CROSS-CULTURAL ITINERANT EXCHANGE
EXHIBITIONS OF EUROPEAN ETHNOLOGY
Proposal project for a NET European network of
ethnographic and social history museums
Klaus Beiti
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The periodisation of the "paradigm of turns of centuries" has recently been
generally accepted as being valid for the history of the academic discipline of
ethnography/European ethnology. This paradigm is based on the view that the
beginning and development of this discipline are apparently accepted to have
taken place in chronological steps that ran parallel to the turns of the past two
centuries.
The earliest development of ethnography can be traced to the turn of the
18* and 19* centuries and was at that time, on the one hand, connected with the
tradition of an interest in "the land and its people", influenced by the Age of
Enlightenment as is documented everywhere in Europe in the "descriptions of
the country" of this epoch which were politically and administratively motivated,
and, on the other hand, it was also influenced by romantically idealising
movements aimed at the determination of a "national spirit" ("Volksgeist") after
J. G. Herder.
At the turn of the 20th century ethnography (Volkskunde) developed within
the domains of national philology, pre-history, physical anthropology, geography
and ethnology (Völkerkunde) into an autonomous academic discipliae. At first,
this process mainly involved the foundation of academic societies (e. g. Vienna
1894), the field of museums and the establishment of special periodicals (Vienna
1895). Ethnography was, however, not established as an independent discipline
at universities until the twenties and thirties. Regarding its contents, ethnography
maintained - from an Austrian point of view - during the years of the later
monarchy and of the First Republic a supranational comparative position (M.
Haberlandt), and to some extent, especially in the time between the two World
Wars, it pursued a romantic-nationalistic stance.
While rejecting the politically compromising premises of folklore and
continuity under the rule of National Socialism, after World War II ethnography
was primarily conceived to be the "science of life according to traditional rules"
(L. Schmidt), based on historical criticism of sources. Today ethnography which
Klaus Beiti
since the seventies has also been referred to as "European Ethnology" at
universities has developed a tendency towards becoming a rather sociologically
oriented discipline. As such it today parallels - again at the threshold of a new
century and at the same time of the next miUennitmi - an extended conception of
culture which also takes into account everyday cultural and behavioural patterns,
applies itself increasingly to problems of topical interest and includes long
neglected urban areas.
For example: the visitor of the "Schausammlung zur historischen Volkskultur"
(Exhibition of historical folk culture) - re-conceived and designed on the occasion
of the centenary of the Austrian Museum of Ethnography in 1994 and continuously
open to the public - is referred to such, seemingly secular, points of view and
patterns of interpretation in the room which intioduces the exhibition and is entitled
"Der volkskundliche Blick" (The ethnographic view), before the issues "I. Man
and Environment"; "EI. Man and Economy"; "ID. Man and History"; "IV. Man and
Society" are revealed to him in the following four-part discourse on cultural-
anthropological and everyday-historical exhibition themes.
One aspect of our considerations at the roimd table "The permanent
exhibitions of ethnographic and social history museums are facing the challenges
of the new millennium" should undoubtedly be a critical self-examination of
national ethnographies and their museums regarding their historical and topical
paradigms within the European context, and, further, to find, based on the result
of this examination, answers to the problem of a concept for their permanent
exhibitions ethnographic museums face because of the social and cultural
challenges at the threshold of the new millennium.
1 assume that the task of re-orienting the permanent exhibitions of
ethnographic museimis - a problem many ethnographic museums in Europe are
confronted as appears from several recent international conferences (Berlin 1994,
Brno 1996, Paris 1997) - will have to be and should be solved individually. In my
opinion, the function of our network in this context can obviously only be to
collect and impart our varied experience without, however, wishing to impose
compulsory suggestions or recommendations. The work of our network, however,
need not be restricted to more or less effective rhetoric. It should rather take an
active part in preparing the urgent tasks of the national and regional ethnographic
museums and in tackling the problems connected with them. This process has
now arrived at a turning point because of the project of experimental "itinerant
exchange exhibitions of European ethnology".
In this connection I would like to make the following suggestion:
The project is planned to consist of a certain number of independent
exhibitions, which can be individually elaborated nationally and beyond that,
can also be thematically moulded into a common comprehensive conception
which tianscends the national borders. These exhibitions are organised by a
larger number of the 42 countries presently represented in the "European Network
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of Ethnographic and Social History Museums" (cf. list in "NET" 3/1996, pp. 22-23)
which have agreed to take part in such a co-ordinated operation. Responsible
for the project are the "national or regional correspondents" of the network in
the above mentioned list of countries and the experts nominated by these
countries. Each of the participating countries is responsible for the concept,
museimi preparation, arrangement and financing of the exhibition imit it has
taken charge of. A working group of the network would have to be established
to edit the complete project. Later on, the individual exhibition units will be
supplied to the other participating countries by means of exchange with the aim
that all partners of the project will finally receive all the exhibitions initiated in
this way as part of the project.
