This thesis examines the performance art of Serbian artist Marina Abramović from 2010 to today following her emergence into mainstream media with the success of her performance The Artist Is Present (2010). This thesis investigates Abramović’s approach to performance and how the roles of artist and viewer change in face of increased fame, documentation, and age. The thesis argues that as Abramović ages, she is becoming increasingly preoccupied with her fame and with securing her legacy and that this concern is reflected by her increased documentation and self-promotion, as well as her interest in transitioning into the role of teacher rather than artist. This thesis ends with an optimistic look at the opening of The Marina Abramović Institute in late 2015 as a new type of institute in which Abramović's presence and legacy will be mediated not through the static and limited representation of photographs and relics but by the experiences and actions of the visitors themselves.

My thesis is that museum exhibitions developed according to Freirean praxis would constitute a better learning opportunity for visitors, facilitate the process of evaluation, and enact the favoured museum principles of dialogic communication and community-building. ¶This project constitutes a cross-fertilisation of adult education, cultural studies and museum practice. In the last few decades, museum professional practice has become increasingly well informed by cultural critique. Many museum institutions have been moved to commit to building communities, but the question of how to do so via exhibition spaces is yet to be squarely addressed by the museum field. In this thesis I produce a detailed evaluation of a museum's informal learning program; and demonstrate the potential value of adult education theory and practice for enacting museums' commitment to dialogic communication and community-building. ¶To investigate the value of adult education praxis for museums, I consider the Australian War Memorial's signifying practice - the site and its exhibitions - as a program for informal learning. I conduct my analysis according to Ira Shor's (Freirean) method for engaging students in an extraordinary re-experience of an ordinary object. Shor's program calls for students to investigate the object through three stages of description, diagnosis and reconstruction. Respectively, I testify to my initial experience of the Memorial's program as a visitor, analyse its signification in national, international and historical contexts, and imagine an alternative means of signifying Australia's war memory. The resulting account constitutes a record of my learning process and a critical and constructive evaluation of the Memorial as a site for informal learning. It provides a single vision of what the Memorial is, what it means and how it could be reconstructed. But more importantly, my account demonstrates a program for simultaneously learning from the museum and learning about its signifying practice. This dual educational and evaluative method would mutually advantage a museum and its visiting public. In a museum that hosted a dialogic program, the exhibitions would invite evaluative responses that staff are otherwise at pains to generate. Concurrently, visitors would benefit because they would be engaging in a more critical and constructive learning process. In addition, the museum would be enacting the principle of dialogic communication that underpins the project of community-building.

Magistro darbo tema „Edukacinių programų įtaka kultūrinio identiteto ugdymui muziejaus veiklos kontekste“. Šio tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti muziejaus pedagoginės veiklos procesą ir jos dalyvių kultūrinio identiteto ugdymą edukacinių programų realizavimo kontekste. Tyrimo uždaviniai – išanalizuoti edukacinę veiklą Biržų krašto muziejuje „Sėla“. Atskleisti muziejaus lankytojų požiūrį į edukacinę veiklą ir ryšių su visuomene ypatumus bei ištirti muziejų edukacinių programų veiksmingumą ugdant kultūrinį identitetą. Nustatyti veiksnius, lemiančius edukacinių programų realizavimą. Remiantis tyrimo duomenimis, parengti rekomendacijas muziejų edukacinių programų rengėjams. Teorinėje darbo dalyje aptarta muziejaus samprata ir bendras kultūros švietimo kontekstas. Išsiaiškinta edukacinių programų funkcija, jų reikšmė bei įtaka įvairioms amžiaus grupėms, apibrėžtas kultūrinis identitetas. Buvo atliktas Biržų krašto muziejaus „Sėla“ lankytojų empirinis tyrimas. Gautos tokios pagrindinės darbo išvados, kad edukacinės muziejų programos, atlikdamos savo funkciją – padėdamos pajusti senuosius papročius, tradicijas, prisiliesti prie senųjų amatų, išsaugodamos kultūrines vertybes, senuosius papročius, įtakoja kultūrinio identiteto ugdymą ir formavimą. Gautos išvados patvirtina hipotezę. Edukacinės programos yra reikšmingos visiems bendruomenės nariams, nes padeda patenkinti žinių poreikį... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The topic of the Master degree essay is “Influence of educational programmes on upbringing cultural identity in the context of museum practice”. Aim of this research is to reveal the pedagogical aspect of museum practice and educational of cultural identity in the context of realization of educational programmes. Goals of the research are: To analyze educational practice of “The Sela”, A regional museum of Birzai region. To reveal attitudes museum visitors have towards the educational programmes and the peculiarities of public relations; to find out the efficiency of educational programmes in upbringing cultural identity: to measure elements for realization of educational programmes; to prepare recommendations for the organizers of future educational programmes using results of the research. Theoretical part of the essay speaks about notions of a museum and cultural context in general and function of the educational programmes is ascertained. There is also definition of cultural identity. Empirical research of museum visitors was held in “ The Sela” , Birzai regional museum. Some conclusions were made. They say that educational programmes in museums have done their function, helping to feel old customs and traditions, to touch old crafts, saving cultural values and old customs make influence on upbringing cultural identity and formation of it. All conclusions affirm the... [to full text]

