs d'une civilisation, d'exprimer cette civilisation et faire

t out ce qui repond a la recherche de l'identite.

Les ennemis sont toujours c~ntre l'identite. lIs volent Ie patrimoine

culturel et detruisent les biens culturels. lIs aneantirent l'identite

culturelle des pays domines qui revendiquent leur independance. Les crises

d'identite sont parfois si desesperees qu'elles n'ont alors d'autre issue

que la guerre sainte et la lutte armee. Les populations marginales souffrent,

car elles semblent sans identite reconnue. Cependant ils imaginent un musee

hors les murs. Elles ont en effet leur propre musee, leurs prop res idees et

leurs propres ambitions nationales. Elles ont aussi leur propre identite

vivante. L'esprit du musee semble conduire comme un meilleurs guide vers un

avenir meilleur, la vie heureuse et Ie bonheur desirable.

LE ROLE DE LA MUSEOLOCIE

A CREGOROVA considere "Ie rOle fondamentale de la museologie est d'elaborer

une theorie scientifiquement justifiee qui doit aider la pratique des

musees". La museologie doit veiller a ce que l'ethique dans Ie travail de

musee soit respecte. Aider a chercher et a affirmer Ie sens d'identite.

Proteger et preserver la nature. Faire integrer les musees dans les differents , :.:- ' domaines de 1a vie populaire. Faire les musees assez proches de leur.peup1e

qui semble assez proche de ses musees. Contribuer au deve10ppement de

l'homme et de sa societe, a celui de la culture esthetique et a celui de la

collaboration pacifique entre les specialiste et les peuples. La museol ogie

doit aussi repondre au desir de l'homme et a son progreso

CONCLUSION

Notre monde mu1tiforme exige notre identite nationa1e et humaine. C'est au

musee qu'on decouvre la dite identite. Hugue de Varine a bien dit: "J'ai

cree mes musees, donc je suis". Le musee semble Ie lieu de rencontre des

trois dimensions de temps: Ie passe, Ie present et l'avenir. II semble aussi

un memoire collectif de la "Societe Humaine" et Ie traite de tous les traites.

II contribue a la confirmation de la dite identite, a la formation du gout,

a la diffusion de la culture et au developpement des meilleures r e lation

sociales. Le langage museal, comme celui de la musique, semble humain et

uni versel enchantant tous et apporte tout ce qu'il y a de meilleur dans

l'homme et dans sa creation. Le musee semble une lumiere de l'esprit, Ie

havre de la paix, une occasion de la collaboration et une raison de progres

et du bonheur.

76

Le musee et la museologie restent l'espoir de tous ceu x qui travaillent

pour Ie progres de l'homme et de son bonheur. Notre generation a Ie

privilege de voir les premiers hommes passer leurs pas sur la lune.

L'ICOM, une importante realisation de notre monde culturel contemporain

semble une meilleure tribune culturelle internationale qui travaille pour

l'homme et son humanite. L'avenir de notre humanite depend de notre

mentalite, de la protection de notre identite nationale et humaine et

de l'avenir de nos valeurs humaines.

, ~

7 7

Additional papers to be inserted in ISS No. 11

received after closing dates for ISS No. 1 0& 11

Textes supplE~mentaires a inclure dans I'ISS no 11

rec;ues apres I'impression de I'ISS no 10&11

79

flo

Walter Grohman Borchers - Viria del Mar, Chile

Museology and Identity

The effort for understanding the meaning of a word finds factory answer in ethimology. IDENTITY has its origin in the Latin IDENTITAS. This IDENTITAS means the unity of one thing with itself, it is what it is and it cannot be what it is not.

a satis word thus

Then, philosophically, there does not exist any problem referr­ing to the meaning of what IDENTITY is. One grain of sand has unity with itself, remaining a grain of sand, even thoungh it is subjected to histori­cal processes - as every being in nature - of being born and dying one day. One animal has unity with itself, it is identical with itself and with its species. If a lion mates with a female tiger, the product it not a lion, nor a female tiger, but a new being which acquires its own identity, having lost the absolute identity of a lion or a female tiger. The same happens with a horse and a female donkey. Neither the horse nor the female donkey looses their identity when they mate; the one which looses it is the pro­duct they have created, gaining a new identity. Loosing the identity of individual, the new product gains a new identity of individual and, in a certain sense, a new species.

But NATURE being a living source of wisdom, it does not allow in a more general form the loss of identity among the species, but the pro­cess of alienation is permitted only in few isolated cases among related species, as those mentioned above.

This includes everything created and every creature that always remains the same, but not necessarily to the human being, who can loose his identity. Not only can he loose it by turning crazy, considering himself as another being, for instance, an emperor, while he is a shoemaker, or forge~ ing about himself in an act of amnesia. He can also loose it as a member of a society, if that society looses the conscience of its existence. This is formed by means of the conscience that each individual has of his past and of the past of his country, that is to say, of history. One can loose it if the historical conscience, that is, the concept of the unity in time, is lost .

The philosopher Xavier Zubiri in his book "NATURE, HISTORY, GOD", says II Time is not mere succession, but an ingredient of the SPIRIT". His-tory is not a simple succession of actual facts, but a formal part of rea­lity itself. Man not only has had history: Man is, in part, his own his­tory. This justifies the preoccupation with the past: . studying the past is, in such a case, occupying oneself with the present. The past does not survi ve in the present under the form of remembrance, but as a form of reality". If we consider history as an eternal repetition of all things - as it was established last century by the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche - we will ommit the concept of oldness and newness, that is, of the process of futu­re and development, proclaiming in this wayan absurd identity . Theodor Haecker expressed ItHistory is, in an eminent sense, the union of the old­ness to the newness in the process of development. Only the ETERNAL BEING is beyond these two concepts. It can be said that it is the identity of both" .

Each Being created by nature or by man shows its identity by means of its image, which is one and not other. It could be that this image is represented by several forms which do not substantially alter the image. The identity cards the Identification Services sell to each individual show photographs of the identity of the person, prints his name, his birth date, his height, etc. In the case that a forgery changes the name toge-

8 1

ther with the other data and changes also the photograph, the individual must change his face too, to be identical to the photograph. The image must be only one, even in a fraud, in order not to be discovered as forged.

Having these basic considerations in mind, what do they mean to the museologist and museology?

According to the definition of I COM "the Museology is the science of the museum. It studies the History, the Role in the Society, the specific system of Research, of Conservation, of Education, and of Organiza tion, the relations among the environment, the typology", -

As a first goal Muselogy is assigned to the "study of History" and it adds "the role in the society". The museums are divided into those which exhibit existing objects of NATURE, as those of mineralogy, flora, fauna and space, and those which exhibit objects ·which show a testimony of the presence of man by means of his belongings, products and actions. Both types of museums must study history, one, the history of objects created by nature and the other history of the objects as witness ·of human behavior.

