Apropi. frin Ironbridge Gorge och numrets klassiker, Hugues dz Vzines text om mtseets

Transkript

1 NoRDlsK MusrioLo(i um efrer sina minga, fcir svenska museers internationella kontakter si berydelsefulla, tjinsteir. Hon valde att lita det celebrera ekomuseets 25-irs.iubileum och kunde koppla det till Ekomuseum Bergslagens tioirsfirande. Nigra av seminariebidragen har samlats i numrets borjan: Ulla l{eding Olofsons egen iterblick foljs av Kenneth Hudsons personliga reflexion om hur ekomuseitanken hade kunnat 6 faste pi nigon helt annan plats, Hugues de Varines, nyckelpersonen, tankar kring begreppets uweckling, Orjan Hamrins och Eua Bergdahl.s iterblick resp. framitblick pi den skandinaviska ekomuseivarianten i Bergslagen. Ansluter 96r 'dven Dauid dz Haazs nuldgesbeskrivning frin Ironbridge Gorge och numrets klassiker, Hugues dz Vzines text om mtseets sociala dimension. John Aage Gjesm.tm kompletterar med en omfattande bibliografi. Eko-tankarna lyfts diirefter till en hiigre teoretisk nivi av Per Rdberg, som plliderar ftir en mera djuplodande museologi. Om Museumshojskolens museologiska fdrelesningar erinrar Hans Christian Gullaus, Vibeke Petersens och Beate Sydhoffs bidrag. De bida senare brottas med de museala f6ljderna av det samtida konstbegreppet. Ett tema som ocksi Inger Lise Christie ta,ngerar i sin redogdrelse f6r Norsk Folkemuseums mirkliga utstallning'med egin hand', som stiker uttryck fiir en ny syn pi folkkonstens natur. Tie originalbidrag avshstar - Aimo Mikkinens om Leninmuseet i Tampere, Ritua Wares om Finlands Nationalmuseum s, mt Dzuid Hophini museihistoriska studie om en kunglig dansk naturalisesamling. Med numret firar iven Nordish Museologi ett osynligt jubileum. Frin ftirsta numret 1993 har mer in sidor text publicerats! En fiirteckning iiver de frra irgingarnas innehill finns pil s Per-()no Agren Apropi konst(musei)begrcppets problematik svarar Bildmuscets(!) i Umei chefgiiran (larlsson si hdr pi cn enkit om konstbegreppet i tidskriften Konstpetspektiu: Ibland tinkcr jag att det votc bra om begreppct konst f<irsvann fiir en tid; det bctyder nu allt eller intct. Nir ordct iterkommer, cfter en tid i karant:in, ska det fitrbehellas sedana fiirtrtade och hisnande uttryck irv visucll, litterdr, verbal, musikalisk eller annan art som gdr oss andliisa, upplyfta, engageradc... ska "Konst, di enbarr vara en kvalitetsbestdmning och inte sjdlvklarr synonymt med bildkonst. L)i kommcr dct att visa sig att vi naturligtvis kan urskilja verkliga konstverk igallerier och muscer, mcn ibland ocl<si i t.cx. iournalistik och varfiir inre i uuderhillningsbranschcn?

2 N()RDIsK MLrsr,()L()(ir , 5. Trr-rrnAoE, porb]udet Produktionen av vir nordiska tidskrift fdrutsitter numera fungerande moderniteter som och telefax fdr samarbetet inom redakt,iirsgruppen. En ltirdagskvilll i slutfasen av arbetet med ftireliggande nummer, di en svit texter skulle siindas till Norge, skimrar mot uppkopplaren i Umei den al,visande texten AccEsS DENIED pa skdrmen - inte den vanligare venligare LINE BUSY som ber kunden vinta pi en ledig linje. Det st,iidcentrum (sic!) som finns fijr de frin den elektroniska gemenskapen uwisade ir naturligwis stangt under helgen. Finns nigon obetald riikning, nigot fdrandrat password, nigra oupp!,llda krav pi den internet-beroende som forklaring? Annu forefaller dock faxen fungera som livlina mot yttervdrlden - men tidigt pi sdndagsmorgonen ger den ifrin sig en del ovana pip - pip som sinder oroliga ilningar genom apparatens alltmer fumlige betjiinare. En hiistlig resa fiirbi nigra svenska museer avslojar att entriavgifter snarr er mera regel dn undantag - en annan variant av 'access denied'. Den barnsliga drijmmen om den fria tillgingen till kulturarvet, som var ett ledmotiv i diskussionen om museernas roll i 1970-talets kulturpolitik, bleknar alltmer. I Sverige har under iret stiftelsen som form f,iir egande och drift av museer ifrigasatts och aktiebolagsformen aktualiserats. I en allt hirdare samhiillsekonomi vill politiker skiuta det direkta ansvaret ftir kulturverksamheten ifrin sig. Man anar motivet: ett aktiebolag kan pi ett brutalare s6tt dimensionera intrides-, anvindar- och konsultationsavgifter; bestdllar- och uppdragsformer for kulturverksamheten hiigrar. Kulturridet skriver visserligen till kulturdepartementet klokr, men sannolikt maktl,iist, i frigan om lensmuseernas bolagisering: "Aktiebolagslagens regelsystem skymmer verkligheten., Man kunde skriva uavgiftsbeliigger oundvikligen verkligheten,. Biblioteken har hotats med lagstiftning om de inltir lineavgifter. En l,tirdagseftermiddag, i trdngseln bland ett stadsbiblioteks lintagare, ir det fiirstieligt att det kliar i fingrarna pi kommunekonomer. Minniskans egendomliga bendgenhet att fasta avseende vid 10-talsmystiken och obewingliga lust att jubilera kan inbjuda till nyttiga historiska minnesstunder. Si i viras, n1r Riksutstiillningars Ulla Keding Olofsson fick stiilla dll ett dnsk seminari-

