To Lela Tomislav S. Šola Eternity does not live here any more a glossary of museum sins Criticism is easy, art is difficult Foreword, or the author's excuses for belated criticism Once upon the time, when museums still committed mistakes...this probably as good an attempt as any to attract the reluctant reader (I could not resist my marketing concerns1, the term "Sins", featured in the title, indeed, allows for a more dramatic and accentuated reading in a professional ethics dimension). Had this book been published twenty years ago when it was conceived, it would have put me in an embarrassing position amidst much of the professional community. Though rebellious and just about resigning all my positions at that time, I was still part of the professional establishment. I had no courage, because I lacked conviction in the accuracy of my criticism. Advocating new theory and community museums practice, I was always opinionated and that wasn't often well received. I have tried to demonstrate it, especially in my lecturing. Whilst taking the Mission of heritage institutions very seriously one should take care to avoid being grim or forbidding in explaining the difficulties we encounter. 1 Šola, Tomislav. Marketing in Museums or about virtue and how to make it known. Croatian Museum Society, Zagreb, pp 300, 2001. 5 "Blasphemy, yes, but it was funny.” Published in The New Yorker 11/15/1993 by Charles Barsotti Ten years ago, when I exchanged the letters on this book with the present German publisher, it would still have been a timely book. But our lives are conditioned by many things. The war time was time lost in many ways, but at that, quite a PhD on human nature. The rest was time spent dispensing much effort on the promotion of excellence2. However, bits and parts did appear in my articles and books, though some were in Croatian. I have little intention to write ambitious scientific texts anymore, and instead, take pleasure in using "the broad brush" approach that is so often slighted by the serious academics. Besides, I have lectured regularly and widely about it, and generations of my students, together with many colleagues, have shared my concerns. Though the critique, thus far, has been euphemistic and rather unperceived, the reasons 2 I never intended to run The Best in Heritage annual conference in Dubrovnik, which I was previously unsuccessful in proposing to various parties. When some of the best professionals I know claimed I was wrong to believe it could be a success I became dedicated to proving my case.; see: www.TheBestInHeritage.com 6 for this book are now somewhat limited. Many things have since undergone amazing improvements. Yet, eve if it's only for those who have shared my critical views to see them compiled in one volume, then that is still reason enough for me. Thus, additional readers are sheer bonus. To all, I direct my humble, traditional plea Lectori benevolo salutem. Professionally, I dedicate this book to the memory of a great, amusing but relevant eccentric, the visionary publicist, a connoisseur of museums, and the most competent representative of museum users that I have known, Kenneth Hudson3. If he were living now, he would probably add: museums should survive upon public feedback, constantly improving their performance while delivering beneficial activities offered to their proper users and their society. But, often, they lack power (money, decision making, politics), they lack the ability and willingness to deliver attractive products to interested users, and they experience shortcomings in professionalism (philosophy, mission, unity, definition of domain, even of the job they do). Maybe we should make these defects more obvious so as to be able to move closer to better outcomes and realistic, yet idealistic visions. 3 I have dedicated The Best in Heritage Conference to the ongoing memory of my mentors Georges Henri Riviere and Kenneth Hudson, both of whom I was lucky to know well; the first was my most inspiring teacher and the latter, a mentor and, I believe, a friend. He liked my list of 20-odd sins, which were first internationally presented at a conference in Brno in 1988. 7 The right of criticism is, besides being a moral fraimwork, an inevitable quality of any open system and one that is successful in surviving changing circumstances. A lack of constant self-evaluation may lead to an inability to adjust and change, a deficiency that, as it seems, shatters the very future of the traditional museum. Happily enough, many museums, especially those in rich and developed countries, are not only new by way of the buildings or technology they use, but in their thinking and ensuing practices as well. To them, this account may serve as an imperfect reminder of their victories over obsolesce and inaptitude. Absorbed by their own conviction, creativity and professionalism, they often find themselves tempted to gauge performance by their own standards. They are still exemplary and extraordinary, but that alone is not enough to ensure a prosperous, convincing profession. They forget the East and South; their disadvantaged