Continuing with the philosophical concepts "history is the forma part of reality and the union of oldness and newness in the process of dev lopmentt', then, the primary role of museology as a science of museums is, t

exhibit the objects as actual reality, that is to say, in their historical identity. It is a challenge which is not always easy to achieve. In order to show the objects in their true identity, museology must make use of othe sciencies according to the museums specialty as archaelogy, anthropology, natural history and specific history (of Art, Economy, Theater, Naval, Mili­tary, etc.) and of so many sciences to be, always to testify the true iden­tity of the authentic image of an object.

Fortunately, in Latinamerica there are enough scientists in all types of sciences who can support the museologist in his work of selecting and classifying the elements by their real identity. What often does not exist is the financial support to have the services of such scienti f ic peo­ple, or, also, the will to do it because of lack of criteria, assigning in many cases, this task to some administrative officials who must act, as museologist, museographer, and scientist altogether.

Many times, it is practiced the other way round, when the forma­tion and maintenance of a museum is assigned only to scientists without a criteria in museology, which does not attempt, of courqe, to go againt the identity of the material, but against an adequate plastic programming of the exhibition and organization. Both practices are reprehensible.

In the case . of an element kept in a warehouse for many years and appearing in the inventory as "piece of cloth stained with the blood of hero X", does not deserve any credibility, because no serious historian can prove that the blood on this cloth belongs to the hero. This piece conti­nues, simply, being kept in the warehouse as a curiosity, because it was not possible to prove its identity as a sacred garment testifying what it pretends to testify. But as the science of history is a human science and it is submitted to development as any other occupation of man, it can pro­gress and one day it can come out from the core of history as a truthful testimony of a reliable witness . It has acquired the identity required to exhibit to exhibit the element to the public.

The results of research of sciences in its present state refer­ing to the authenticity of an object are mandatory to the museologist rela! ed to the identity of the element as Hits own reality" which is 1I0ne and

Jnot other".

8 2

Also, the museologist needs the definition of the scientists (historian) referring to the historical value of an object. Firstly, this is valid for a museum of human history. Every being has - as we said - his tory, but not everything has as historical meaning related to its value i~ the history of the Society. This is the second goal that I COM poses to museology: to be interested in the role which the object must have to so­ciety, that is to say, to its development. Once the identity of the object is found, it must be defined as an interesting element for the history of man and all Society. If it were otherwise, all historical museums would be mere compilers of personal objects with no historical meaning, and should, thus, extend in an exaggerated way both in space and in quantity.

Once the object has been verified in its historical value, then the other goals established by I COM start operating: to be interested in its good conservation by means of adequate preventive maintenance and - if this is the case - and restauration to exhibit the element in its authentic manufacture. The institution of I COM in Rome, ICC ROM, publishes professional regulations for procedures.

With a good collection of identified historical objects, the pr~ cess that leO M assigns to museologists can begin: to develop a didac­tic process for the community, initiating with a proper museological prese~ tation and all the graphic designer for the plastic exhibition, while educa tive technology may contribute with valid principles and create specific programs for a motivating information of the society.

Accompanied by a good typology and the corresponding information of the museologist, the aim is to teach the public the importance museums have when exhibiting their elements in accordance to the postulates of leo M "the material testimonies of men and his environment, with the purpose of study, education and delight".

In Chile the Navy operated on the premise that this country is a maritime country with over 10,000 km. of shoreline, including the continen­tal and antarctic areas, with 97% of foreign trade along the Pacific Ocean, with an appreciable amount of professional people of high academic level and with a production of fish flour ranking third in the world. Its projec! ion as a maritime nation of the Pacific Ocean is evident. Its identity must be conceived as a clear conscience of its existence and of its aim. Without this conscience the Society looses its identity and with this loss, it alienates itself.

In order that this danger were not present, and to deepen and promote this conscience of its maritime destiny, the maritime cultural poli cy has created a proyect of a cultural institution in form of a naval mari­time museum which is being developed and which must be a live expression of the real and authentic identity of Chile as a Maritime Nation.

In an old building, which belonged to the Naval Academy, where for over 100 years generations of officers of the navy were educated and trained, ten thousand square meters of buildings, yards and green fields, are going to be devoted to all topics related with the sea, in three ele­mentary areas: EXPLORATION and EXPLOITATION of the sea, COMMUNICATION through the sea and the CONTROL of the territorial waters. All oceanogra­phic sciences which are practiced in Chile will be present for proper in­vestigation of exploitation of fishing and oil in industry; for communica­tions and construction of merchant ships, the maintenance of ports, the merchant marine, signalling, lifesaving, nautical sports, and, of course, the naval history and the specialties of warfare at sea, and the manufactu­

Ire of naval weapons and warships.

83

As all themes are present in the history of its own existence, it will form living testimony of writy in time, whose conscience is the conscience of its own identity.

The challenge for museology in the organization of a cultural institution like this Naval Maritime Museum, is to create the plastic images - with the help of art and techniques - of this substantial identity with maritime culture. Being a historical museum,it will produce the outstanding evidence that "all real history is culture, that is, a gradual process, in which human values are cultivated" (quotation of the philosopher Juan Anto­nio Widow of the Catholic University of Valparaiso).

Thus, museology of this maritime institution will accomplish two main objectives: exhibit, as an open window, everything that can be con­ceived as MARITIME CULTURE in its enormous spectrum of human value and, at the same time, become a master in the search and in the findings of the identity of the society by means of the formation, within it, of a MARITIME CONSCIENCE. Museology serves the identity, and with this, to the happy exi~ tence of the community. The museum of the MARITIME IDENTITY serves the ide~ city of the nation as a maritime nation. Latinamerican museologists, 13 years ago, in Santiago, stated, for all museums: "educate and generate happiness with the mission of the integration to he life of the country in the common task of progress".

84

JM©'!jftlh K S~i@lb~1lJ!M - Oxford, Ohio, USA Basic paper

Memoire de base

~ntroduction

Identite eat une notion de plua en plus uti~isae pour designer

Ie beeoin d'ordre et de stabl1ite dans un monde ~ui chan«e rapide­

ment. Heceament s'est eveille une conscience des implications que

comporte cette notion d'identite pour lea relations socio-cultu­

rellos et leG relations avec l'enYironnement en general. Cet eyeil

eignale. je l'espere, une transCoraation de la conscience h.maine

qui aura une inrluence aigniCicative sur l'orienta~on du deyelop­

pemant du musee comme institution sociale dans una sphere de res­

ponssbilite elargie.

Une bonne part de la litteratare concernant l'identite est

centre. sur l'idee du m~intien dss connectione culturelles da passe.