3 N()Rl)rsK Mt sl ()r()at l(.)r)6.2, KnrNc RrrcsurstArr-NTNGARS SE,MINARIE,R OCH EKOMUSE,IBEGREPPE,T Ulk Keding Olofson Nt)r jag pensionerades hbsten 1995 efer 28 dr pd Rihsutstiillningar erbji)ds jag ett auslutande "ijnskeseminarium, - kring ualfitt timne. Jag trinkte dd tillbaha pd alla mtinniskor ocb limnen som passerat reoy i de seminarier som arrangerats sedan 1970+alet i samarbete med holleger inom och utom Rihsutstiillningar. Det har uarit iimnen som utstiillningsform, konstniirers och arhitehters meduerhan i uxtiillningsarbete, barnuerhsttider arbetsplatsmuseen forskningsinformation, samarbete med folhbildningsorganisationen Rihsutstlillningars roll i honstliuet och saensk kuhurpolitih och inte minst regelbundet dterkommande rapporter Jidn andra liind.ers utstallningsliu. Meduerhande har uarit bdde medarbetare uid Rihsutstallningar suensha kolleger frdn olika uerhsamhetsomrdden ocb intresanta personligheter frdn andra liinder som Kanada, USA, Franhrike, Storbritannien, Belgien, Tyskland, Danmark, Pahistan. Snart utkristalliserade sig ett drnnc sorrr jag under minga ir hade tillfille an folja pi n:ira hill, ett emne och ett begrepp som fortfarande ir aktuellt och under utveckling, nimligen ekomuseibegreppet. Jag borjade skissa pi uppl?iggning och medverkande, fick klartecken frin Riksutstillningars ledning och kontaktade olika personer. Det visade sig att jag rikat pricka in ett dubbeljubileum - ekomuseibegreppets 25 Lr och Ekomuseum Bergslaeens L0 ir! Ddrmed kunde detta semrnariim i god Riksutstdllningstradition ocksi bli ett samarrangemang - idctta fall med Ekomuseum Bergslagen. Ner jag biirjade pi Riksutstdlln ingar 1967 blev min fijrsta uppgift att undersijka museernas pedagogiska arbete och utveckla fijrsijken med utstillningen som leromedel. I sarnband med ctt arbetssammantrdde i Strasbourg, pi Europaridet, chr en bok orn museipedagogik fi;rbereddes, fick jag hiira att en Unesco-anknuten organisation, ICOM. muscernas inrernationella organisation, fdrberedde en stor konfcrcns om muscrrnas roll iundervisrringen

4 Ut.r '\ Kl l)ln(; OLoFss()N viren 1968 i Sovietunionen. ICOM hade vid denna rid sanska [i medlemmar i Sverige, frdmst niuseichefer. Genom att en av dessa chefer fick forhinder isista stund, lyckades )ag f3 medverka och informerade di om den pigiende svenska museiutredningen (MUS 65) och Riksutstillningars fijrsijksverksamhet, bl.a. pi skolomridet. Denna lcom-konferens med 81 deltagare frin 18 liinder gav en mycket god inblick i hur museernas undervisningsverksamhet sis ut i olika delar av verlden. I min rappori som publicerades av Skol- <iverstyrelsen (PM frin SO 1969:2) beskrev jag bl.a. den uppsiikande verksamhet med museibussar, som bedrevs i Nigeria och Indien. Jag sig en intressant tendens i museernas vixande samarbete med grupper utanfiir museerna - hrare, sociologer, psykologer, massmedia. I konferensen deltog ICOMs tidigare direktiir, Georges Henri Rivitre och och den divarande Hugues de Varine. Den senare betonade sdrskilt att museernas anvindbarhet i undervisningen kunde bli deras riddning i framtiden, sirskilt i minga unga stater. Det gillde att fl myndigheterna att rnse att museer var en samh:illelig niidvdndighet. ICOMs vart tredje ir iterkommande generalkonfe rens hi;lls l97l i Frankrike pi temat umuseet i minniskans tjiinst idag och i moreon. Museets roll fiir undervisning och kultur, (,The museum in the service of man today and tomorrow, ICOM 1972). Jag blev ombedd att fungera som koordinator, dvs. hilla kontakt med alla fiiredrasshillare ftrre och under konferensen sami skriva en sammanfattning. Denna konferens, som hiills i Paris och Grenoble. blev minnesvdrd, med hlftiga diskussioner bide kring ICOMs arbetsformer och brist pi demokrati och kring inledarnas fiiredrag. Bo Lagercrantz refererade idagens Nyheter under rubriken Suarta museer och uita: Filoso6proGssorn Stanislas Adotevi frin Dahomey hatar musccr och vill minst av allr grunda nya sidana. Museerna :ir till f<ir att hilla de gamla myterna vid liv. Man pistirr sig vilja bilda minniskorna men hillcr dern istillct borta frin d.rgens problenr. --- De breda Iagren, som hittills ignorerats av musciminnen. miste ges andra modellcr In den klassiska antikerr och reniissansen. f)essa modeller har Frankrike redan isina kulrrrrhus. Sidana dynamiska centra ftjr fblkbildningen och en akriv kommunikation miinniskorna emellan vill mal ha iiven iafiika. Bo Lagercrantz refererar ocksi en annan av debatttjrerna, afro-amerikanen John Kinard, chef fiir Anacostia Neighbourhood Museum i Y/ashington: Museer kan cndast fungera i dcn min det iignar sig r'rt mlnniskans villkor idag och i rrorgon. Kinard har redan fcirvcrkligar morgondagcns grannskapscenter i Anacosrias fblkrika negerslum is7ashington. Dlr bor nigra hundlr tuscn svarta och tre ginger si mlnga rittor. RA'l S blcv drrmed rmnct for Kinards nrest uppmirksarnmadc utstiillning hittills. Det var under denna konferens, der det traditionella museibegreppet ifrigasattes, som termen e/comuseum h<irdes fiirsta gingen offentligt. Det var ndr den franske miljdministern Poujade hiilsade alla konferensdeltagare vilkomna till Dijon, diir vi stannade ftjr lunch under en tigresa frin Paris till Grenoble. Ordet uekomuseumu hade nigra minader tidigare skapats av Hugues de Varine. Ett fiirsta exempel pi vad ett sidant eko-

