OPEN UP: ACCESS, EXPERIENCE, & PARTICIPATION IN THE GLAM SECTOR

GLAM Guide | Madison Carmichael

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In his presentation at re:publica 2019, the thirteenth edition of that conference, Douglas McCarthy centered his keynote talk around the following quote from the American judge and legal philosopher Learned Hand: 

“The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right...it seeks to understand the minds of other men and women.” (Learned Hand, 1872-1961)

He tells us that in this quote is a humility that he would like to see more of in the museum sector, though I’d argue that it’s applicable to the GLAM sector writ large. Certainly, there is a beautiful sort of freedom in the admittance of I don’t know. When we don’t know something, we reach out. We ask questions. And when others answer, hopefully we listen. 

McCarthy goes on to say that museums should embrace “a confident but unsure listening mode.” The time is past for top-down dictation to the public. There’s been a shift in how people interact with GLAM content and with the institutions themselves, so we’re faced with a more participatory reality, and the challenge for the GLAM sector, McCarthy says, lies in embracing it.  

So, it’s time for the GLAM sector to open up. Or, to continue opening up. This includes both opening the GLAM mindset to experiences that are immersive and innovative and opening the sector’s extensive collections to the public. It means re-establishing GLAM institutions as places for community. 

I’ll admit that this is a very lofty assertion. But it is a worthwhile one, and it’s not as though we’re starting from scratch. In the GLAM sector, several institutions have already begun to embrace a more accessible, experiential, and participatory approach to their work. 

Through the Rijksstudio, the Rijksmuseum has allowed for much of their collection to be viewed by the public. Source.

Perhaps the most well-known and widespread trend in the GLAM sector is growing access to the full collection of an institution through digitization. These collections are available in their entirety, rather than as curated exhibits. The Rijksstudio, a project from the Rijksmuseum, takes this a step further. By allowing visitors to create their own “studio,” or collection of artworks and objects, the Rijksstudio makes apparent the stories that each and every visitor uncovers within the collection. Flowers, fancy headgear, animals and more – studios created by users reveals the multitude of stories hidden within the collection that are yet to be told. 

With less than 5% of the collection shown in the museum, the SFMOMA decided that the best way to show off their artwork was to bring it out from the museum. Source.

In the same vein, GLAM institutions are changing how they display their collections physically. For museums like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, an institution that displays less than 5% of their collection within the actual museum, physical display isn’t enough. In June 2017, SFMOMA launched “Send me SFMOMA,” a digital initiative wherein a person would text a number, with a keyword, colour, or emoji, and the SFMOMA would send them a related artwork by text. The aim was to show more of SFMOMA’s collection with people across the United States, and through this service, people could personalize what artwork they received. The response was overwhelming; by the end of July 2017, SFMOMA had received over 3.7 million text requests. Many, many people invited art and culture into their daily lives, and they didn’t have to visit the museum to do it.  

More than just their collections, GLAM institutions have also begun to digitize exhibits, opening up their content and stories to audiences beyond their buildings. The Warsaw Rising Museum exhibits decades of Polish history online. Source. 

Part of that “listening mode” I mentioned earlier is learning where people are at. For some, that is not within a GLAM institution, for a multitude of reasons. As with moving collections online, many institutions have begun to move visitor experiences beyond their walls as well. SFMOMA did so through a digital service, bringing a personally curated art experience to people across the United States. The Warsaw Rising Museum  delivered an entire exhibit through a website. “Warsaw Rising” depicts the history of Warsaw from 1918 onward. The focus is, of course, is the Warsaw Rising, but there is certainly a thematic emphasis on Warsaw as a dynamic, developing city, despite its hardships. It is a fully interactive exhibit with compelling text, audio, and visuals – it is indeed an entire exhibit online. 

Europeana provides access for 50 million digitized items from many European institutions. Source.

I want to close by returning to Douglas McCarthy for a moment. As Collections Manager for Europeana Collections, McCarthy is part of an organization that works with thousands of European archives, libraries, and museums to share cultural heritage with the aim of making it easier to use, whether that be for work, learning, or fun. This approach is useful, I think, for the GLAM sector wholesale; in working to make cultural heritage easier to use, access, and explore, we make it accessible to a wider public, thereby opening up our institutions to a greater world of possibility. 