L'identite ethniqae, dans 189 societes d'aujourd'hui, prasante encOTe

ce souci. Le paase accumule ne,aurrit cependant pas a lui seul a embrasser Ie concept. L'identite eat un phenomene actuel, contempo­

rain eC dynamique. II appara~tra clairement, je pense, dans la dis­

cussion qui auit, que je considere l a d i scussion temporelle de l'iden­

tite comme un aspect seulement d'un systeme large et complexe. Lee

Coyers principau~ en so~t l'individu vivant, les groupee et les

categoriez dont i1 est membre, 1 .... r_it'icRtion .. q·u'ont CBe a:rrilia­

tion s dan s sa vie physiquG , ea Vie intellectue11e et son comport.mant.

II t'aut sussi Dlentionner l es conllelluences des actions qui procedent

de tout cels sur Ie monde culturel et Ie monde naturel, maintenant

et dans l 'avenir. Ainsi ma perepective est orientee sur l'humain.

Elle procede du postulat de base stlivant. 1e monde naturel et Ie

monde culture l interagissent dana une relation rp.ciprnque, chscun

inCluenq ant l ' autre dans un proc .... sus contina .. l de ra,justelllent.

Dane cette reJ.ation les perllpective .. hUIIIsines de ls nRture dol1'inis­

sent l'identite nRturelle. Alor .. que l'on conq01t CTftquemment l'iden­

tite naturelle comme autonome elle est, par opposition. la nature

alle-meme, £ondea sur Is perception humaine. Elle est partie inte­

grants du systame d'id .. ntite complexe duquel chacun paTCicipe. Ainsi

l'iden~itG d .. vient un ""canis", .. parl .. quel chacun s'edapte a soi-"""'8,

a sea s%p&rlences et a son environnement .. ocia1, t.c~nnlogi1\le at naturel.

85

Vu Ie large even~ai1 de diCrerencee dans 1a eoci~tp. et dane la

perc"p~ion de cette societ<l (tlloor '9~.4, lIallli1l 1~85 •• laTuyama '9HO,

Scbbll~kHn 1979 ) , ~ u RUG8~ 16e v aates diCrerencee d'exp'riences hiA­

tori'1ues, :1.1 t"audrll utiliaer une structure tr .... generale ei l'on veu~

trouver un eneemble unique de erit.re .. pour deCinir l'identite en

ter~es app1icables a toutea lea eituatiins. C'e .. t pourquoi je me

con.~ntr.rai sur quelquee ido.a Condaaentale .. , laiseant • d'autre .. ,

plus qualiCie~ que 1II0i. Ie aoin d'articuler dee situations at de ..

problemes .. peciCiques proven ant de l'impact de l'identite sur la

societe at sur la nature.

Identit"

Une d6Cinition eet .. tructuree en partie par eon u .. age. C'eat

pourquoi lee compoean~e .. du concept d'identite diecuteee ici sont

ce11~e qui ant rapport aux notiona de museee, de mue~olo,.ie et A leura responall:biIi tee dena 1a aoci4te. ACin de c1ari,'ier d' e",blee

la discussion disone que Ie teTllle -societe- . 8e r'rere • un groupe

d'individus Ii's entre eux par des inter'ts communs inveRtta, entre

autre, dans une langue commune, une ideologie et dea cOlllportelllents

typiquaa, dan .. de .. r'aeaus politique .. , sociaus et economique .. , tout

ceci se maintenant essentiellement par 80i-mame et souvent, quoique

pAe touJoura , BU coura de pluafeura generations. Une aociet." peut

~tre petite et relativement ho.o~ene 0'1 bien vaate, avec de multiplee

.. oua-groupes. La concept de cu11:ure utiliae ici ae rei"ere A cee li.,ns.

actits, aces comporte.ent .. commune et atructures, cea attentes et

ces croyances, ainai qu'. leurs produits tangibles, l'en.emble

tormant une combinaieo n d'attributs speciriquee aaeociee A un groupe ~

apecitique, a uq~ societe .

Identi t e n'eet pas synonyme de societe ou de culture. Identit'

eet un concept a rac6ttas multiples. 11 ee maniCeate en ima~e de soi,

en sentiment d'appartenanc9 at de CODscience communes, dane la

reconnaissance d'un passe, d'un present et, peut-~tre, d'un avenir

.COMlDuns, dane la perception de d~t't'arences. de i"rontieras. et dana

un systeme d'aCCiliations determine par la contexte. Ce concept doit

inclu~e la consideration de phenomenea reels et ideaux, de selectivite

at da t'o~cas e%t'rieures qui indluencent la Coraatlon et 1a

reconnaissance de llidentit'.

~our l'individu, son identit' est 1a perception de qui ilou

... 11. est par rapport au IIIOnde cul turel at IUl monde naturel, ainai

H6

que Ie aan~imen~ d'appartenance ~i' a cetta pereeption. C'eat une

8t'l'i1"llla1:loo de aa p~ace et da sa posltion dana Ce .. Dlondes et

I' " ft'irmf'1Ci m, cts ", d roits, r""po1<1lBabl1itea, comportelllent .. , eroyanc" .. ,

.. ",p"ctatives et aymhole .. que r.quiar.nt c .... posi tions. I.' id.nti te

eat cette conscience de aoi qul e'.xpri~e dane Ie ree.au d. rela­

tions a t dana lea actlone que cee relationa comportent, dana lee

cat'~oriaa ou les a.sociationa dont on eat meMbre et dans celIe.

dont on n ' ee1: paa lIIeabre. L'ldentite peut Atre un phenoDlsne t'lutde,

dynam:!.q!;lf), qu1. change au cours de la vie par l' adai tion de nou ... ll.B

at'C:!.liatlon a et la poseibillte qui axi .. ta de perdre ou de rsjeter

certaines d'.ntre ell.s. Certainee nou. aon~ imputeea, comma la

E&lIIille par .~elllble, d'.utre. aont choieiaa, comma t60t'OIll.

Comma tell. l'identito d'wn individu n'e.t pas une aimple

entite hOllloeene maie plut&~ wn compoeite d'identitea variables. Un

enaemble de criteres apecit'ique. det'init .t detarmine chacune d'elle.

8t chacune ere. un en.emb~e apecit'ique d. rela~ions RUX au~re., a la

nature et a 1 "" ~echnologi •• P"r ellampl. on parle d'identlte natio­

nale, terri~orlale, hietoriqua, .thnique. Cet~e d.rni.re conaiate '

.n les lien. de parente t.la qu'ila aon~ perQua. Ce. lien. nouent

10 passe au preaent. Ce aont des liena de con.anguinite, d'RCrinlte,

reele 011 t'ictiCs, aS80cie8 a un .naemble diatinct d'a~~ribut. cul­

turel .. choieta. On parI •• ncor. d'ldente aocial. - I •• "Ct'illatlona

pre.ent.s at variablee qui Rtruc~urent les relations int.rperaonnolle.

