New Frontiers: Museums in Transformation

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1 Triin Ojari Museum of Estonian Architecture, Tallinn New Frontiers: Museums in Transformation Estonia is a very small, young culture in fact we re one of the world s smallest sovereign nations and as a result the country is very mobile and open to everything new and innovative, technologically progressive. Its small size makes Estonia stand out all changes in society are plainly visible, and the Instant City (in the spirit of Archigram s well-known project) phenomenon can be experienced in Estonia. Culture including museums has undergone twofold development in Estonia: on one hand the cultural sphere goes about its business, with its memory institutions as a place that perpetuates nationalism and builds and instils a new national identity, produces a certain historical legitimacy and normalcy. But on the other hand, the strong influence of consumerism and market economy can be felt freedom, which has been raised onto a pedestal, has also meant the liberty to let activities related to culture, memory and the critical paradigm go their own way, and so there has been a total state deregulation. In this light, terms like experience-space and edutainment readily became buzzwords in the Estonian museum landscape, to say nothing of creative industries terms that are enjoying global popularity: institutions of culture and memory are expected to be fully modern production units engaged in the telling of stories, in creating an exclusive narrative, and this has to be supported by an experience-oriented architectural space/exhibition hall. A modern museum that receives less and less state funding and is expected to offer more and more edutainment has to be operating in many directions at once, engaged in public relations, with disparate age and interest groups, working to raise money, pursuing cooperation with private donors, waging futile battle to be visible in the media and for clicks in the news, and taking a more project-oriented approach to its activities. We re living in an increasingly achievement- and result-based world where it is the numbers revenue growth, and the number of visitors, exhibitions and events that count. A onetime holy shrine, place for quiet reflection and treasury has become a fairground, marketplace or agora that competes for people s leisure time, offering entertainments in both the real and the virtual world. Naturally the above is an exaggerated description of just one trend, yet Estonia s small size also means there is but a small number of local cultural consumers and that, in turn, tends to smooth over differences, and encourage an orientation to the statistical average, a mass-market approach. In the context of the Museum of Estonian Architecture, this development has its own specifics and distinctions. Architecture museums are a fairly new phenomenon in the world; their rise in the 1970s and 1980s and later on is related to spread of postmodern thought and a re-definition of architecture as a cultural phenomenon, a rediscovering of the links between architecture and art, and the development of heritage conservation. In Estonia, the step to found a state museum was taken in 1992, not long after re-independence, and our collections and research are related 1

2 above all to Estonia s professional architectural culture 20 th and 21 st century architecture. In 1996, the museum moved into a new building in a former industrial part of the Tallinn city centre a historical salt storage building. Considering the specific nature of the museum and also when compared to neighbouring countries, it s a very large building and exhibition space. An active exhibition schedule has always played an important role at the museum, in addition to acquisitions and research. Large temporary exhibition spaces required active international and local cooperation, a symbiosis of art and music events. During the 20 years since the museum was established, changes have occurred the names working on the architectural scene have changed as well as the way the public conceive buildings, the living environment and urban planning. Inclusive planning and civic initiativedriven community activism have become stronger and stronger. Architecture (and architecture exhibitions) are expected to be devoted to soft values, the everyday environment, architectural policy, and to be engaged with public space and urban events instead of grandiose buildings. Pop-up events, temporary installations, sculptural motifs that are memorable and stimulate insights into space, movement within space and planning of space are also the norm. There are severe changes in the field of architectural institutions taken place during the last decade worldwide new institutions like architecture centres and galleries have emerged, various mergers of architecture with art or new public-private partnerships have happened. Once so important aspect of collecting and preserving the heritage has somehow kept in the background, the new players pursue for wider popularity and audience development. In Estonia the active players include both the Union of Estonian Architects and the Estonian Centre for Architecture, founded five years ago mainly for channelling European Union s funding. The latter s activity extends from export of architecture, exhibition exchanges and education to organizing architecture tours, lecture evenings and various events. Separate entities include the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design and the recently founded Design Centre the activities of these two have similar overlaps. The Museum of Estonian Architecture is a small museum in the Estonian context and it will soon be part of the national museum reform. The reform is aimed at decoupling the museums from the government and integrating them more with their own speciality and autonomous decision making. In the course of the project, 250 state or local government museums will become state foundations that will aim to find a partner or partners from the public or private sector. Partnerships with academia universities, for example are also possible. Each museum and field requires its own approach and even though there have been museum mergers in international experience even unions between the fields of architecture and design they are not direct role models for the Museum of Estonian Architecture. The state s goal to better integrate museums with their speciality and widen the circle of decision-makers can be interpreted as a search for greater cooperation, drawing on the private sector, various sources of funding and supporting activities. Are there losers in this game? Perhaps acquisitions and research, which is generally not supported by funds oriented at education and increasing growing export capacity? Production of exhibitions encompassing a more specific, narrower field? Or the institution s own 2

3 prestige and identity? Considering Estonia s narrow audiences and better visibility of the field, the plan on the state level is to unite the two museums and development centres in the architecture and design field, turning the four organizations structured on different principles into one as yet-to-be-named unit. The institution to be created can be seen as an umbrella for consolidating hitherto overlapping activities in two separate fields into one area to build more interest from society, and also save on costs. Naturally there would also be a more solid basis for possible supporters and funding sources. The commercial activity of the development centres would develop a stronger cultural background, and they could benefit from the competence of a museum, being an institution that deals with history and heritage; museums would have the opportunity to carry out marketing and financing projects more effectively, currently overlapping activities ranging from guided tours to education programs for children and workshops could be consolidated. And the most important is that a larger organization would also be more visible in society covering a wider field (architecture, design, events, education) would also increase the range of target groups. The process of analysis to create the new foundation is still in progress, but herein lies an opportunity for the creation of a bigger, stronger organization. The danger that there will be less support for collections and exhibitions will be everpresent. In a situation where there is little money, where the role of the architect and of quality architecture is regrettably diminishing, and where the world we live in is increasingly influenced by the media and virtual environment, an architecture museum must redefine itself. More activities, public events, closer international cooperation, reconsidering the emphasis on permanent exhibitions and peak-to-peak concept, a direction aimed at the interdisciplinary and cooperation. Architecture is closely connected with the environment, people, ways of life, and space in the broadest sense thus they, as a museum, must also emphasize not only the story of individual works but of the environment and its users. Greater integration with design or development centres will only be a boon for this direction. 3

4 Estonian parliament building 90. View to the exhibition in cellar gallery. Museum of Estonian Architecture, 2012 EXPO 160. Architect Xaveer de Geyter. Exhibition organized by CIVA and XDGA (Belgium). View to the exhibition hall. Museum of Estonian Architecture,

5 Im Brennpunkt/Focus of Attention. International Architecture Photography Award Exhibition organized by architekturbild e.v. (Germany). View to the upper gallery, Museum of Estonian Architecture, 2014 Museum of is situated in historical Rotermann Salt Storage building, Tallinn. Photo: Paul Kuimet,