The individual exhibitions principally cor\sist of pictorial documents which
the individual editors of the various countries receive proportionally from the
participating partners of the project; e.g. 10 participating countries each supply
25 pictorial documents for a total pictorial documentation of 250 individual
documents. Only these pictorial documents, accompanied by and commented
on by written docimients, constitute the section of exhibitions which by means
of exchange are passed on to the other participating covintries. Moreover, each
of the organising and recipient coimtries supplements documentary objects to
this itinerant basic equipment which they are to select from their own general
holdings. Because of this method the combined two-dimensional photographic
and archival exhibits are given a three-dimensional component varying from
place to place. The transport and insurance costs are reduced to a minimum in
this project.
As a general topic for this common project of European ethnographic
museums and following a literary impulse given by social and cultural scholars
(H. G. Haupt (ed.): Places of Everyday Life. Miniatures from European Cultural
History. Mimich 1994) a theme to be considered could be "Places of Everyday
Life. Aspects of Austrian Folk Culture". This means places and scenes in which
everyday life took place as a manifestation of folk culture in, the past and is stul
taking place in the present. The museum presentation would show the cultural
diversity in common aspects of everyday European life. What makes this
exhibition project and its presentation so particularly interesting is the richness
of contents and the variety of intellectual concepts on which the ethnographic
preparation of individual topics can be based. A wide variety of themes is available
for interdisciplinary co-operation, focusing on relevant related sciences: The
Ploughed Field, The Mine, The Mill, The Harbour, The Office of a Shipping
Company, The Shop, The Workshop, The Factory, The Courtyard, The Drawing-
Room, The Club, The Coffee House, The Fountain, The Living-Room, The Kitchen,
The Nursery, The Office, The Town Hall, The Reading Circle, The Theatre, The
Festivity, The School, The University, The Barracks, The Court of Justice, The
Prison, The Hospital, The Cemetery...
Cross-cultural itinerant exchange exhibitions of European ethnology
383
Klaus Beiti
The project of "itinerant exchange exhibitions of European ethnography"
can be seen as a co-operation of ethnographic sub-exhibitions resulting in a
presentation of European ways of life with man's life at its centre. Such a general
view would in the end find its lasting literary expression by joining in one volume
the various sub-catalogues, written in various languages and published
separately.
The organisers hope that these exhibitions of the network wül demonstrate
not only the professional fellowship of the experts and institutes involved, but
will also prove the correctness of the philosophical school which advocates the
unique European character of folk culture and affirm the idea that folk culture
does not separate people by state borders or language. On the contrary, folk
culture unites them and expresses the quality every individual has, namely that
he can found his actions on conrnionly accepted rules and that he is able to make
the self-created environment more beautiful and suitable.
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INTERKULTURNA IZMENJAVA POTUJOČIH
RAZSTAV EVROPSKE ETNOLOGIJE
Predlog za evropsko mrežo etnografskih
in socialnozgodovinskih muzejev v okviru NET
Klaus Beiti
385
Za periodizacijo "paradigme preloma stoletja" je že nekaj časa na splošno
sprejeto, da velja za zgodovino znanstvene stroke etnografije/evropske etnologije.
Paradigma temelji na stališču, da začetki in nadaljnje faze razvoja stroke časovno
sovpadajo s prelomom zadnjih dveh stoletij.
Zgodnje začetke razvoja etnografije lahko najdemo na prelomu med 17. in
18. stoletjem in so bili povezani s tradicijo zanimanja za "deželo in njene
prebivalce" pod vplivom dobe razsvetljenstva. Ti začetki so dokumentirani za
vso Evropo v "opisih dežele" tega obdobja, ki so bili politično in upravno
motivirani. Podoben močan vpliv na začetke etnografije so imela romantična,
idealistčna gibanja, ki so bila usmerjena v opredeljevanje narodnega duha
{Volksgeist) po J. G. Herderju.
Ob prelomu med 19. in 20. stoletjem se je "narodopisje" (etnografija,
Volkskunde) v okviru nacionalne filologije, prazgodovine, fizične antropologije,
zemljepisa in etnologije (Völkerkunde) razvilo v avtonomno znanstveno stroko.