- d'identite ramillale, reliciou.o, culturelle, e~ .nrin d'idantite

hu .... ine. Ce~t .. lis~e n'est pa .. complet". II n'est d'ailleura pae

neces8aire qu'un pos .. ede ou reconnai ... a tout.e at chacwne de caa

!<lSentite .. p08s1h.Les. Dane la plupart d •• CRS pluel.ura ca~<lgorio.

eo;nciden1:, ceei lorequ. ~eurs paramstres aont conR"ru.nte. l.a conduit.

d,un individu eara d'~erminee par telle plutat qua t.l1e .rt'iliation,

au par un ens ... bled'aCt'iliations, aelon la eituation du moment.

Ceci e"t parttculierlllDant evident lorsque l' int.r.o"ion imp~ique

dea perRonn ... non &t'1'ili8e8.

Tandie que l'id3ntite global •• a~ uniqu., l· ••• enc. m&me d.

l'appar~enance at de l'arri~iation r.quiert la reconnaissance du

groupe .t Ie part"l'l'e des expressiona .. anl1'ea~.R tie cohlll.lon. Quand

~n parle d'id.n~i~e il est illlpor~ant d. raconnattre l'indlvidu comma

element t'ondam.nt&l. En &rc.t, blan qu'un groupe .0i1: souvent comprls

eomme unif'onae at cobera,,1:, 11 ."iate toujour. d .... varintions en 90n

aaln, ca qui s!gniri. une impttlsion potantlall. de changem.nt e~

d'adap~a~ion au" circonstanc •••

87

Une tois reconnue 1. variabilite potentielle de tout ~OUp8

quel qu'il soit, une rois ad~i8 que l'individu ost Ie moteur de

I' ac: l:i e n, j 1 d'·'vi.en t p,"sGible de c:ellaidorer Ie groupe eOIll"'. UlBe

entice et de diBcuter los ramLticationa do l~ non-appartenance, de

l'idsal et du reel, de la sdlectlvite et des symboles. J'emploie Ie

terme de groupe en un aons tr~a general pour deaigner un aimple

ensemble coh4aie de personnoa .eme a'il n'a paa de crit~re8 parti­

.:u11"r9 de t"ormlltion ni d!t conditions d' appartenance.

Di!!8 'lu' tID "",,,up" s .. 1'ormo, 014 des que quelqu' un declare son

app~rtenance A un groupe, taus reconnalae8nt Ie "non-groupe",

creent des symboles d'appartanance, 4tablissent et "erent des me­

canismos de aaintion doa limitee du groupe (Barth 1969) et de tout

c .. la nait Ie modele des relations intergroupes. Un eroupe cr~e et

derinit sa propra image, mais il cree aussi sa pro pre image des

autrss graupes. Ces identit"s coincident rarement. ll'habitude nous

ne noua voyons pas do 1a .i.e ra~on ~ue Ie. autrea nous vni~nt, pas

plus que noue ne voyona lea autree comme eux-mamea Ie rant, Cepen­

dant ce '111e noua penaons do noua-.imes depend souvent en partie de

ce que lea autrea pensent de nous.

La raison de ces vua r.ontra.st"ea se trouve, en partie dll moins,

dans Ie systeme de va1eure d'un , .. oupe. C'est en l'onction de ce

model .. que 1e croupe cboieia certaines caractariatiquea, comporte­

ments id"a1ises, croyances, objeta, co_s "ymhol .. " qui d .. t·inis .... nt

son essence. De mame, c'est sur baae de aon aysteme d .. valeurs at

de aa pro pre percep1;ion du comportement des autres que 1e «roupe

choiait 1 ... criteres par lesquele il impo.era leur identite aux

autre. groupes. On veit .ise.ent que l'identite eat un choix quand

on coneidere 18 perception, par exemple l'identite ethnique ou

histnriqua. Pour cee identitea 1e groupe choleit, parm~ len elementB

accumu1es. la5 rai$~, Gvl~e.ents et symbolea selon Ie syateme de

valeura du moment &t non paa aeJnn lee valeura en coura dana le passe,

11 le ~ choieit 8U55i en E~nction de l'utilite que peut avoir une

1;el1 .. identice pour sauv .. gardar l'exiatence du «roupe cont'ront' aUll

condi tions internea et auternea du present. Dans cet et't'ort de lIlain­

tsnir aon intagrite Ie «roupe cho~ait et MeC l'accent aur deF. idees

at des comporteAents qu~ 1eu ~embres ont en commun et qui r~pondent

10 mieux a estte dtm~naion de coaparaiaon, at parCois de cOMpetition,

qui caract0riea les relations entre groupea. Ces idAes et comporte­

~ents 50~t 6videmment sp~citiqueB at uniques pour chsque Kroupe et

88

cbaque situation. ~n principe cependant ils repre.entent 1'8v~lua­

tion et la description que Ie troupe Cait de Bon systeme de valeura

"ct"..,} II.inct q n ,; '''l! perception de l a realit6 tel.l .. qu'elle eat condi­

tiann'e par cee valeur& dane laG circonetancas exterieurea du moment.

Ca. ele.ent. d'identits sont d'habitude sacis~ai.ants et ils

eou.tiennent Ie Groupe interieureaent, mais certaine d' entre eux

daivent devenir visiblec pour 3tre e~ricace. dana une sphere d'inter­

action plus l~rgc. Catta vt~ibilita .'abtient par l'usaga de symbolea:

objets, ri tea , deeerati.oJbB, G>"nemsn t ~ . c<'rnpcrte"'8nt e, pas ee .. sLon .. ,

laneage. droits, reaponsabilLt.eG, at .. 1naL de suite. Les a)'lBboles

proclamenc l'iden~ite. Xle tndLquant, tant aux membres qu'aux non­

membres, ~~i Q at qui n's pas part au groupe. La reconnaisssnce de

cs~ symboles provo que une reponse. Du point de vue du groupe ainsi

aymbolLae la reponse eat appropri'. au non selon les cLrconstancea

immediate. et aelon Ie degr' de correspondanee entre lee Ldentites

produitea intarLeurem~nt et c011es qui sont imposeea du dehora.

L'idontit' doit atre telle qu'elle .aintienne .~ricsce.ent

l'inc~grite du groupe. ~lle est aEricaca lorsqu'elle aatLsCait les

beaoios et Lnterats daa ... bres et reduit les ~orcee quL pourreLent

a«Lr contre eux. Tant que Cas rorc~s restant en equilibre, cr~ee n doe rajuste.ente .inLmea Crequanca, Ie changement a8 produLt gradu­

ellement et sana perturbation. Kate loraque les presaiona internes

ou externes s'1DtensiCi~nt au point qu'une raconcLliation Cacile

d.vieDC hora de porte. l'tdentite est en danger.

Musees et Identit'

Uans I s perspective qu'ouvre Ie concept d'idenCLte on voit que

Ie muses P. plu6ieurs ralss a jouer. Ceci parce que Ie musee est a la

t'oLs Ie sYDIbole d'une conl'.1guration d'identit,; ape"it'lque et un outLI

qui sert A Is cr_atinn et au ma1nti e n do l'identLte. Je desire 80ul1-

gner iei 1& distino t ion que Je t'a1e entre l'Ldentite comme phenomene

interne, mental, qui 8e deCtnLt lui-ma.e, et 1e processus qui consiste

a LdentLClar, cla~nLrier. de~inir et categoriaor Ie TealLte t~lle qu'.lle eet p&r9ue at 8a. 8rr~V3 ain3~ & imposer une identite~ '

d'a"tres. Souvent ceq deux eene du concept d'identite Bont pris pour

synanymes.

