| Abstract [eng] |
SUMMARY REFLECTION OF A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL TRAUMA IN AN EXHIBITION OF A MUSEUM By Vitalija Moisaitė-Žilinskienė First of all, museums are meant to satisfy visitors’ curiosity and their needs of information, aesthetics and education. It is not an easy task. So, what has to be done in order to meet those needs and to get out of those difficulties? In a modern museum it is not enough to display the relics of the past in its show windows. By means of performance as well as audio and visual media visitors are being invited to participate in the process of the reconstruction of the past. Museums are also keepers and caretakers of the past and memories about it in order to preserve it for would be generations. In this case we encounter not only the means of exhibiting but moral and ethics problems as well. How to avoid insulting and to remain impartial at the same time while exhibiting the period of war or post-war or discussing the subjects of genocide, holocaust, deportation or resistance? A lot of people are concerned. Events of such a kind are considered to be standard examples of the psychological trauma. How to arrange the exhibition and to display the events that caused the psychological and physical violence without distressing the eye-witnesses or their family members and relatives? Might it be so, that the mission of a museum is not only an impartial reconstruction of the history but subtle ways of presenting it to the visitors? In this case, museums are seen not only as educational institutions but as peace-makers who are trying to reconcile the society and to encourage the tolerance. According to those aspects it is obvious that the intercourse of museums and the past is direct and it is not enough to display “mute” exhibitions in order to reveal the past as impartially as possible. One of the prior tasks of modern museums is searching for a new quality conception in this field of activity. We are going to analyze one aspect of this problem: the reflection of a social and cultural trauma in the museum exhibition and its intercourse with the visitors. • Firstly, the functions of the museum will be analyzed. • In the second part of this work the heritage of the acts of violence in the 20th century will be reviewed. • In the third part the essence of collective trauma will be revealed. • In the fourth part an education in museums by the heritage of acts of violence and the samples of exhibiting the social and cultural trauma in Lithuanian museums will be analyzed. • In the fifth part the survey of public opinion is made trying to find out what is the influence of the heritage of acts of violence on the visitors. • In the sixth part of this work the research will be continued with the reference to other specialists of visualization and exhibiting the heritage of acts of violence. A small survey of public opinion has been made while analyzing this subject. The public experience has been recorded and generalized in order to create as real and grounded conception as possible. It might be useful for museums in their daily routine. Attempts to find a modern model of exhibiting the heritage of acts of violence has been made. This subject is important for those who are looking for more subtle ways of revealing still live history for the society. |