Sprva je ta razvoj pomenil predvsem ustanavljanje znanstvenih društev (npr. na
Dunaju leta 1894), muzejev in strokovnih revij (Dunaj, 1895). Na drugi strani pa
se "narodopisje" na univerzah ni uspelo uveljaviti kot avtonomna stroka vse do
dvajsetih in tridesetih let tega stoletja. Glede na svojo vsebino je narodopisje
(etnografija) v času pozne monarhije in prve republike obdržalo (vsaj z
avstrijskega vidika) nadnacionalen primerjalen položaj (M. Haberlandt) in je do
neke mere, posebno v času med obema vojnama, zasledovalo romantične
nacionalistično težnje.
Potem ko je narodopisje v času nacionalnega socializma zavračalo politično
kompromitirana folklorna izhodišča, so nanj po drugi svetovni vojni gledali
pretežno kot na "znanost o življenju po tradicionalnih običajih" (L. Schmidt), ki
temelji na zgodovinski kritiki virov. Danes se "narodopisje" - od sedemdesetih
let naprej na univerzah uporabljajo tudi pojem "evropska etnologija" - razvija v
dokaj sociološko usmerjeno stroko. V tem smislu se - ponovno ob prelomu stoletja
in hkrati tisočletja - ujema z razširjenim pojmovanjem kulture, ki upošteva tudi
Klaus Beiti
vsakdanje kulturne in vedenjske vzorce, ki se vse bolj ukvarja tudi z aktualninü
problemi in ki sedaj zajema tudi dolgo zanemarjena urbana območja.
Tako se na primer obiskovalec "Razstave zgodovinske ljudske kulture"
{Schausammlung zur historischen Volkskultur) - zasnovana in postavljena ob
stoletnici Avstrijskega etnografskega muzeja leta 1994 in kot stalna odprta
občinstvu - najprej srečuje z vidiki in vzorci interpretacije v dvorani, ki uvaja
razstavo in ki nosi naslov "etnografski pogled". Šele potem v štiridelnem diskurzu
o kulturnih, antropoloških in vsakdanjih zgodovinskih temah razstave sledijo
sklopi "I. Človek in okolje", "II. Človek in gospodarstvo", "III. Človek in
zgodovina" in "IV. Človek in družba".
Poseben vidik naših razprav na okrogli mizi "Stalne razstave etnografskih
in socialnozgodovinskih muzejev se soočajo z izzivi novega tisočletja" bi
nedvomno moral biti kritično (samo)spraševanje nacionalnih etnografij in
njihovih muzejev glede zgodovinskih in aktualnih paradigm znotraj evropskega
konteksta. Na tej osnovi naj bi skušali najti odgovore na konceptualne probleme
stalnih razstav v etnografskih muzejih, ki se na pragu novega tisočletja soočajo
s socialnimi in kulturnimi izzivi.
Domnevam, da je treba nalogo preusmeritve stalnih razstav v etnografskih
muzejih - problem, s katerim se sooča mnogo etnografskih muzejev v Evropi,
kot kaže več mednarodnih srečanj v zadnjih letih (Berlin 1994, Brno 1996, Pariz
1997) - rešiti različno v različruh ustanovah. Po mojem mnjenju je jasno, da je
naloga naše mreže v tem okviru predvsem v zbiranju in posredovanju različnih
izkušenj, ne da bi hotela vsiliti obvezna navodila ali priporočila. Vendar ni nujno,
da je delo naše mreže omejeno na bolj ali manj učirucovito retoriko. Prej bi morala
aktivno sodelovati v pripravah na nujne naloge nacionalnih in regionalnih
etnografskih muzejev in pri problemih, ki so s tem povezani. Ob sedanji
prelomnici lahko pomaga projekt "eksperimentalne izmenjave potujočih razstav
evropske etnologije".
V tej zvezi bi rad predlagal naslednje:
Projekt je zasnovan tako, da zajema določeno števuo neodvisnih razstav, ki
jih je mogoče posamezno izdelati na nacionalni ravni in potem tematsko združiti
v skupni vsestranski koncept, ki presega državne meje. Te razstave organizira
večje število izmed 42-ih držav, ki imajo sedaj predstavnike v "Evropski mreži
etnografskih in socialnozgodovinskih muzejev" (glej seznam v "NET" 3/1996, str.
22-23), ki so dale svoje soglasje, da sodelujejo v koordinirani akciji te vrste. Za
projekt so odgovorni "nacionalni ali regionali korespondenti" mreže v zgoraj
omenjenem seznamu držav in strokovnjaki, ki so jih imenovale posamezne države.
Vsaka država udeleženka je v celoti odgovorna za koncept, muzejsko pripravo,
ureditev in financiranje razstavne enote, za katero prevzame odgovornost. Treba
je ustanoviti delovno skupino mreže, ki bi imela vlogo urednika celotnega projekta.