Je auts d'accord avec Taborsky (1982)1 Ie musefi. tel qu'il est

t ~&rl i t !onnel1ement de~inL, s'est d~velopp' comme part integrante d'un

89

eyeti"lIe cuJ.turel apftcit"ique et ceo systC!lIIt! a une trlldition lllr&'8D1ent

Europeanne. Ce eyeteme culturel s'eet rAmit"is en un large eventail

do so,"s-groupee at cio 8",b<\lvt s io"", &u caurs de,; siecJ.ee ou 1e .. ueAe

a'.et developpe. Si noua can~~derone cette hlstoire COata. l'apparition

d'identites variBee, e~ 10 musee comma un des elements d'ldantite ~ui

repree.ntent des vaJ.enrs, nOUB voyons qua 1e lDuae. ae lIIanit'eeta en

prelllier 1ieu cOllURe un .. ymboJ.e d'id.ntite du "roupe qui t·orm .. l'elite,

cette elite etant .j81"ioie par richeese, pouvoir at eavoir. D.ce poine

de depart Le musee,(Rinni que sa nature aymboJ.iqus) a 'to incorpors

dan .. la structure d' identi te d' un ,groupe de plus en p1ua 1arg •• Le

muaes, dote d'elements provenant. dss systems .. de vaJ.eure d .... aoua­

groupe8 a1nei incOrpOre8. est davenu lui-mame un elem.nt actit' dane

lea relatione intra et inter-group'''' et, de c. 1"Rit, un f'acteur de

1a COrNation . d'inentita. Ce glissement de J.a notion de musA8 cnmme

ayab!)le de I' 'lit., puia du grand public,' puis COIlUD. el·t'ort conacient

de rapre .... nt.r (ou d'i.po .. er nne reprA8entation de) tona er chacun

de .. a.gmente de 1k aocidte a produit (au a eta produit par) des chan- ~

~8menta Gans 1a perception des '-onctions de l'institution muaee et

dans 1 .. choix des responsabi1itAs conaiderA8s comme importantes. Le

pr.ceasus de eymboliaation s' est stendu au-deJ.a dae perception's

intern.s de cetta societe paur ~n arriver a imposer aux "roup.s

externee lea musAes, leur philosoph!e et leur perception dea autrea.

Par Ie contact cult-urel Iss aUitres ont ainsi ete 1"orcAs de a'adapter

progre8sivellleat.

Lea musRaa jouent un r&l. dans cette question de 1a double nature,

l'in ~arne at l'impo5ee, de l'ldentite. ~sa .. ntisllemftnt les musaes aont

unil~rp.raux dana Ie choix des eymboles d'1d .. ntite qu'i1 .. ra8sembl .. nt.

Le groups qui choisit les collactions utilise des criteres de selection

t"ondes aur aon propra system .. de valeurs. Sea choix, auaai bien parmi

ses objetm propres que parmi ceUX provenant d'autrss groupes, re1"l\tent

son identlte at colle des autras telJ.es qu'il les per~oit. Utiliaant

ainsi Ie mus0e comMe d&CLarstion d'id8ntite Ie gr~upe qui Cait 1a

collectien ~'eat vu comme il desirait se voir at a vu 1.s Autreft comae

i1 deeirai~ les voir aux. Atteai est-ca une identit6 selective qui ~st

pre ... ntds dans lee mus'es at, d'habitude. e110 presente una vision

idealiaee du groupe ainsi qu'une vision de Is nature at des autres

groupes telle qu'elia cor~irme cette i_age de soi. L'i.a~ .. des groupes

extarieurs, que ce soit celIe 6es aoua-ffroupes d'nne societe ou celIe

d'autre. Qntites culturallea. ne co1ncide evidemment pR8 av .. c l'ima~e

tout ausei selective et idp.aliaee que las groupes extarieurs ont d'eux-

90

.'.ea. Du point de vue de l'identite, interne ou i~po.ee. il .et "d'une

importance deciaive de comprandrit que l 'ea .\laeea ne 1'onctionnent dans

U!l r;"""'3 d", "''''R'i.t:e absGlu ... Klk~.;> >3i un tel monde existe de t",ll .. !Jorte

qu'il puieae !!Jtre periu par 1", .. humains il regts q .... I' identi to telle

qu'elle eat presantee dana Iss museos n'eat qu'une version de la rp.alitL

qui ae re1'~r. a elle-meme.

Adoptons une perspective ~eIDporeile et noua conatatone Ie .ime

phenom6n~ . La pesse, qui est um a~p~ct de 1& plupart ainon de toutee

lea identitp.G, eat toujoure cunsloa .... C!U point de vue du pr~eent. de

1& comprehension, de 1ft sonscience at de 1ft connaisaance du moment,

et il eat structure par l'actuel syateme de valeura. Hotre vue dU paas',

du natre et de eelui dee autre .. , est tont au."i ..elective que notre

vue du monde contaaporain. Nous choist8sons Ie meilleur du paas~ (aelon

lea cri tq,ree d ',uljourd' hui) at rationali aons Ie pire au meme l'igno­

rons complete.ent conriraant ains! Ia VUG que nous avons de nous-.~mes.

~ Cat aspect dee choee .. est tout a fli1t evident dans les musees qui '

s'adre.eent plu8 directement a l'hiRtoir .. , mais il est preaent dans la

1'890n done toue musee presente at preserve ses collections.

Vana l'4t~~ pr~sont do 18 conscience et de la sensibilit~

l'idsntite imposee 8 pris des connotation8 f'ortement neeatives. Par

contre l'i.age de aoi interne 8 reQu de plus en plus rl'appui de la

part des musees. Vu Cait quo, par les objets assemblea et par la

CaQon dont ils sont expoae., les musees expriment les valeurs et leA

conceptio.ns d' identi 1;e 11 ... l'Crent un point de conver~ance dans Ie

processus de socialisation. Les IIIUSeeS con1'rontent 1'individu it deA

perceptions structurees et des in~ormations eur lui-mema, son paese,

se .... 1'1'l1iations, 80n ""onds. Ce t'lliflant - de ,'''90n plus ou moins

eT1'ica~e - lIs evoquent dans l'ind1vidu una reponse rond~e aur sa

propr~ experience. II lui est possible alors d'incorporar l'essenciel

d.e aa repon .. e dane as cOUl!J y""h .. flaion de lui-meme at de "a que cela

si~nirie d'etre lui.