DZIEŃ DOBRY, WARSAW: EXPLORING THE UPRISING MUSEUM

WALK OF FAME

BY: JULIA ZUNGRI

For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with history, especially the history of World War II. So, it is only suitable that for my inaugural contribution to Musings' “Walk of Fame," I pay tribute to my inexplicable passion and take a walk down memory lane. In 2013, I had the opportunity to travel through parts of Europe, in which one of my stops was Warsaw, Poland. I happened to be in Warsaw on the first of September for the 74th anniversary of the start of WWII (you can imagine, the history geek inside of me was hyperventilating).

While I was there, I visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum (a.k.a. Warsaw Rising Museum). Opened in 2004, the museum is dedicated to the operation led by the Polish Home Army between August and October 1944 against the occupying German forces in an attempt to liberate the city (there's a history lesson in one sentence). Now, as a Museum Studies student, I look back and appreciate my experience so much more! The museum is filled with a variety of historical and interactive objects about the Uprising, but also about life before and after the battle, covering Poland's immediate postwar occupation by the Soviets. The museum tower is one of its highlights, overlooking Freedom Park, where a memorial wall is erected engraved with the names of insurgents who died during the Uprising.

The Warsaw Uprising Museum's exterior, a former tram power station. Source

                                                                    
Most fascinating for me are the different sections of the museum that simulate life in Warsaw during WWII, such as displays of underground bunkers and city streets, while “battle sounds" play throughout the museum's speakers, transporting me back to the 1944 Uprising. Visitors did not need to follow a strict order while exploring the exhibits, which contributed to an “authentic" experience of the Uprising. Surrounded by brick walls and floors, observing objects such as uniforms and weapons, and hearing the sounds of weaponry and rubble gave a sense of chaos and anxiety, but led to an effective and memorable visit.

The small screen plays footage of the Warsaw Ghetto. Notice the incorporation of technology and objects with the brick wall. Photo: Julia Zungri

Clearly, I could go on and on about this museum. Instead, I'll describe three notable aspects of the museum that can be added to Musings' “Walk of Fame."

1. “Little Insurrectionist"

This image of a boy soldier is a national symbol in Poland, representing child soldiers who fought for the Uprising. The statue is one of the first objects visitors see and another is also located outside of the museum on a city street. A miniature figure is sold at museum and souvenir shops (I even picked one up myself). On the Uprising's anniversary, the city's monument is adorned with flowers and the Polish flag, often with the letters PW - an abbreviation for “Polish Army."

Statue of the “Little Insurrectionist." Photo: Julia Zungri

2. The Pianist

I'm sure we all remember the award-winning film, The Pianist, which told the true story of a Polish-Jew's experience who witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto and Warsaw Uprisings. This exhibit pays tribute to Władysław Szpilman (played by Adrien Brody) with a depiction of his hiding place in a war-torn apartment, looking onto the destruction in the streets. Although I watched the film when I was quite young, it helped spark my passion for learning about WWII and the Holocaust and my fascination with the ways popular culture and institutions depict these periods of history. Interestingly, the museum incorporates a great deal of Polish-Jewish history in regards to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and its connections to the Warsaw Uprising.

The photo in the frame is of Szpilman. The use of brick and rubble is common throughout the museum, contributing to its “authentic" appearance. Photo: Julia Zungri

3. Digital Reproduction (shout out to MSL2325!)

During my visit, I had the opportunity to watch a short video, “City of Ruins," in IMAX 3D, which showed a simulated version of a plane flying over Warsaw in 1945. Click here for the trailer (yes, trailer) of the video. As one of the last exhibits, I already explored the majority of the museum, learning about life before, during, and after the Uprising. With this knowledge (and emotional connection) in mind, viewing footage of the war's physical destruction to the city provided more than a sense of looking, but also of feeling.

The Warsaw Uprising is still very much commemorated by Polish citizens and embedded in Polish culture and history, as can be seen with videos of the city standing for a moment of silence on the first of every August, referred to as “W-hour." Here is a link to a video of 2014's W-hour (it'll surely give you the chills), in which you can see the Warsaw Uprising Museum (0:34) and the statue of the Little Insurrectionist (1:34).

From observing the museum and its visitors, I got a sense that this space is essential for people with a national, ancestral, and cultural connection to Poland's past. For someone interested in history and/or museums, this is an intriguing place to examine how a nation tries to remember a troubled past through a museum space. The Warsaw Uprising Museum does not tackle a topic that visitors would look upon with a smile, but it provides them with an explanation and a record of history. Sometimes, the latter is more needed than the former.

For all of you historical museum lovers, next stop: Warsaw?

Sources Consulted:

http://www.1944.pl/en