Pozneje naj bi se posamezne razstavne enote posredovale drugim državam
udeleženkam na osnovi izmenjave in s ciljem, da naj bi vsi partnerji v projektu na
386
koncu prejeli vse na osnovi tega projekta nastale razstave.
Posamezne razstave v glavnem tvori slikovno gradivo, katerega količina,
ki jo posamezni uredniki prejmejo, je v sorazmerju s številom sodelujočih držav
v projektu: npr. 10 držav udeleženk daje na voljo po 25 slikovnih dokumentov
za skupno slikovno gradivo, ki obsega 250 posameznih dokumentov. To slikovno
gradivo s spremnimi besedui in z dokumentacijo sestavlja tisti del razstave, ki
se v okviru izmenjave pošilja drugim državam udeleženkam. Poleg tega vsaka
država organizatorka in prejemnica daje na voljo dokumentirane predmete za
osnovno potujočo opremo, ki jih izbere iz svojega lastnega splošnega fonda. Na
ta način dobiva celota dvodimenzionalnih in arhivskih predmetov tridimenzio-
nalno sestavino, ki se razlikuje od kraja do kraja. Stroški prevoza in zavarovanja
se v takem projektu znižajo na nünimum.
"Prizorišča vsakdanjega življenja. Vidiki avstrijske ljudske kulture" je tista
tema, ki bi prišla v poštev kot splošna tema za skupni projekt evropskih
etnografskih muzejev glede na literarno pobudo, ki so jo dali znanstveniki
družbenih in kulturnih ved (H. G. Haupt (ed.): Prizorišča vsakdanjega življenja.
Miniature iz evropske kulturne zgodovine. München 1994). To pomeni mesta,
na katerih se je vsakdanje življenje kot izraz ljudske kulture odvijalo v preteklosti
in se odvija še danes. Muzejska predstavitev bi prikazala kulturno raznolikost
in skupne vidike vsakdanjega življenja v Evropi. Projekt razstave in njena
predstavitev pa sta tako zanimiva zaradi bogate vsebine in raznolikosti
intelektualnih konceptov, na katerih bi lahko temeljila etnografska priprava
posameznih tem. Na voljo je velika izbira tem za multidisciplinamo sodelovanje
z osredotočenjem na sorodne stroke: zorano polje, rudnik, mlin, pristanišče,
pisarna pomorske agencije, trgovina, delavnica, tovarna, dvorišče, risaküca, klub,
kavama, vodnjak, dnevna soba, kuhinja, otroška soba, pisarna, mestna hiša, bralni
krožek, gledališče, praznovanje, šola, imiverza, kasarna, sodišče, zapor, bolnišnica,
pokopališče itd.
Na projekt izmenjave "potujočih razstav evropske etnografije" lahko
gledamo kot na sodelovanje etnografskih podrazstav, ki skupaj tvorijo
predstavitev evropskih načinov življenja s človekovim življenjem v središču.
Splošni projekt te vrste bi na koncu dobil tudi trajno besedno obliko, ko bi v eiu
knjigi združili razne podkataloge, napisane in objavljene posebej in v raznih
jezikih.
Organizatorji upajo, da bodo te mrežine razstave potrdile poleg poklicnega
tovarištva sodelujočih strokovnjakov in ustanov tudi korektnost stališča filozofske
šole, ki zagovarja edinstveni evropski značaj ljudske kulutre, in dokazale, da
ljudska kultura ne ločuje ljudji z državnimi mejami ali z jezikom. Nasprotno,
ljudska kultura ljudi združuje in poudarja sposobnost vsakega posameznika, da
pri svojih dejanjih izhaja iz splošno sprejetih pravil, ter da grajeno okolje naredi
lepše in primernejše.
Interkultuma izmenjava potujočih razstav evropske etnologije
387
Klaus Beiti
BESEDA O AVTORJU
Klaus Beiti, dr., je dvorni svetnik,
upokojeru direktor Avstrijskega etnografskega
muzeja, častni profesor Univerze v Gradcu in
lektor na Inštitutu za etnologijo Urüverze na
Dunaju, direktor Etnografskega muzeja Schloss
Kitsee (Gradiščanska), urediuk revij Österreichi-
sche Zeitschrift für Volkskunde in Volkskunde
in Österreich.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Klaus Beiti. Ph.d., Hofrat, retired director
of the Austrian Ethnographic Museum, hono-
rary professor of the University of Graz, lecturer
at the Institute for Ethnology of the University
of Vienna, director of the Ethnographic Museum
Schloss Kitsee (Burgenland), editor of the
journals Österreichische Zeitschrift für Volks-
kunde and Volkskunde in Österreich. '
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