5 llk()\ru\l,rbt r\'t l,rspt.(itar A\. RrKslr'r \'t ALL\t\(;A museum skulle kunna innebdra bi;rjade vdxa fram i vistra Frankrike, ndra vindistrikten i Bourgogne, i kommunen Le Creusot-MontceauJes-Mines. Det beskrevs i Unescos tidskrift Museum (1973:4) av Hugues de Varine som A Jragmented' museum - ett fragmentariserat museum, ett experiment, ett helt nytt museibegrepp. Museeet skapades med aktiv hjdlp frin lokalbefolkningen och var avsett fiir dem. Begreppet blev mycket omdiskuterat redan frin bilrjan. Avsikten var att det kontinuerligt skulle utvecklas. Riviire gav der stindigt en provisorisk definition. azr dlfnition y'uolutiue. I samband med arbetet inom ICOM fick jag i mars 1974 miijlighet att besiika Le Creusot. lmin rapport fisrer iag mig sdrskilr vid atr lokala grupper giort egna utstillningar i alla tinkbara lokaler. Jag slogs av likheten med Riksutstdllningars projekt Cirhlar giir egna utsttillningar och regionala verksamhet uppe i Skellefteomridet. Jag itersig ocksi med glidie material frin Riksutstdllningar. En mexikansk praktikant i Lc Creusot, Yolanda Ramos Galicia, hade gjort ett studiebesijk hos oss i Stockholm och Fitt med sig idder och material, bl.a. Iidutstlllningarna Antihens hdh och Vdr bubur, samt nigra satser utstdllningsskirmar. Museets chef Marcel Evrard var intresserad av fortsatt samarbete med Riksutstdllningar. Intresset f<ir ICOM vixte i Sverige under dessa ir, sdrskilt fiir det utvecklingsarbete som bedrevs inom kommittin fiir undervisning och utitriktad verksamhet, Crra. I september 1976 hitlls en stor internationell konf rens i Vdsterbotten pi inbjudan av ldnsmuseet i Umei och lcom- Ceca, vars sekretariat denna period skiittes av Riksutstdllningar. 'lemat var Museets roller i en decentraliserad kuburpolitih. Inledningsanf<iranden h<ills av bl.a. utbildningsminister Bertil Zachrisson, ICOMs generalsekreterare Luis Monreal och divarande landsantikvarien Per-Uno Agren. Syfrer med konferenscn v.rr -dels att genom en rundresa i ldnet ge si konkreta upplevelser som miijligt av det lokala och resionala arbete som bedrevs inom Vdsterbo-tten i samarbcte med skolor, folkbildning, hembygclsrcirelse och andra kulturorganisationer, dels att lita inbjudna ftirelisare ge ytterligare exempel frin olika hill i vdrlden pi furnyelse av regionalt och lokalt museisamarbete. Exempel gavs frin Mexiko, Nige ria, Norge, Iran, Osttyskland och Sverige, med presentation av Riksutstillningars uppsiikandc verksamhet och utstdllninsen ]ndustriarbetarnas historia i Hallttahalmmar. Slutligen presenterades exemplet Le Creusot av Hugues de Varinc, The museum in the Jburth dimension. Erfarenheterna frin denna konferens spreds vidare dels genom en samling miniaffischer, som deltagarna utformat gruppvis, dels genom artiklar i Suenshd Museer (1976:2), Unescos Museum (1976:4) och lcom-cecas ridskrift lcom-education ( ). Fiir att utnvttia nervaron av alla museipersonligheter, som passerade Stockholm pi v:ig till Umei, inb.jod Riksutstdllningar till ett seminarium, om bl.a. ekomuseibegreppev The Non-Exhibition, med Hugues de Varine som inledare. Fdr dem som stannade nigra dagar efter konferensen i Vlsterbotten erbjdd Riksutstiillningar mdjligheren att lyssna pi Kenneth Hudson, som presenterade sin nya, dnnu ej utkomna 6ok, Museums for the 1980 s. A suruey of world trends, med fdrord av Ceorges Henri Rivitre. I denna bok, som skrevs pi uppdrag av Unesco, ger fiirfattaren ett

6 ULLA Kt,l)tNc OI of\s()n afrikanskt cxempel pi begreppet ekomuseum. n.imligen Bagamoyo i Tanzania var ocksi det i.r di Kenneth Hudson med stijd av Europaridet och ICOM startade EMYA - det europeiska muse ipriset. Priser och hedersomndmnanden ges till nya museer, som visar samhillsansvar och pionjiranda, fcir att medverka till stdrre publicitet kring museiaktiviteter. Alla museer som anmiler sig som kandidater till priset presenteras varje ir i en illustrerad broschyr pi engelska och franska. Priset delades ut fairsra gengen 1977 och gick di till Ironbridge Gorge Museum, a remarkable open air museum of industrial archaeology, with many historic rnonuments in its care. Som ledamot av prisjuryn besiike jag museet och skrev en kort rapport senare, fiir information till alla intresserade. Vissa paralleller med Le Creusot kunde dras, men olikheterna var stora, och termen ekomuseum anvindes inte heller ftir lronbridge. De egentliga ekomuseerna kom att uppmirksammas cn hel del i fortsittningen i samband med museipriset. Ar 1978 fick Le Creusot hedersomnimnan de och 1979 gick fdrstapriset rill ekomuseet i Camargue utanfiir Arles i Sydfrankrike. Riksutstlllningar gav di ut en frllig, illustrerad dokumentation fiir att informera svenska kolleger om detta nya ekomuseum. Samtidigt var vi minga som med intresse och ibland viss undran foljde urvecklingen i Le Creusot. Jag fick tillfalle att gtira ett iterbes<ik der i mars 1979 och konstaterar i min rapport att Marcel Evrard fiircf-cill ha kluvn.r krndor infor alla de framgiing.rr han mijrr. Det kan ha sina problern att pliitsligr linna sig arbcta inrcdvind, nlr man vant sig vici nrotsatscn. Jag sig di ocksi en vandringsutstillning som Eva Persson, tj:instledig frin Riksutstillningar, gjort ftir ekomuseet. Hon beskrev sina erfarenheter i artikeln Allas museum (Form 1978:8): nl Le Creusot ftirstir jag att jag tillhtir en fitraldrad museigeneration,. Texten kompletterad med bl.a. kartor sammanstdlldes pi Riksutstiillningar till ett informatronshdfte, som slndes ut till olika intrcsscnrcr. I en efterskrift refererar Eva Persson en diskussion med tiinstemin ile Creusot, som kom henne att undra: nvart ir Ekomuseet pi vigi> Det internationella intresset ltir ekomuseet i Le Creusot var stort och studiebesiiken, inte minst frin Sverige, var tdta. Ner Franska institutet i Stockholm, som under nigra ir hade en mycket aktiv ledning, sijkte samarbete med Riksutstdllningar, foll det sig diirfiir naturligt art arrangera ett seminarium (som alltid iippet fiir alla intresserade) kring Le Creusot. Mathilde Scalbert, bitrldande chef fiir Le Creusot, inbjiids att tala om Museet utan samlingar Ecomusle Le Creusot, i - erfarenheter fin april Viren 1984 publicerades rapport n Ehomuseum Vdsterbergslagen av Dalarnas museum, och dermed dokumenterades att ekomuseitankarna slagir rot isverige som en vidareutvecklins av friluftsmuseibegreppet. Fiirebilderna Ironbridge Gorge och Le Creusot beskrivs i denna rapport som bakgrund till det ftirslag om en utveckling av den regionala verksamheten som rapporten f?ir fram. Dar framgir att Mathilde Scalbert besijkt tdnkta objekr i Vesterbergslagen och rapporten fiiresli.r fortsarta tdta kontakter fiir erfarenhetsutbyte med Le Creusot. Det planerade ekomuseet sig ocksi m<ij-