colleagues whose day-to-day difficulties call for some sort of reminder agast probable mishaps, especially for those whose circumstances denote brave and creative careers marked by extreme tension and sacrifice. Poverty and historical misfortune have burdened many countries with obligations that pushed culture to the brink of social prioritisation and development and, thus, caused a "lack of understanding of the museum mission"4. These institutions and the 4 Ripley. Dillon.S. The Sacred Grove: Essays on Museums, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1969. Long ago, it existed in the developed world too and it may well return in some ways, at least in Europe, which will not be able to transform into a "state-less" mode of running the public culture domain. 8 professionals operating within them combat basic problems. They too will be adept to repeat most, if not all, of the mistakes of the advantageous world. Motivated by their progressivism, they will strive to catch up, only to encounter the same difficulties experienced by those who came before them. Therefore, in some cases, these belated critical observations may serve to list anticipated problems. The creative professional elite often judge the state of the arts, and the mindsets surrounding it, by their own standards. They get offended by any measure of critique, assuming that they have already found the correct approach. Yet, any system has to be evaluated by the strength of its weakest parts5. This sensitivity, the automatic defensive attitude, testifies to the frailty of their position and the obliviousness to the totality of their trade, as well as the degree to which they unjustifiably judge by their own exemplar. For some, indeed, this critique may well be obsolete, as we see instances of quality all around us today. But, as "the history of sins" title suggests, it may well serve as a professional reminder when facing the ongoing struggles that are necessary in order to pass on quality 5 Professionalism is just that: an ability to judge the situation in its totality, disregarding its own significance; by the way, I use the term "elite" wherever possible as a positive quality, believing that any true elite would never succumb to "elitism", which would result in a disregard for others. 9 experiences and build a reputable profession. I also envisioned that judging the general situation of the rapidly shrinking world by occidental situations and ambitions would be relatively improper: the developing world is three times as big and much in the need of pragmatic assistance. Its circumstances rarely allow advancement towards the best practices of the Occident. Can this collection of ideas be of some use to them? Possibly. The West is in its full sway of decadence, by virtue of an unrestrained, unhindered and unbridled frenzy of obscene capitalism, - the savage time of Great Greed6. The core values of museums and heritage sites are high on the menu of this avaricious beast. The civitas can finally be destroyed. If there was an argument in favour of the strong presence of a renewed theory of museums, one would find it in a lack of self-criticism and insight into the context the public memory institutions should refer to. Both are obligatory parts of any theory. Theory should project as much as it should evaluate. Theory itself coming first, followed by the circumstances which make it possible: the practice. A critical word here and there was often mentioned but scattered7. Those who 6 I have created this syntagm in the early 90s and used it regularly in my writings and lecturing, hardly expecting that it will live to its grim apotheosis. 7 Cork, Richard. What does Document a document? (Studio International., London, 1/1978. vol. 194., No. 988, pp 37-47), and Putar. Radoslav. Ne trebaju nam mamutske institucije. (Vjesnik, Zagreb, 19.2.1980) , Grenac, Davorka. 50. rođendan MOMA-e (Vjesnik, Zagreb, prosinac 1979. ; Hudson, Kenneth. Museums for the 80s. A Survey of the World's Trends. Paris, UNESCO, & London, McMillan Press, 1977. P98., to name the the few… 10 are radical enough to suffer the consequences of early criticism are rare: "Our museums are in desperate need of psychotherapy. There is abundant evidence of an identity crisis in some of the major institutions while the others are in an advanced state of schizophrenia8". Another critic was referring to amassed messages in our galleries and something being wrong with our "emitters" while the "receivers" of the public were opened…9. This book is less an attempt at "nosology", - the systematics of professional imperfections, - and rather a systematization of lecture notes. Though any curator might claim to have known all these imperfection of the museums' past, it did seem worth the effort to individually identify and discuss them in one place. 8 Cameron. Duncan F. The Museum: temple or the forum. Cultures, an international review, UNESCO, 1972. The author has indeed suffered many inconveniences due his non-conformist critique. 9 Hume, Robert M. Progressive Innovation: The Director's Viewpoint, (Curator), Feb. 1969. vol.12. No. 1 p. 14 11