LAB. CONCEPT
The Slovene EuroVision Lab. is an experiment comprised of four parts, the purpose of which is making museums more accessible to public and interconnected. It includes the traveling exhibition of the EMEE contest for young scenographers, a photo exhibition of museum experts and EMEE partners involved in the project, artistic intervention, and a central exhibition – The Time Capsule:
In March 2015, we invited 15 young adults and 15 museum experts from Slovenia to collaborate on the project. We turned the familiar roles of the public and the museum upside down and defined the new ones. We asked the museum workers to show their favourite museum objects and assigned the young the task of museum curators. In the manner of museum speed dating, the new museum curators selected objects from those that museum workers presented as the chief selection of national heritage with European references and therefore worthy of becoming objects of the exhibition. Under the slogan ‘One Object – Many Visions – EuroVisions’, we focused on the challenges that museums face nowadays. What is their role in society? Are they recognizable – do they leave an impression? Are their objects presented well?
We reached several conclusions and found that the most pressing matter for museums to tackle is that of connecting – between museums, museum experts, and the public. When we coupled young adults with museum experts, we took the best of both worlds: museum treasures, heritage, knowledge, and experience combined it with youthful enthusiasm, excitement, and interest.
Young adults were instructed in different museum tasks, while the museum experts extended their knowledge and contemplated the multi-layered meanings of the objects in their collections. The programme for both groups was based on our own experiences with the EMEE-project. After separate introduction sessions, we connected both groups in a speed dating.
Both parties met one on one and had exactly three minutes to talk before the bell rang, and announced to the young to change their seats. Young adults had to choose five objects that spoke to them. Thus, we concluded the workshops and the young adults started with preparations for the experimental exhibition. They tried their hand at a variety of roles: they were scenographers, curators, and editors, with the intention of creating an exhibition – a time capsule for visitors to explore.
Part of the exhibition presents all participating museum experts that offered young adults their knowledge and help. EMEE partners are presented in the same way – via the museum objects that they put in a transnational context. At the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia, we chose to present a car, Fiat 600 – Zastava 600 – 750 – fičo. Based on our work with fičo we devised meetings between the participating young adults and museum professionals.
A diverse experimental exhibition is open from July to October 2015 and has an accompanying programme that was also designed by young adults. This was an attempt to bring the experiment full circle – to present the exhibition as a result of work of the young adults and museum professionals, and to offer the public a fresh, interesting, touchable, and playful exhibition.
Flyer EuroVision Lab. in Slovenia [DOWNLOAD]
RESULTS
REPORTS:
MATERIAL:
EuroVision Lab. Catalogue of the first experimental exhibition Ljubljana/Slovenia – September 2016
PHOTOS:
Please enjoy the photo glimpses on the Lab. happenings and events.
VIDEO CLIPS:
Some content is captured also in a video format, where the main exhibition objects are introduced to you by the curators in order to bring you closer with the museum experts and what they find important about the presented object.
With the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union