7 E.K()vusLtBrcRr-tPEl At ursplclal AV RlKSUTS IiI LNINcAR ligheterna till samarbete med Riksutstiillningar. Mars 1983 invigdes en vandringsutx.dllning Johan Ahlbach - arbetex rnilzre, producerad av Dalarnas museum och Riksutstillningar. Utstdllningen, som Ytsades pi 26 platser i Sverige, kom sedan att placeras i Ahlbackssalen pi Smediebackens bibliotek. Ner slutligen Ekomuseum Bergslagen iippnades 1986, var det uwidgat frin wi till sju kommuner i Dalarna och Vastmanland. Som kandidat till det europeiska 1989 presenterades muse ipriset - EMYA - museet pi fitliande siitt av Kenneth Hudson: Thc Bergslagcn Econruseunr, embracing a largc and beauriful area of central Swedcn, takes off roughly where the illfarcd but excremely important expertmcnt at Le Creusot in ljrance ended- Thc idca thar a whole region can be presented as an indrrstrial museum is full of interesriug possibilities and Bergslagen has made full usc of its opporrunrtres. Det var minga starka kandidater detta ir' daribland fem svenska, och fiirsta pris gick till Sundsvalls museum. Ekomuseum Bergslaqen fick ett hedersom ndmnande. O"ch lkomuseibegreppet har fortsatt att utvecklas, inte minst i Bergslagen. Det har hillits en serie seminarier i Bergslagen, med fiirelisare frin olika hill i virlden, ddr ekomuseitankarna analyserats. Den som en ging prdglade ordet, Hugues de Varine, medverkade t.ex. sommaren 1994 och talade om Araet - en halh till en lokah ftranhrad och lokalt firualrad utucchling och han sdger sig numera friredra arr anvdnda te rmen Communiry museum - samhellsmuseum - i stillet fi;r ekomuseum. Avsikten med tvidagarsseminariet -Fraz Burgundy to Bergslagen var att diskutera denna utveckling och allt vad den kan innebdra f<ir framtiden. NOT The paper was writtcn as an introduction to the senina.r f:ron Burgundy to Bergslagcn, the Grcwth and Deuelapment of the Ercmuse*m Contept dtring 25 Yzars, May 3O-3t,1996. 'l'he seminar is tully covcrtd in RiksuxtiillningaL SUMMARY 'l'he international deuelopmext ol tbe zcomusetm concept at rtfectel b1 Rihsuxtnllningat UIla Keding Olofsson who had served Rikutstlllningar for 23 years from the very start of rhe insrirure, was grantcd rhc opporrunity to organlse a serninar according to her own wishes when shc reti_ red in Before then she had been resporrsiblc for the scrics of international seminars which had takcn place at Riksursrlllningar in SlocLholm from 1973 and onwards. A complete list of the seminars and topics is addcd to rhe texr which she hcrself offered as an introductiol ro the seminar in her honour. lt took place on May 30 and 3l 199f). The ecomuseum conccpt was essentially brought to atrention in Sweden chrough thc seminars. Mrs Olofsson had attended rhe 1971 gencral conference of ICOM in Grenotrle, whcre thc word ecomuseum was introduced. She lists the occasions on which the de"elopment of the ecomuseum-movcment' later called the new maeolog, was reflected in seminars and visirs by people cngaged in ecomuseum projects. Of special interest is the fact that Mrs M.rrhildc S".rlbcrr, Vice ljirecro- oflc f Ierr\ot $r' an invited guest to a seminar in 1983, where she spoke rbour The nuteun wihonr,ollcrtion, - expr enrcs of Econusle Le Crezrar, and thar in the following year the idca of a Swedish equivalent,

8 Ul.t A KLI)tNc ()t ()l,sson Ekomaseum Bogslagen, was launched and publishcd in the form of a repott flrom Dalarna's Museum, Falun. 'l'his is one examplc of what Riksutstallningar and its i (ernarional seminars havc meadt for the introduction of indovators irnd new thinking inro lhe muscum field in Swcden and Scanclinavia. Shc also recalls how thc insciture workcd closely with t)alarna's Museum ro support and participate in the renewal of the cultural acrion of rhe muscum, which was lcd by Erik Hofrin and Orjan Hamrin, and to makc the experiencc known in other parts ofsweden. There was however 'r long way to go before Ehomrsexm llcrgslagen was officially inaugurated in 1086 rnirh.cven mrrniiiprlirie' in rwo iounrie'. I)alarna and V:srmanland, as partners. Thus in 1996 the ecomuseum concept celebrared its 25th annivcrsary and Ekomuscum Bcrgslagen irs l0ch. 'Ihe idea o{ the seminar was to discuss reccnr rhinking abotrt ecomuscums and combinc it wich an excur'ion (u Berg\lagerr ro 'rujy ongoing rcrivities ind parricipatc in rhe anniversary celcbracions- Ulla Keding Olofnn joincd Rihnanllningar n 1967 afier ten yars as a tcather. She worhed there in unriout.apa.iti$ until her rctirement in She has sat on the gorcrning boar* of tuo national uu*ums anl warhed intcrn.ition/11/l in ICOM sinrc She has abo seraed as a member ofthejury for the [urcpean Maseum ofthe Year Award, EMYA, Adr: Idangatan 14. S-t13 45 Stockholm F4x +46,8-3440t9 RI KS Ll TSTA L LN I N GA R'S I N TERNATI ONAL SEMINARS 1973, 1993 Riksutstiillningar ('fhe Swedish 1'ravelling Exhibitions) has regularly organized seminars with discussions on different aspects ofexhibirions and new developments in the cultural sector. For about 20 years these seminars h ave been organizrd hy Ulk Keding Olofson in cct-operacion with colleagu s Jean l)aoitre from France presented rhe ICOM- CECA project Kits, small porrable exhibitions Renle Marcousl rcported on projects which she was carrying our with some British muscums, schools and TV: Through pleasure th y create. t97 6 Hagu.s d? Valinc, former director of ICOM: The Non-Exhibition, with examples lrom l,e Creusot. Lxis Monreal, sccrctary general ot' ICOM, introduced a discussion under the heading oficom needs us - do we need ICOM? Kenneth Huzlson, English museum consultanr, introduced his forrhcoming book Museums for the 1980s by speaking on Museums - the Living, the Dying and the Dead. t977 Thlrlse Dexrie-Heymarr from MusCes Royaux d'art ct d'histoire in Brussels spoke about Museum workshops for children Ve discussed The rcles of ICOM's international specialized comrnittees on the international and natiohal levels wirh Paulette Oltina and Anne Rafin, the ICOM l)ocunrenration Centre in Paris. Patrich O'Byrne, member of ICOM's Inr rnaronal Commirtee for Architecaure and Museum Techni, ques, spoke :bouc Museum programmarion The 1978 winner ofrhe European Museum ofthe Year Award, Schloss Rheydt Museum in FRC, presented by the Dircctor Mfi Eu.i Briiet. Reseatch, Exhibition and Action - Three Pillars of