Les muSSes auJourd'hui prennent lentement conscienc~ de l'incnn­

gruitA pasoea 8t prft8~nte telle qU'elle est presentee dans les struc­

tures institutionnelle~. Ils commencent a tenir compte du u reel

imp~ct dG l'impositlon d'ana ~dencite au~ les itres hUlllains, aussi , b1an eur las ltIIl3mi"1rea que nur CQUX du dehors. Trap 80UY~nt r en rent'"or­

~ant l'lmage de 90i d'un ~roupe, le mus~e en tnnt qu'institution

represGntative de ce F,roupa magi au detriment d'autrea groupes at

91

ce~a ~ussi bien dans 13 collecte que dans l'interpretation des objets

qu 'i~ expose. Les cOiuiequenc .... en sont d' una portae "ails meeure, Elles

.... iF.s"""" "u r l 'j.ndlvidu, sur .. on ",ens d··i.d~ntl.t" pArsonn.dle, el: donc

sur les rel& tl on s in~erculturel1 .. s. Lse gens interagissftnt sur baea

de ce qu'11 s eaven t (ce qu'ils eavent est un aspect ronda.ental de la

Corma t ion d'identit'). Or ca qU'i~8 ont apprie des musees R propos des

autres est trop eouveRt inexAct. Lee _'canisses qui assurent les

limltss du groupe (au Ie groupe lui-me~e) et qui etablissent sinsi

lAs r<llati<>tuJ ir;tar"g&",'p"'. "ont; i'andea aur des premisses taus06R ou

det·orme .. e.

Un des r&les de Is musAologie consiste a etablir dee directives

generalss sur la CaQon de relativiser l'impact de ces aspects de

l'ident!te presentomont accontuAs dans les musees sur l'e~at actue1

du monde,

Museolngie et Identice

Je de~1nirai la museologie co~e la theorie organisationalle

et relationelle, Ie savoir, les methodes et le cadre methodologique

indispensables ai l'on veut raire de l'acte de preservation una

experience integrante . Cet t e deCinition inclut toutes les Conctions

et aetivites de l'insti tution musee mais el1e paraitra trop vacue a certains. Ja l'adopte c ependant aCin de promouvoir Ie sens des res­

ponaabilites personnelles et i n stitutiona1l.e.qui se rait jour dans

12 conscience humaine, Je l e Cais aussi pour encourager Ie develop­

pement d'une nouvelle conception de ce qu'ast un musee dans un

contexte culturel Blarsi . Je pars riu postulat que Ie changement sst

1s caracterist ique princ i pal e de l 'experience humaine aussi bien que

celie du monda naturel at que t outss les societes pRRsses et presentes

sont partiss i ntegrantas de cstts experience. Toutes les societAs

changent. L'activite de p r e servation conaiste ftvidsmment a sauvagarder

des elements dll passe dana Is present en vue de l'avenir. Mais son

essence est de documenter le changement. Le pasee Cut un jour present

at la prAsent deviendra Is passe. Je pense que 1a mission essentiells

de 1ft museoloKie est d'utilissr la comprehension obtenue par la pre­

servation de f'a~on a. inf"lutlncer Ie f"utUIl' en arreetant le presenl;. \

L'identite est un ~ftcteur important de la preservation mais ce

n'est pas Is seul t'acteur ni Ie saul point de vue. l:dentite et musp.o­

Logie devraient s'imbriquer a un niveau f"ondamental, cftlu! de 1&

92

decision de Cavoriaer, pMr Ie processus de preservation, Ie develop­

pement de l'ldentIt~ dlU\e tout I'aventail de ."a vftrilite8. Pour des

rBieona diverse., politlqus •• economiquee, ideolo~iques ou pratiquea

ch .. qu .... lIIulJ~e llIe t. om lumlin'" lllT,o; Id0nti te p .... ticul i e"'.. e1: lluoi tll_.

Elargi~ cetts vision part lculibre ds a lIIueees eans mettre en danr,er

leur signification pour la communautA locale et sana d~ni"r l'impor­

tancs dea collectione specialiaeeo e.t a mon avia une dea fonctions

principalea de lA mue801o~ia. Votre accord depend de ce que oui ou

non vous a:1cpt .. e lea iIll".i:le s p """,i. • . f'e8 que !!Ioi. (I) Le JIIOnde d' auJourd 'hui

& un ba oo :l.u t'nnd~ental a t uni,veraol d' appreci"r la diversi te hu,,!aine

et de pramouvoir Ie reapect de' cea dirCerences. (~) Lea humaina ont

tendance a a'aaaurer de leur valeur personnelle au detriment des

autres et toutes l e a Bocietes humaines poae~dent lea inr,rAdienta de

l ' sthnocent risms. ( ) Nou s avone maintenant aases de connaiaAancea

e~ d'experienca pour &f~1rmer qu'il nous raut tous,aglr avec reserve

et apprecier cetts reGe~Ve comme une necesaite dans lee interactionft

culturellee et les interactlons avec la nature. !Jana cetta perspective

1a mua8010«ie peut se conce'Voir cOll1!lle une t'aQon erl'icace de tOaciltt .. r

la prise de conscience de ~ ' identit8 humaine et l'acceptation dea

droit., obligations at reaponaabilites que noua avons envers les

autre. mel~_ .. ea de notre esp~c .. at envers la nature.

La museo10gie,comme preservation qui ravorifte l'inte«ration, et

Ie musee, comwe outil important de ce proceesua, ont dea responaabl­

lites dane 18 question des probl~me8 d'identite que Ie muaee lui-mame

. accentue du rait qu'il est une institution socio-culturelle spe­

cit'ique. Maie ils doivent ausai conrronter lea probl~mea d'identite

preaents dans 1e monde en general. La mueeologie doit commencer par

reconnalere les rorces politiques economiques et ldAologiqueft qui

~nrlu0nr.ent Ie mueee et Ie processua de preservation. AU t'ur et A lIIe~ure de nos connaiesances j'espere que a .. developperont la compre­

benaion de CBS farces et Ie capac i tA d ' en tenir compte.

Lor"que naua r&s £o>l!lblonl!l d e s objets pour un lIIu"ee i1 nous c .. "t

etre sensibles au~ ~plicatlone de la 8truc~ure de l'identite, auasi

bion de l'idGntite interne que de l'i~poeee.Une certaine vue du ~onde

at un accs nt mi e eur la ~68ervG 86 m~n!ra8tent ainai. J'espere que

la coll.:oction

una p .... a 6dur.e

dee objets daviendra, 80ua l'lnC1uence de 1a mU8e010«ie, :

d'echan«e vntre groupea. Parei1 echRn~e Cera diepar .. l-

tre certai.nes del'" baX"!I' i Gre n "<11.1198S par une viaion part1culi~re

d'iden t ite toul; en preeervant l':!.ntegrita t'ondallumtale de l'identite.

