1 Virtual Museum of Childhood in Romania Project proposal for
Transkript
1 Virtual Museum of Childhood in Romania Project proposal for
Virtual Museum of Childhood in Romania Project proposal for Culture 2007-2013, from the Romanian Peasant Museum (Bucharest, Romania) Argument Romania lacks a museum dedicated to childhood, which would gather all its aspects, from toys, games, clothing, children’s folklore, beliefs, customs, body techniques, food, education. The idea of childhood itself was „used” in various political contexts, if we only think at its „patrimonialisation” through the ethnographical exhibitions, or the “happy childhood” used as propaganda in Communist discourse. The Romanian Peasant Museum (winner of the EMYA in 1996) wants to initiate such a museum, virtually for the moment (due to lack of the space but also aiming at a wider, European audience), with rural and urban cultural aspects connected with the childhood in 19th, 20th and 21st century Romania. Several temporary exhibitions will be organized during the second year of the project, exhibitions that will become “halls” in the virtual museum. The childhood we aim to exhibit is not only the traditional one, with old customs, but also the contemporary one, with drips and drabs from old beliefs, games and family customs. We want to prospect childhood games/beliefs/traditions market, but also the toys market from the village and from the city – even if today the European context seems to stress the tendency towards globalization of the childhood objects’ inventory. Our enquiry starts from the collections of the Romanian Peasant Museum and tries to build this virtual museum not only with objects from the Museum, but also with objects and testimonies from Romanian private collections and from field research on the historical, political, socio-economical and cultural context. Most of the toy and childhood items collectors are eager to talk about their own childhood, thus we are hoping to rebuild with their help a local memory. Involving a partner associations specialized in working with children living in poverty (Association Artees), we will develop activities with children in disfavored areas of Romania (3 villages in Dobrogea and Moldova regions). The children will be encouraged in their creativity and communication abilities though games. There will be an exchange of knowledge, the children will have access to another culture, and in return, will offer information on local customs, games, beliefs and so on. Sos. Kiseleff 3, Bucuresti, 011341, Tel: +4021 317 96 61; Fax: +4021 312 98 75, E-mail: [email protected], www.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro Cod fiscal: 4192480, Cont IBAN: RO76TREZ7015009XXX000280, Cod fiscal: 14244170, Cont IBAN: RO63TREZ7015003XXX000038, Trezoreria sect.1 1 Who are we? The Romanian Peasant Museum is part of the European family of Museums of Traditional Art. It is a national museum, under the Ministry of Culture’s patronage. In possession of an especially rich collection of objects, hosted in a Neo-Romanian style historical monument-building, our Museum developed a highly original ethnomuseography, called “nascent or flickering museography” by its founder, Horia Bernea. The Museum is a context museum, a relational one (relations between objects, between objects and space) and the originality of the exhibiting style was honored in 1996 by receiving the EMYA – European Museum of the Year Award. This style is continued in the Museum’s publications, in actions such as the Missionary Museum, the Village School, concerts, conferences and temporary exhibitions. The Museum has a good tradition of working with children. Ever since 2002, it organizes the Creativity Workshops, where children are offered an alternative education, one that is releasing and encouraging their creativity. Through workshops of photography, Puppets Theater, ethnology stories, embroidery, weaving, making musical instruments, ceramic objects or manual paper, the children are guided to respond in a creative manner. Their work is put to value later in exhibitions and publications. The results of the Creativity Workshop will be part of the Virtual Museum of Childhood, in one of its “halls”, where the accent is placed on contemporary childhood and the necessity to give voice to children when one aims to speak of childhood. Activities of the project: 1. Administrative part of the project. - Administrative meetings with the co-organizers of the project in order to establish the project’s planning. - Recruiting volunteers for the project (that will help in research, activities with children and making of the exhibitions). 2. Creating the Virtual Museum of Childhood in Romania - Working visits and workshops with the co-organizers, discussing the theoretical and practical aspects of building a museum of childhood (the workshops take place in the partner’s country and in Romania). - Research concerning childhood: bibliographic documentation; documentation and selection in the collections of the Romanian Peasant Museum; documentation in private collections (contacting the collectors, field research for recording the interviews, visual documentation of the objects and the content, participant observation and acknowledging Sos. Kiseleff 3, Bucuresti, 011341, Tel: +4021 317 96 61; Fax: +4021 312 98 75, E-mail: [email protected], www.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro Cod fiscal: 4192480, Cont IBAN: RO76TREZ7015009XXX000280, Cod fiscal: 14244170, Cont IBAN: RO63TREZ7015003XXX000038, Trezoreria sect.1 2 the vision of the collector in view of a possible exposition of its own collection); fieldwork research in different areas from Romania on topics concerning the childhood. - Establishing directions and criteria of selection and exposure, establishing the discourse of the museum (in the temporary exhibitions and in the virtual space). - Organizing at the Romanian Peasant Museum several temporary exhibitions on different themes, exhibitions that will become the “halls” of the future virtual museum. Conceiving and making of the virtual Museum. - Organizing an itinerant temporary exhibition on the Romanian/European childhood, exhibition that will go to the co-organizers’ countries. 3. Workshops with children - Organizing cultural and educational activities with children from disadvantaged areas in Romania, involving the co-organizers (Association Artees, France, an association that has a workshop on the theme of the labyrinth of the five senses) and the Creativity Workshop of the Museum. - Exporting the Creativity Workshops (ceramic, hand-made paper) to the co-organizer institutions. Children will create artifacts using ancient Romanian specific techniques. Why foreign partners? We try to involve in this project foreign partners, such as childhood and chidrens’ museums, museums that have a vast collection of childhood objects, NGOs or other institutions that organize activities with children. Involving foreign partners is necessary for their expertise in using immaterial and material heritage of the childhood age, and also for their vast experience in working with children and assessing their expectancy and demand horizon. The expertise of the co-organizers will be shared in workshops, working visits, common research and organizing exhibitions. What do we offer? The Romanian Peasant Museum will share with the partners its specific and original museum display techniques; it will organize an itinerant exhibition on childhood in Romania; and will organize workshops for the children on traditional techniques (ceramics, hand-made paper). Together with the partners we can create the first Childhood Museum in Romania, in a virtual form, in an European context and using European expertise. Time: 24 months, starting from 1st of June 2010 Programme: Culture 2007-2013 (the component 1.2.1 – Cooperation Projects. 50% - 50% financial contribution) Contact: Anamaria Iuga, +4021 3179660, +40740033602, [email protected], [email protected] Sos. Kiseleff 3, Bucuresti, 011341, Tel: +4021 317 96 61; Fax: +4021 312 98 75, E-mail: [email protected], www.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro Cod fiscal: 4192480, Cont IBAN: RO76TREZ7015009XXX000280, Cod fiscal: 14244170, Cont IBAN: RO63TREZ7015003XXX000038, Trezoreria sect.1 3