9 lkom Ust,t lr ti(irtttf.t A f lirsrlrcr A l AV RlKSur5t Al.l.\ NcAk Museum Educarion, thesis prcscntecl by,42lrras Kntz, Diplom l'adagog, Marburg, in co-operation with rhe Coerhe lnstirlrr. Museums aod local population - participation and integration A Portuguese-Swedish cr-rltural exchadge projeci prcscnted by the mcmbers of rhe Ponuguese working group Museus-UNIISCO, Prr Uno Agren an l, Cijran Carbson. l9lt0 RandeLs Museum ofoultural History - a Danish provincial muscum:rncl irs exhibition policy, presetletl bv Bjon Stiitul nd Guri Dyb*nd. l9{t I How can old buildings be adapted for museum usage? Discussion irtroduced by the llnglish nruscunr consrrltant Kenn eth H ud:on New trends in museum cxhibition design. Presen tltion ofthe candiclatcs fbr rhe 1981 European Museum ofthe Ye.rr Aw:rrd and discussion ofthe r,rlc. pl.rycj by rn'r.rurrr sr.rtf. de'ignen, rni'r'. educ:rtors and the pr.rl>lic. Designing large travclling exhibitions. /raz l)dl'icr. tltitcit.rnd Jc'ignrr rt C(-1, (incc Ponrpidou, prcscntcd thc production ol the exhibirion.l)own to F,arth - Dcs Architccturcs de terre' The Museum without collettionr cxpcricn.c'.rt I'l-comusie Creusor-Mon!c au-les Mincs, France, prcsented hy Mathilde Scnlbert, Depty llirecror. Oo'operarion with lnstitut Frangais. Atelier des Enfants. l.)ani?le Giraudy, f-ornrer head ol rhc Children's Vorkshop ac Centrc l)ompidou prcserrred rhe Vorkshop and its progr:rorme. (loopcration with Instirur I:ranqais. Thc F-ducarional Service Skoletjenesten, a regional rnuseum sen,ice for [)anish schools presentetl by thc heatl of rhe service 'l-age Hoyer Htwt r 9ll4 Oral tradition and culture in Mali, prcscnrcd by Alphn Oanar Konare, Vice l'resident of ICOM, former Minisrer ofculture. and Birgit Ahesson, Swcdish choreographer and author. Activities at the Karachi Grammar School plesen- Led, try Stclla Jafi, hcadmasrer, Kindergartcn dcpt. Karachi Grammar School, Pakistan. r 985 Art Education in Canada - the Saskatchcwen Experience presentecl by Brenda Baku Visual Arts Coordinaror, Sask.rtchcwan Arts Counciis. r 986 Cultural Development in Africa. Alec Canpbel/, f)ireccor, I'he National Muscum and Art Gallery of Borsrvana, Gaboronc, on the extension of rhe nruscunr. uhich is rhc largc.r derclupnrenr proje. r within rhe culrurrl field supporterl by SIDA, rhe Swcdish lntern.rrion.rl Dcvelopmcnt auth.rriry. Museum Exbibition Desigt - Three British Voices: K, nq l lful"oq: Honesry and dishonesty in new European museum design. In co-opcration with thc British Council. Roger S. Miles, Prblic Scrvices, Natural History Museum, London: Desigoing for the generar public. Margaret Hall, Head of l)esign, British Museum, introduced her new book On Display - A Design Grammar for Museum Exhibitions. tt)1t7 Kenneth Hudson introduced his new book Museums of Influence. Itnlian architect Gae Aulentl interviewed Lry art criric Ingeln Lind on her exhibition design ar Musde d'orsay in Paris and Palazzo Grassi in Venice. In <.'.oper:rr iorr wirlr ric It.rli.rn Cultur.rl ln'rirurc. Totniku Sola, Dircctor of rhc Muscunr l)ocunrcnrariorr t i nrre ZagrcL. YugoJ.rvir, on National museum documentation centres - corn r stones of an internation:rl network? Pourquoi un Salon de la Mus6ologiei Frencn- Swcdish seminar at the Centre Culturcl Suidois in Paris, in connection wirh the first nsalon de Ia Musiologie" (MNES), in co'operation with the Swcdish Nacir-'nal Cr-rmrninee of ICOM Sus,tnne Pertrt, l(--()m Dorumenrari')n ( enrre: Modern Information Technology - exemples of possibilities for development and co-operatron.

10 ULLA KIDrNG OLOFSSoN Words in Exhibitions, introducedlly DoxaU Hornc, Chairman of Australia Council, and lfujzrr de Varine, head of rhe French Institute, Lisbon Le Kaldidoscope s'ouvre, an exhibirion on mathematics and art, French-Swedish seminar at che (-enrre Cuhurel Suidoi' in Paris. wirh /ar4rr, Perar, Head ofthe French ICOM commirre, thc secretary of ICEE Johanne Landry,la Villerte, and the hesd ofcss, Carl Henrih Svenstedt. I'h. D. Rosemary Sassoaz; Handwriting in Sweden ar the Llrerhiigskolan in Linkitping. in.onnecrion with rhe exhibicion "Scrawls and Frills, Seminar The Art Machine with Ken Baynet Professor in Design at Loughborough tiniu.'.;ty. t993 Beware ofthe anthropologies! They are making museum specimens ofyou (afrer Derek Valcoa). Discussion about che ways in which we exhibit rhe culture ofother peopl es. lnttoduction by Jacques Hainard, l)irector of Musde d'ethnographie, NeuchXtel, Swizerland, and Tsitsi Dangatembga, author from Zimbabwe. In coopcration with SIDA. Fighting harred of foreigners and racism in Sweden. Can exhibitions be an eflicient tool? Inrroduction by FrazCoie lyattctman, Direcror of the Ecomuseum in Fresnes, outside Paris, as well as Swedish organizcrs of cxhibitions and immigranrs. Co-operarion with Nordiska museet and The Swedish lmmigrarion Insritucc. Excellence and Equity: Education end the Public Dimension of Museums. Bonnie Pitman, Director ofthe University Art Museum, Berkeley, USA, inrroduced a discussion about rhe future role of mus ums in educarion. Co-operacion with the Dcparcmcnt for museology at rhe Umei university. Museums and the Electronic Highway. George F MacDonald, Direcror ofthe Canadian Museum of Civilization in Quibec, Canada, spoke abour rhe difficulties to presenr the growing number ofmuseum objccts in traditional exhibirions. Co-operation with Statens Historiska Museum in Stockholm. Stochholm, May 1996, Eaa Agneskog

11 N()Rr)rsK Muslr()r()(ir , s. I l-19 Ecotr,tus E,UMS B E,coME MORE REALISTIC Kennetb Hudson You are all familiar with the philosophical notion that nothing exists until and unless there is a word to describe and define it. Let us suppose, for language and yours had no uord for 'tueather'. Ve would all haue zxperienced instance, that my sunshine, rain, frost, snow and uind, and ue would hnow that these conditions came and uent, but we should only be able to thinh of tbem as separate phenomena' aithout an! general concept, expressed by the term'rueatlter', to bind them togethel 4s natural happenings beyond human control. The presence of the uord'weather'in tbe language changes our attitude to its indiuidual components. They are all 'weather', so that we are able to haae u.,eatlter forecasts and weather re?orts, instead of merely rain forecasts and snou retorts. 'fhe same consideration applies to so many fcatures of our lives. Our thinking is sharpened and focused by the arrival of a new word. Until the 1960s, there were only derelict factories, old railway stations and disused canals and few people took the slightest interest in thern. And then the term 'industrial archaeology' was invented. Almost overnight this mass of crumbling buildings and rusting machines became important historical material, deserving preservation and careful study. A new academic discipline came into being. A label had made people notice and value what had previously been regarded as eyesores and junk. The coining of the word 'eco-museum' in the 1960s had a very similar effect, and since it was first used in France, in the form of icomusie', it is generally assumed that the ecomuseum was a French invention. ln a sense this is true - the word compelled and encouraged people to look at a certain kind of historical evidence in a different way. But the achievement of Hugues de Varine and Georges Henri Riviire was not to create what existed in and around Le Creusor, but to act as irs impresarios. Once they had, so to speak, rhrown their warm and loving arms around this scatter of old industrial buildings and brought it to life by baptising ir as 'an eco-museum', it became permanently upgraded and worthy of scholarly and oflicial attention. It acquired a personaliry and an allure.