93

11 l"aut presenter, ""poser IiiIt inl:erpre.ter ee qUi 8st preserve

avec 1 ..... &me sensU>ili t6 ·;'t 18 .lIme .. ouc1.. Les CaCfons d' al':1.r du passe.

ne sont plus n~ adaquates ni acceptables a la lumiere de CII que nOU8

comprencn~ aujourd'hui, ee l'idGntit6 imposes dc1.t litre comprise ainsi.

La presentation des identiCes de quelque groupe que CII soit doit

de plus en plus 30uligner l'e%perlence humaine plus large, culturelle.

technologique et naturells. Ella do1.t 6tre honnllte dans son appre­

ciation, reconnattre l'ideal et Ie reel, le bon et le mauvais dane

l'hiatoire. dans les trrulsrormat~ons de l& technologie et dans

l'impact des humains sur la nat~ra. La presentation, l'incorporation

ou 18 comparaison d'une identite par la manipulation de see,symboles

doit se ~aire dans une perspective plus large qui tempere l'inter&t

personnel par un sene de responsabilite. Les realites pratiques de"

1a p01itique. de 1'argent, de l'ideologie et de l'ethnocentrisme

rendent la realisation de cet ideal dil"l"~cile si pasimposBible.

TOUl; groupe doit Rvoir l'OccRsion de s'exprimer honne.t"menl: au

sein d'autrea groupes par des moy.us qui aient du sens pour lui-m~me

el: qui soiant comprehensible a pour les autres. Malheureusement les

phenomenes culturels ne sont pas tous traduisibles en un autre cadre

culturel .

Un .. autre raison pour l"aquelle le musee tradi tionnel n' est pas

necessaArement prepare pour cette preservation integrante dont nous

parlons eat 1. Cait qu'il est 8i Condamentalement lie ~ un develop­

pement culturel speci£ique. 11 est encombre d'un" epistemologia at

d'un syst&me de valeuTa particuliera. La museologie doit se donner

pour tAche de creer et de promouvoir une relation symbiotique entre

18S raalitea de la preservation at les mecanismes cu1turels divera

qui rendronl: pleiaes de ssna Russi bien pour la vie en general que

pour l'id0ntite des 1"0rmes nouvelles de proservation. Des alternatives

~aissent deja au ssin de certaines societes industrialis~ee pour

certQins des gr.oupes qui en tont partie (Crispi ot Greenberg, 1986).

S1 1& mus801offie dott cro~Cr8 au-dela des Crontieres que lui impose

la tradition quct la Cit nattre 11 Caudra auss! persp~cacit~ creativs

at impulsion provenanl: de traditions culturell.s diCCerentes. ee

devr&it ~tre an arr~rt universGl que de contirmer et prAserver l'iden­

tita dane toute sa magni~iqQs et dynamiquedivGrsite. ee n'est pas

1& respolllsabil:!. te ,u:clu"ive des lIIusGea at 'de la lIlus"\:olog1e •• ;n 1"1n

de ccmp1:<t nOU8 devoRs" r .. venir a J.'individu <1't aux consequences pour

Bon action de sa comprehelll~ion do I'identite. Tout indiv1du repond a

94

1.' l.nl'ormation I,resent". dana le8 lllluell5slII. Co sont lIa reponae at 1a

Calion dont 11 int~gre dana Sft vi. l' inCorlllation re~ue 'lui ont· Ie

pouvoir d'at'fecter leg re1~tionB mutue11ee car elle modiCient la

PEr!"c~ptiorp. d!& l' j.dQat. i t:e ;~<Z<t"~(lnr;$l le .

It est (relativemeiH;) facile d'egrener dOB mots; agir est bien

plus difficil •• De vaetes ideaux et generaliaationa peuvent bien

etra autn-satist'aieants. lea realitea de 1a vie rendent leur r8ali-

88ti(>0 dit'f':!.ci le. J6 n e c,"",is pas que lec problemeo grand .. et petits

du "'0l!,"" d' auJ",urd ' !lui. ;,l"""GPl!t "'''' ~·6dn:!.r .. a de aimpl.,8 declaration.

d'identi1:4i. Il Cant r0canlliall.tr'!' cependant l'impact de l'identitA aur

1e8 relations ine~~perEon~el les et inter-culturellea et on ne peut

se penu .. ttre d ' iguorer l'inf'luenc .. qu .. lea mUSAe8 et la museologi ..

peuvent eXorcsr sur c e t t e smpriao.

95

Pa~ers cited and additional references

Barth. N. D., and D. C~pbell 1579 Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Boston: Little, Brolin

Bloilr, D'Hid ';984 ~A SGoiolcg1cal Theory of Objeotivity." In: Bro\ln. S. C.,·ed.

Objeotivi ty and CuI tural Divereence. Royal Inst.itute of PhilosophV Lecture Series: 17. pp. 229-2QS. Car1brid~e

University Press.

Crispi. Huriel. and Adolph Greenberg 19116 Han and the Biosphere: The tleed for a Processual HOdel of the

nUDIan Cuol!lponent. Paper presented at the First rlational Symposium on Sooial Science and Resource 1·lanageoent. Oregon State UniversIty, CorvalliS, Oregon. Hay 12-16, 1966.

De Vos, George. and Lola Rocanucci-Ross. ed. 1975 Ethnic IdentIty: CulturDI-Continuities and Change. Palo Alto:

~~yfield Publishing CocFany.

Adolph, and JlIIIIes 1·1orrlson Greenberb • 1962 Group Identit.ies· in tbe Doreil! Forest: The Ori~ins of tho

Northern OjIbwa. Etboohistorx. vol. 29 (21 PP. 75-102.

H~lill. JiWles 1965 TheoJ'l' In Ethno-Logi c.

pp. 05-102. Symboli c Interaction. vol. 8 (11

Handelman. 19'/7

Don The OrGani: a tion of Etbnici ty. Pp. 187-200.

Luria. Ale~ander

1l:&;kt.!lh.!ln.11.llc~G.url:loi!lUI!JP~sa. vo 1. 1.

1971 Towards the ProblelllS of the Historical /lature at Psycholo~cal Processes. International Journal DC P9ycbolo,'y~ vol. 6 (4) pp. 259-272.

MaruYiUIliA. 1960

Ma!;orall tliildscapEis vol. 21 (S)

and Science Theories. October. pp. 589-608.

Current Anthropol cry.

SctleJ.lekens, 1979

H. H. C. Experienoe and EnVironment :.: Perception ot Quality. U.r..ban Ego!pg:. vol~-Ij. pp. lSl-159,

Satamone. Frank A •• and Charles II, Swanson

EnVironmental

1979 Identity and Ethnicity. Ethn1S GrouDs. vol. 2. pp. 167-163, ·

Taborsl'7. Edwi na 1902 The SOciollt.rllctur'al Role of the Museum. The International

Journsl ..9L..liI}-'Wlli!L..!:!.iw.ru~ __ <U!lftnt and Curatorsh!.Jh vol. 1. PP. 339-345.

