The aim of the seminar is to investigate the role and position of contemporary museum institutions and to determine the function and premises of photography museums. Organized in view of future plans to establish the first museum of photography in Warsaw, intended as a department of the National Museum, the seminar raises questions about the identity and significance of such an institution today, strategies for developing its collection, creation of knowledge and approaches to contemporary and historical practices. These issues will be addressed by curators of photographic collections from international museums, directors of museums of photography, as well as historians and technical coordinators.
Visiting experts will share their knowledge and perspective from their respective organizations, contributing to an image of the current shape of world photography, the way it is defined, collected and excluded, the divisions that exist in its field, and dynamics of change within exhibitions, museums of photography, all of which depends on place, time and (quite often local) histories and individuals.
The organizers of the seminar explain the primary reasons for raising such questions now:
Photography has been present in museums ever since its invention, however, the methods of collecting it and its status within the museum collections changed drastically over the course of the last 170 years. […] Both collecting— that is, the acquisition strategies — and making available to the public — that is, temporary and permanent displays — have defined photography as either closer to a technique, art or to a document. These different statuses are still at play, though various museums adopt diverse methods of dealing with such pluralism. In some cases, photographs from all departments — library, iconography, art, and prints — are to be found in a single department of photography, responsible for acquisitions and all photography-related projects. Another model involves keeping the photographs in their original locations in the collection; yet another one focuses on challenging the media-based division and including the photographs in the general collection.
The seminar is going to welcome specialists who have never visited Warsaw, and thus provide an opportunity for critical exchange with local experts and audiences, as well as allow them to become better acquainted with Polish photo collections and their patrons. The programme includes a talk focusing on the status of the Photography Museum in Kraków / Muzeum Historii Fotografii given by Wojciech Nowicki, a critical comparison of Museum of Art in Łódź (Muzeum Sztuki) and the National Museum in Wrocław provided by Adam Mazur, and an insight into the story and intentions behind the new photography branch of the National Museum in Warsaw, presented by Danuta Jackiewicz, who is curator of the Collection of Iconography and Photography at the museum.
Speakers include representatives from institutions in North America (Quentin Bajac from the Museum of Modern Art and Mark Robbins from the International Center of Photography, New York City; Virgina Heckert from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Matthew Witkovsky from the Art Institute of Chicago), Western Europe (Martijn van den Broek from the Nederlands Fotomuseum; François Cheval from Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône; Tamara Berghmans from the Antwerp FotoMuseum), and from Poland’s neighbours (Jaroslav Anděl from the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague; Ulrich Pohlmann from the Munich City Museum). It will also feature a panel on the digital archives of photography.
Photography – Museum Narratives will take place on on the 14th and 15th of October at the National Museum in Warsaw. Participation is free of charge. Persons willing to take part are asked to register by writing to foto.narracje@gmail.com with their full name, institutional affiliation and dates on which they wish to attend.
All talks will be accompanied by simultaneous interpretation.
Photography - Museum Narratives
National Museum in Warsaw
Al. Jerozolimskie 3
14 October 9.30-17
15 October 9.30-15
Executive organizer: Archeology of Photography Foundation
Co-organizers: National Museum in Warsaw, National Institute of Museology and Collections Protection
Source: press release, own materials, Ed. AM 24.09.2013