12 KINNli rh [{LJl)s()N 12 BAGAtr4OYO At this point I think I could helpfully indulge in a little autobiography. ln 1975, through the generosity of UNESCO, which had quite a lor of money to spare in those golden days, I found myself in Thnzania, where I was taken to a small town called Bagamoyo, on the coast, by a very friendly and helpful member of the British Council's staff in Dar-es-Salaam. The journey took two hours and the road at that time was exceedingly bad, although it has since been improved in rhe interesrs of tourism, that great destroyer of developing countries, Bagamoyo has a remarkable history. A century ago it was both commercially and politically far more important than the present capital of Tanzania, Dar-es-Salaam, which at thar rime was no more than a fishing village. Its development began in 1832, when Sultan Said, the Imam of Oman, transferred his caoital there from Muscar, in Zanzi6ar. Beciuse of its oroximiry ro Zanzibar and rhe facr rhat dhows could cross the channel at all times of the year, it became a great commercial centre, A trade route was created from Bagamoyo to lake Thnganyika. The starting poinr of the track, which linked the coast road with the heart of Africa, is still clearly indicated by a blockhouse, with loopholes and fire-steps, which was built in 1889 by the Germans. This is where many journeys of exploration started. A plaque ser up near the beach and not far from the blockhouse, commemorates the first of these expeditions, underraken by the British explorers, Burton and Speke, who set off from here on z/ lune 16)/. Bagamoyo was not only a starting point. For many thousands of slaves it was the end of a terrible march in chains rieht across East Africa. This *as o.oba-blv responsible for the change in rhe ro*n s name from Bwagemoyo, which means 'Throw off your melancholy', to Bagamoyo, 'Crush your heart'. There never a slave market in Bagamoyo, was but there was a gathering point, a caravanserai, where a great many slaves must indeed have laid down their hearts before beine shipped away by dhow rc Zanzibal. Others were fortunate enoush to be set free on payment of a ransomlpaid for the most part by the Roman Catholic Mission Founded here in 1868 by the Holy Ghost Fathers. I visited the Mission, which came into existence to liberate slaves and to educate them once they were free. It looked much as it must have done in its early days. One of the buildings contained a little museum, setting our the history of Bagamoyo. Its collection, which made a deep impression on me, included a beaurifully written register of slaves freed by the Mission, with the name of each slave, where he came from, and the date of his baotism. Ii was the same Mission that took care of Dr Livingsrone's body when ir was brought back here in February 1874,l:y a party of exhausted men who had carried it for hundreds of miles. The church in which it had rested overnight had gone, but its tower remained, as did the Grotto of the Blessed Virgin, built by former slaves as an expression of gratitude to the missionaries who had saved rhem. Another witness to the Mission's care for the sick and the poor was an old hospital, built in 1897 wirh funds provided by a

13 Eo()Mlrtr,uMs ItucoMIt \1oRrr RrrAl ls llc rich indian and run by nuns until 1912, when it was taken over by the Government. During the Arab revolt against Gernan rule in East Africa, the German military commander made Bagamoyo his headquarters. The German cemetery and four large bronze plaques commemorate the German officers and soldiers who were killed during the fighting. The large fortlike building, now used for the civil administration of the area, was constructed by the Germans to act as their base. The old German Customs House was still standing and opposite it I saw rhe stone and iron foundations of its warehouse. It was raised above ground and had a moat around it which could be filled with water in an eurergency, in order to prevent the local population from entering it and looting the store. In the town square there was a double-faced German-made clock, bearing the date, 1900, and the maker's name and address. This ancient town, ruled and developed successively by Arabs, Gertlans and English, before it became part of an independenr Tanzania in remains a centre of traditional Swahili culture. I saw evidence of this in the beautifully carved srreet doors. The carvings contain a great deal ofsymbolism the lotus, as a symbol of generation; the date-tray, denoting pl.nry; rhc fish. ferrilityr rhe chain, security; and frankircense, wealth. At the time when I visited it 20 years ago, Bagamoyo was uncorrupted by tourism. It was neither particularly respected, nor particularly cherished, but it clearly had the potential to become one of Africa's most interesting and significant ecomuseums. Nowhere shows better the different layers of foreign power and cul- ture which have been laid down in Africa and the extent to which they have been absorbed or ignored. The whole town was a wonderful muse um-in-the-making, requiring no heavy expenditure to interpret it as a major historical resource. It was Bagamoyo, which I visited in 1975, which really converted me into an enthusiast for the area-as-museum concept, ot ecomuseum as this came to be known when a professionally sanctified label was thought to be required. rvhat Bagamoyo needed was an impresario and it was its misfortune and an historical accident that the impresarios at that time happened to be devoring their atrention and their prestige to sites in France, not in Tanzania. So the birth of the ecomuseum was registered in France, which was perfectly logical, but unjust. Life, of course, is not just and in the museum race, as in all others, there have to be borh winners and losers. But suppose someone in Tanzania had said, 'Looked at as a museum, Bagamoyo is as worth supporting as the National Museum in Dar-es-Salaam'. For whom would this new museum, or rather, this new concept of a museum have been created? There are two possibilities. The first is that it would have bee n aimed mainly at the people who lived in the town and the surrounding area. In this case the older buildings in Bagamoyo, including those mentioned above, could have formed part of a history-walk, with signposts and interpretative panels to draw artention ro them and to illustrate what had happened locally during roughly the past 150 years. A regular programme of talks and activities could have been arranged and the archaeology closely linked to history teaching in schools- Such a policy could have t)