Ps.tll N PSr;"ot - Richmond, Virginia, USA

Some RemarKs ~

On Tomislav Sola's Paper on "IDENTITY"

Comment Commentaire

Unquestionably, a very provocative paper which describes what the author sees ss a lIIajor dilelllma for museums, but also deals fundamentally with the riddle of our own roles as individuals. It seellls beyond argument that museums are the keepers of a major aspect of our identity as a apecies and a people. Willingly or not, this ia a fundamental role, which is related closely to the role as con­servers, for what they conserve is humanity's tactile memory and aspirations, as well as the testimony of natural evolution.

The question arises, however, whether this imparts to the museum a sense of militancy and of "engagement," aarticularly as suggested in the latter part of Hr. Sola's paper. The type of militancy that is implied can easily lead to partisanship. and the latter to parochialism . While certainly the latter is related to identity, it is an aspect of identity which one should avoid to the utmost!

Perhaps the most difficult task confronting the museum profession is to ma1<e objects speak with as much impartiality as possible. After conserving them, which is among our primary duties. our most important function is to present them in all aspects of their eXistence, as thoroughly as we can and, through the thoroughness and objectivity of our presentation, a l l ow conclusions that derive from f acts rather than from pre-conceived opinions.

Indeed, I am q uite convinced we can say more about the dilemmaa facing the future, if we present clearly the dilemmas that faced the past and the solu tions, or lack of solutions, foune: by our pre~

d" c essors.

The more we atte~pt to interpret the contemporary scene, the more difficul tit is to do so wi th the

-k ind of detachment that leads to balance. On the other hand, we can comment atrongly by presenting past pa r allels. In the natural order, we can show the impact of man' B action on nature, whether this

97

be the abandonment of irrigation, of the soil ·, or the effecta of a wi th the now .

over eXploitation Hedonism concerned

Through the careful stu dies of ou r objects , whether they be mad e for ritual use , adcrnmenl, to proclaim power of . individuals or governments, or to express the artist's vision, we can suggest his­torical, economic, philosophicel, and religious currents which led to the evolution of this or that form or the use of this or that material. These objects are testimony of facts and beliefs and ideals. Through them lies our strength, for t h rough tbem we can demonstrate facts, the consequence of ideas or the leek thereof.

For the contemporary, we should provide the plstform while realizing that ve are not the actors. We should provide the elsl/lents which develop taste, understanding, not through dogma, but through juxta­position, explanation, and by attempting with all our means to view our objects, whether they be natural or men-made, from an historical perspective.

98

Johll1 J Wlhi~»ock - Carbondale, Hlinois, USA Comment

Commentaire

This writer feels that the members of th~ ICON International Committee

for Museo logy l1a"e gi'llm seri eu!; tho'Jght to the top; c of Hu_~ec b!9x. and

Identity. O"e soon realizes that· the concept "identity" has a variety of

meanings to museologists. A museum can have a regional or national identity.

Museums can be nationalistic in their direction and focus or interr.ational .

Museums can manifest the multiplicity of ethnic groups within the broad cul­

tural fabric of a particular country. Some metropolitan museums have created

special "neighborhood museums" to further enhance the cultural or ethnic

mixture of an urban area. Most large cities throughout the world consist of

a variety of ethnic groups or sub-cultures.

Thus museum collections are created, maintained and exhibited for the

purpose of studying these cultural differences in our communities, regions

and nations, alld preserving their unique identities.

It is timely to give thought to the practice and theory of Museology. It

seems natural for human beings to organize, categorize and give names and

titles to objects and activities. NMuseolo~y· has been practiced since at

least 533 B.C. when the sister of Bel shazzer . ruler of the kingdom of

Babylonia, collected ancient oiljects with the desire to pl'eserve them "for the

marvel of the beholders." It is enlightening and refreshing to give thought

to what one does. Introspection does no harm, and it is interesting . Ideas

can be cyclical. We gain insights when we encounter a problem that we have

never faced before; therefore, it is wise to think about the role of identity

as we practice our museological skills.

One of ma~y concepts introduced in the ICOFOM papers pertained to commun­

ity involvement in the creation of innovative programmin~ as museums attempt

to meet the educational and identity needs of thei r constitvencies. Psycho­

logically tilis seems to be a sOllnd practice, since it is bettel ' to have people

99

involved in a museum research project rather than sQlely befn~ the subjects

of the study. In a sense, this is sfmplyanother form of introspection; how­

ever. it invohes the citi;c:eros io a Jll1Jseum project thllt .pel'tairos tv them Doth

as subjects and researchers.

Our dilemma has been expressed succinctly in the Andreas Grote paper

entitled Museology in a Quan~ary. This t"fte~ feels th~t all of the papers

contributed to the ICOr-OM Cenference ar.a Study Series flo. 10 have merit and

~!ilT malee ii significant contribution to the literature of MuseolGS}'; however,

the Grote paper deserves special attention by the profession. Museums are

forced to deal with "man's fnhumanf.ty to manu al':i the obliteration of cultures

thro~Jhou~ history.

Carol A. f4artin, in her paper, ~:Useo'jogy ~r.d Id.entit.v~ Ail 1I'!l:;!,ic~. 'l

Perspective, nl'o'{~des us ',1ith a thiJrc:ugh des:r',pt10n of the hf~to;'ica l role

of museums regarding cultural identity in collect10ns, exhibitions and edu­

cationa1 progr~n1s. Addressing MU!ieology as both & philosophy 'lnri D. sci(nt1fic

discipHne is refreshing and deserves ';urther attention by the pl"of'!s~ion.

In closing, I would like tc congratalate ?eter van Mensch for his cogent

remarks in his paper, MOlseology and Tdentity, .. s he addres!:ed the subjects of

clJltt!"a~ idel1tity and cultu:'al policy, and cspt'cially his refel'llnce to the

Declaration on Cultural Policies (U~ESCO 1982), as adopted at the Mexico City

mP.eting of ICaM.

Judith K. Spiel bauer. ·:n !>er pa!)er. The Implicatior.s of Identity for

r~useums and Museol0.!U':, remiRl!s us that it is easy to u~e languCi!je to descri!::!

l\'hat 11C ought to do, but it is far more difficult. to accomplis:1 the I1I3ny chal­

lenges that face us as IlWseUili professionals. I feel that $pielb.luer's paper

ought to be re~uil'ed reading for every I!leIrber of the profession and thos<! stu··

dents in Museu;;! Studies Progr311lS who are prep<.oring for CilreEr!l as :'ll.I£t:;ologists.

I would like to~ake this oj);lortunity to than!:; TomlSlil'/ "('Jia for Ms

thought-provo~ing ·pa~er on Icentit1: Reflec;ions en a Crucial P~oblem for

L~·seums. ana Vir.os Sofka for orc!;~;,trating this e~~chi'lngG and ti,e coliective

gatheri og of our thoughts on tile subject of fl!entft~1 ilml Ii;"!~eo 1091 >

1CO