that the one government was interpellated for closing the museum , whose premises were still being built and collections had yet to be put together , with no networks and professional standards to follow .
Why , thirty years after the birth of the country , did right-wing political parties feel the urge to build a new museum and what had been missing from those that already existed ? Did the longing for a new museum spring from the need to transform and interpret collections and memories in light of the events of the thirty years following independence or were the thirty-year-old memories no longer suitable to meet current political needs ?
The answer is of course subjective , as was the whole article about the establishment of the new museum and the dispute on how many museums a country needs . Moreover , I was not an outside observer in this story , but an active participant in media conversations . As the former director of the Museum of Contemporary History , I was also the person accused of insufficient patriotism and neglect of the theme of independence . I left the museum in January 2021 and over the next two years I was the frequent target of lies and criticism about the work that the museum did not fulfil .
I know it sounds radical , but when it comes to museums , I believe the community knows more than a select few . I also believe that a curator ’ s work is subject to professionalism and ethics , which imposes on each of us the responsibility to respect legislative regulations and to take care of our heritage . Museums can potentially serve as agents of change rather than of political reckoning . I imagine the museum of the future as a place of shared memories and stories told about our ( shared ) past , which do not divide future generations , but connect them .
The mission of museums is to work for the benefit of society , to be accessible , to be inclusive and to think outside established social frameworks . This is also reflected in the new definition of the museum , which emphasises diversity , democracy and sustainable development . In the first point , the task of museums is to communicate ethically , professionally and cooperatively with all communities , from political elites to marginalised groups that have not yet found their place in permanent museum settings .
Outside the established frameworks of knowledge and curricular learning , there is a world of life experiences , untold stories , repressed memories , family tragedies and diverse emotions that reveal the extraordinary narrative potential of our social environment . Our job is to empower these stories and give them a voice . overview
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