14 KENNIifti HrJllsoN 14 made clear that the ecomuseum concedr had been brought inro being mainly in order to help to bring the past alive to the people whose homes were in Bagamoyo rooay. The second oossibilitv was that the transformation of B"g"-oyo rnro an ecomuseum would have been planned for the benefit of rourisrs, ", prrt of " wider scheme to attracr foreisn visitors to Tanzania. This would have r-equired a considerably bigger investment, the preparation of the kind of publicity and information that international tourists dernand and the installation of facilities that eo hand in hand wirh rhe develoomenr -of rourism. All this would have changed rhe atmosphere and appearance of Bagamoyo, a process which always and inevitably takes place when an historic site is made ready to receive and please thousands of visitors a year instead of a small party from time to time. Those who encourage tourists for rhe sake of rhe money rhey-injecr inro rhe local economy have to accept the nonfinancial consequences, which, as we now know, can be very disagreeable. Bur I have no doubt that people skilled in the arr of tourism could h"u" -"da a grear success of Bagamoyo. The two basic ingredienrs, slavery and exploration, presented a heaven-sent opportunit)r to make a lot of money. This dilemma, whether to think of local people first and stay small, or to go unhesitatingly for numbers and to work out the techniques necessary to obtain them, has been at the heart of ecomuseum oolitics for more than a quarter of ".'.nt,rry, There is, of course, a third possibility, which consists of having no policy at all and doing nothing. This, broadly speaking, is what has happened to Bagamoyo. The archaeology is still there, but it does not add up to anything. It continues to be an assembly of bits and pieces, without cohesion, interpretation or promorion. One could say the same about most of the world's potential ecomuseums. They remain embryonic. In an ideal world - and there is no need to remind you rhar rhe world in which we Iive is far from ideal - the history of every area and every streer in every country would be continuously explained to the people who lived there. At the very least, everyone should be familiar with the story of the house and street in which they live and the building and enterprise where they work. Not to know these basic details is to pass one's days on the surface, with no historical depth to one's existence. I have often thought, too, that it should be compulsory for every shop, cafi and restaurant to put up a short wall-history of the present business and of its predecessors on the same premises. People should be persuaded and helped to get into rhe habit of thinking historically. A PROJECT CALLED NOWOLKHERITAGE One of the most interesting atremprs ro achieve this was made during the late 1970s in the English county of Norfolk, which has Norwich as its capital city. The project, called Norfolk Heritage, eventually formed part of the Norfolk Museums Service, after a pioneering period financed by the Carnegie Trust. The aim was nothing less than to interpret the total heritage of the counry of Norfolk to the public, to encourage the understanding of

15 E (l o NI ti s I L.r M s B ti (:() M E M o R ti RLA I I S'r' r (i the county as a whole and, I quote the organisers, 'to treat the total heritage of the region as a collection, the region itself being a kind of museum to be drawn upon to illustrate the region's story and the story of the life and work of the people'. Explanatory texts, plans and diagrams wer provided on hundreds of informarion boards set up ar strategic sites throughout the county and the local material was correlated with more ambitious displays in museums. The range of information covered geology, natural history, building materials, social and economic history and farming methods and the interrelationship between all these branches of knowledge were emphasised, in order to provide a toral picture of the Norfolk landscape and environment. The Norfolk Museums Service announced that it was 'trying to bring the landscape alive' for the benefit of those who Iived and worked in it all the time. The heritage of any region, it believed, was of greatest importance to the people who were always surrounded by it. Visitors we re a bonus. MARQUEZE AND CAMARGUE 'Visitcrs are a bonus'could be taken as the motto, the credo, of what one might call the ecomuseums in their golden age, when economic pressures were not as sevete as they were to become during the 1980s and 1990s. The first French experiments with ecomuseums were carried out during the 1960s, in very rural areas. The aim was to present the traditional local culture within the natural environment where it had flourished and developed. The pattern of organisation varied according to the district. The ecomuseum of Marqutze was set up within the Regional Natural Park of the Landes de Gascosne. It was actually a hybrid development of a much older type o[ instirution, rhe open-air museum. Characteristic timber-framed farmsteads from the central part of the Landes were brought to the site, together with the domestic, handicraft and agricultural equipment used by the peasants. The appropriate livestock was added to the mixture. This, visitors were told, was how people lived and worked in this area until very recently. They were the ancestors of the families now living there. The exhibits at Marqueze were spread over a large site, so as to create the rmpression of having always been there. There was therefore an element of fraud in the scheme. Added to these imported items was an 'environmental museum', the purpose of which was 'to bring out the changes in the environment wrought by man and the inter-action between animal, vesetable and mineral elements within the ecilogical contexr'. Here the main intention was to create an interpreted collection which would be interesting to local people. Visitors were regarded as an accrdenr, possibly God-given, possibly nor. A slighdy different emphasis was to be found at the Camargue Museum in the Camargue Regional Wildlife Park, near Arles. The Camargue is thinly populated, with only about 8,500 people living there all the year round. The purpose of the Museum, run by a Foundation, was to bridge the cultural gap between the residents and the tourists. The necessary information was to be provided, so far as possible, by the inhabitints of the Camargue themselves, resulting in an exchange t5

16 K[NNri rh Hrir)soN t6 of ideas berween them 'and their guests'. The use of the phrase 'and their guests' was sienificant. The tourists were to be."g"rdjd as having been invited by the residents to com to the Camarsue to meet rhem. For rhis reason, the -people whose home was in the resion were felt to have tne duty ot tal(rng an Jctrve part In providing material and ideas for the Museum. By making a direct contribution in this way and by being involved in the planning from rhe beginning, they were being given rhe opporruniry ro gain a much deeper understanding of their own traditions and environment. They would be participants in the enterprise, not odservers, This, at least, was the theory. To give someone the opporrunity of participaring does not necessarily mean that he will participate and in the Camargue, as at Marquize, there were inevitably some people who did a great deal and others who did little or nothing. Vhat one can fairly say, however, is that the atmosphere was on ot co-oderauon. The Camargul Museum relied on what its orsanisers referred to as 'the doubleinputiystem', that is, a fruitful collaboration berween orofessionals and amarcurs. The professionals provided the guidelines as to what had to be done, the amareurs collected the material and the information and the professionals shaped it up, disciplined it and presenred ir in an attracrive and meaningful way. The French eventually established more than 30 ecomuseums. All of them in their different ways, have broken new ground and taken tog ther r present one of the most important museological developments of the years since the Second World 'War, Their common features have been a determination to involve local volunteers in the planning and operation and to consider the resources of an area as a whole, making no clear distinction between manmade features and the natural environment, or between past, present and future. They have been based on the convicrion rhar by understanding rhe past, one is likely to make a better job of handling the present and preparing for the future. LE CREUSOT The French ecomuseum which has had the most influence abroad and which, at least in its vintage years, has exploited the 'double-input system' in the most thoroughgoing manner is almost certainly the Museum of Man and Industry at Le Creusot, lt was a classic site. From the late 18th century until the mid-2oth Le Creusot had been one of the mosr imoorranr industrial regions in France. Its prosperity had been built around the production of armaments and railway locomotives, with the Schneider family, which came originally from easrern France, as the major entrepreneurs. After the Second lworld Var, the Schneiders fell into disgrace, as a result of collaboration wirh the Ce rmans. Their manufacruring empire collapsed. leaving Le Creusot destiture. The establishment of new forms of employment was, of course, the first prioriry, both for the municipality and for the central government, but raising the morale of the district was also imoortant and a group of influential people, among them the then Secretary-General of ICOM, Hugues de Varine, and his predecessor, Ceorges Henri Rivilre, had rhe imagina-

