According to sociologists, such as Anthony Giddens and others, modernity is characterized by its reflexivity. Here is a self-reflexive museum for you: the Cité de Sciences in Parc de la Villette, Paris, reflecting itself in the silver dome of its own IMAX movie theatre. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by the science centre – but the park was nice 
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This is #6 of the Museum Pics of the Week. Please come back in (about) a week to see the next one. Or follow me on Google+.
7.2 millions. That is the number of people who emigrated by boat from Bremerhaven in Germany to USA and other destinations between 1830 and 1974.
It is only about 4 years ago, that Deutsches Auswandererhaus was opened as a museum of emigration, in the port of Bremerhaven. A visit to the museum allows you to follow in the footsteps of the emigrants: from the impressive re-creation of a pier with steamship ready to be boarded, through the steerages and cabins of the ships to the landing at Ellis Island, New York.
With the use of an active ticket you will also be able to follow the destiny of a selected emigrant. And in the beautiful “archive-room” you will learn about reasons for emigration in different periods, as well as be able to look into the file cabinets for histories of real emigrants.
Should you happen to be in the vicinity, the emigration museum is definitely worth a detour.
(Sorry – this post is danish only)
Det kulturhistoriske museum skaber forstÃ¥else af fortiden gennem sine genstande. Denne forstÃ¥else vokser imidlertid ikke automatisk ud af genstandene – den skabes gennem fortolkning. Museet foretager en sÃ¥dan fortolkning, og stiller den til rÃ¥dighed for offentligheden. I dette arbejde er museet forpligtet af de regler som gælder for den videnskabelige diskurs, herunder Ã¥benhed og selvkritik. Kun pÃ¥ denne mÃ¥de kan museet fremstÃ¥ med troværdighed i sin formidling.
Men museologien mÃ¥ ogsÃ¥ forholde sig til den anden del af museernes dobbelte rolle: den formende. Nogle vil mÃ¥ske mene, at vi dermed bevæger os over i det normative, og at museet som offentlig institution bør holde sig fri af den slags. Men fordi museet altid eksisterer i en nutids kontekst, sÃ¥ kan det ikke frasige sig sin formende rolle. Det er ikke nødvendigvis museets opgave som institution at udøve samfundskritik. Men det er som minimum museets forpligtelse at være en relevant resurse for borgerne i deres individuelle og kollektive kulturelle praksis – herunder ogsÃ¥ en samfundskritisk praksis….
Læs mere i Fra det mugne liv, et essay om kulturkritik og museer. Oprindeligt skrevet til Nils Bredsdorff og Niels Finn Christiansen (red.): Det kritiske blik – festskrift til Morten Thing. Tiderne skifter, København 2005.
The other day I accidentally came across Elliot Erwitts Museum Watching – at a sale in a museum shop. The book contains photos from a number of coutries and from half a century.
I might be a museum fetchist by profession. But I find Erwitts book extremely charming. His pictures of museum guest that are spectating, speculating or simply having fun are sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes funny – but never indifferent. The style is more or less classic street photography, but taken to the distinguished halls of museums….Â
As it is normally the case with books from Phaidon, the technical quality is impeccable.As it is normally the case with books from Phaidon, the technical quality is impeccable.
Elliott Erwitt: Museum Watching.
Phaidon, London 1999.
160 pages.
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