17 F- (: () t\t tj s Ltriv s tj t,(:o \,1Ij M()t{E Rl;Al tst l(l tive idea that a special kind of ecomuseum, a Museum of Man and Industry, could make a strong contribution to this. '$7hat they had in mind was a kind of museum thetapy, in which local people would not only help to create the museum, but would themselves be living exhibits in it. This Mark Two ecomuseum was to be concerned with an area of about 500 km', half industrial and half rural, divided into 25 communes, with a total of 150,000 inhabitants. It contained two urban communities, Le Creusot, whose income had been based on manufacturing, and Montceau-les-Mines, a coalmining town. The Schneiders had lived close to the Works at Le Creusot, in a splendid l8th-century chiteau with a park and, in its forecourt, the impressive glass-cones of the Manufacture Royale de Cristaux, which had been established in 1783, not long before the Revolution. Vork on the development of the Museum of Man and Industry began in I97l and, in so far as one can open such a museum, it was opened in 1974, afte r its philosophy had been set out by Hugues de Varine in these words. 'Any movable or immovable objecr within the communiry's perimeter,' he wrote in an article for the UNESCO journal, Museutn, 'is psychologically part of the muse um'. This introduces the idea of a kind of ocultural property righo,, which has nothing to do with legal ownership. Accordingly, it is not the function of the museum as such to make acquisitions, since everything existing within its geographical area is aheady at its disposal. 'But the 'fragmented museum'had to be given a core, an interpretation point, and at Le Creusot this was to be in the chiteau, which had been the centre of the industrial spider's w b woven by the Schneiders. The old web had been brushed away and the people were making a new one. The displays in the chiteau were to illustrate the general history and character of the ar a, the daily life of its people over the centuries and its artistic and industrial products. The chiteau was also to serve as a base for tesearch into industrial civilization, so that the Mus um of Man and Industry could be set wirhin a wider context. Permanent, professional staff were essential, but their number should be kept to a minimum. 'They have to infuse life into the institution and act as a catalyst. Professional museum staff are also needed for the technical side, in order to carry out research, keep catalogues up-to-date, organise events and complex projects, ensure continuity, co-ordinate the otherwise haphazard activities of the various sections of the community, and represent the interests of the museum in dealing with the aurhoriries. The members of rhis permanent team, who must live in symbiosis with the population, must naturally be as discreet, modest and approachable as possible.' There are strong echoes of Rousseau and Voltaire in all this, of the theoreticians of the French Revolution, which is another way of saying that both Hugues de Varine and the Museum of Man and Industry are very French. The French demand a philosophy as a basis for action. They like to see the ends neatly tied in. I have no doubt at all that the ecomuseunr idea, with the prestige of Georges Henri Rivitre and Hugues de Varine behind it, have had t7

18 KLNNI rh IIIr)soN t8 a profound influence on museum thinking throughout the world. But I have been struck by the fairly obvious fact that exrremely few 'fragme nted museums' outside France have shown any great desire to call themselves ecomus ums, although there are open-air museums in plenty and their number is growing all the time. Museum people from all over the world have beaten a path to Le Creusot, which has become a Lourdes or Compostella of the museum world, but they have felt inclined to imirate it only up ro a certain point. This may be because other countries have not had museum gospel preachers of the calibre of Riviire and de Varine, because French insriturions and ideas do nor, in general, export satisfactorilp or simply because the name 'icomusde', or its literal translations, failed to strike a sympathetic chord elsewhere. The raw material of ecomuseums is, of course, to be found ever)'where. As I have often said and written, Europe is nothing more or less than a giant nerwork of potential eco[ruseums. It has a cellular srructure and every district is an historical cell, waiting to be identified, interpreted and publicised. One very real problem, especially in Britain and the English-speaking world, is that 'eco' suggests 'echo', reflected or reverberated sound, not an abbreviation of 'ecological', so that an ' becomes 'an echo of a museum, an unreal museum, a shadow of a museum'r a conc pt which is not likely to attract supportefs. IRONBNDGE GORGE It is interesting to compare the Mus um of Man and industry at Le Creusot with the museum complex at Ironbridge Gorge in central England. Both were places of pilgrimage during the 1970s and 1980s bur not. alas, today and there are certain similarities between them - the scattered sites, the central interpretative museum, the cluster of'antennae' or small subsidiary museums, the integrated management, the well-organised research base - but the differences are and always have been equally significant. Ironbridge, belonging to a Tiust, has always needed to raise the greater part of its funds by its own efforts and consequenrly, in irs development, ir was designed mainly to attract and please visitors from outside the area. Le Creusot was brought into being to enrich the lives of the local inhabitants, although this philosoohv has worn a little thin over rne y.".i. iksto."tiotr and conversion work at Ironbridge has cost a great deal of money, but at Le Creusot comparatively little. Income derived directly from visitors has been exceedingly important at lronbridge, but at Le Creusot it has not had a high orioritv, ' It is self-evident that a museum's financial base has a great deal to do with the wav in which it oresents its cultural assets to'the public. If admission charges, shop sale. and restaurant profirs form a major part of the museum's income, greater attention will inevitably have to be paid to showmanship and publicity. During the past five years, conditions have become steadily more difficult for nearly all museums in all countries. Municioal and srate budgets have been.ut, unimployment has increased and people have less to spend on going to museums. The Le Creusot philosophy, so confidently expressed by Hugues de Varine 20 years ago,

19 l E(:()ivusEUvs I t (:() l\t E M1)R!i trrar-rst lc feels like an unattainable luxury today. The Le Creusot revolution, like the French Revolution and every other revolution eventually has to come to terms wirh harsh reality and to compromise to a greater or lesser extent if it wants to survive. The French ecomuseums have survived by abandoning rheir revolutionary principles and becoming respectable, which means, in essence, accepting the authoriry and canons of behaviour of the central authority, Les Musies de France. Ecomuseums and near-eco-muse ums elsewhere are surviving, often with great dimculry by frankly admitting that they are in the market-place and by learning the art of getting their money from whatever sources they can, forgetting some of their 'principles' in the process. l9 NOTE This paper was presented May at Riksurstallningar, Stockholm, in honour of Ulla Keding OIofsson. Kcnneth Hudnn nr direktirfir det eurupeiska muvipitets rehftt.tri/tt i Briltol, Han prtsentcrades utfirligt i Nordkk Museologi 1996/1 i anslutning till sia attihcl'the tarongand the ight road for mxse*ms'. Adr: EMYA, PO Box 913, Bristol BS99 5ST, England Fax

20 NoRDlsK MusEor.o(,-l Les antenres de l'ecomus6e dars la Communaut6 I!"ll i l -: Ecdnra. (b L C..tnrr!l$ b q. lor - ra.,!lc..ll.b.. MrB. o{rc d. ta!tr t.t. BP 93, n 200 l... cdlor,tal!5/ t. Kart ouer Le Creusot/Moxtceau-Les-Mina Jin I983 mcd museets nantenner, inntegnet, absi museets alike atdelingcr.