Affiliates of the United States settlement house movement provided a historical precedent for engaged, community-centered museum practice. Their innovations upon the social survey, a key sociological data collection and data visualization tool, as well as their efforts to interpret results via innovative, culturally democratic exhibition techniques, had a contemporary impact on both museum practice and the history of social work. This impact resonates in the socially-responsive work of community museums of the recent past. The ethics of settlement methodology- including flexibility, experimentalism, empathetic practice, local community focus, and social justice activism- foreshadow the precepts and practices of what is now known as public history. / History

This study investigates the practices of four museums in two countries in relation to the notion of social inclusion and how their museum professionals reflect about the topic. The aim is to provide an empirical grounding of Sandell’s theory about the three levels of impact within which museums can address social exclusion: with individuals, specific communities and wider society. The practices of four museums will be analysed and discussed: Västmanlands läns museum and Västerås Konstmuseum in Västerås, Sweden and Musei Civici and Fondazione Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia, Italy. To answer the research questions, nine qualitative semi-structured interviews were performed. The informants selected are museum professionals responsible for different public practices at their institutions. The interviews were taped and at a later stage transcribed. Additionally, documentation from different sources completes the empirical data. A qualitative analysis has been employed to analyse the data. Text analysis and thematic analysis were selected to scrutinize the data. I employed the deductive method to trace Sandell’s theory on the data. The findings show that the notion of social inclusion is a subjective concept. Nonetheless, all the informants’ ideas of social inclusion are consistent with Sandell’s definition. The practices enhanced by the museums to address social inclusion are different in nature but mirror the understanding of the concept expressed by the museum professionals and it is in line with Sandell's model. Therefore, his theory about the three levels of impact that museums can achieve implementing inclusive practices is verified by the empirical data. Moreover, my hypothesis about the link between the social inclusion enact by museums and the socio-cultural context is proved too. This is a two years master's thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies. / Denna uppsats undersöker på vilket sätt fyra museer i två länder arbetar med social inkludering samt hur deras medarbetare resonerar kring detta. Syftet var att se huruvida det går att empiriskt belägga Sandells teori, som handlar om att museer kan bekämpa social exkludering på tre nivåer: med fokus på individer, särskilda grupper eller samhället i stort. Den publika verksamheten i fyra museer har analyserats och diskuterats: Västmanlands läns museum samt Västerås Konstmuseum i Västerås, Sverige; Musei Civici samt Fondazione Palazzo Magnani i Reggio Emilia, Italien. För att besvara uppsatsens frågeställningar gjordes nio semi-strukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med musei-arbetare. Informanterna arbetar i olika publika verksamheter inom dessa museer. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades sedan. Utöver dessa har olika dokument från andra källor använts som komplettering. Analysen gjordes med hjälp av textanalys samt tematisk analys utifrån en deduktiv ansats, för att undersöka Sandells teori.  Resultatet av denna studie visar att begreppet social inkludering har olika subjektiva innebörder. Icke desto mindre överensstämmer alla informanters idéer med Sandells definition av social inkludering. Museers publika aktiviteter kopplade till social inkludering är olika till sin natur men speglar museiarbetares förståelse av konceptet och är i linje med Sandells modell. Därför stödjer forskningsresultaten hans teori om att museer kan bekämpa social exkludering på tre nivåer. Dessutom styrks även uppsatsens hypotes om sambandet mellan museernas sociala inkludering och det sociokulturella sammanhanget.  Detta är en masteruppsats i musei- och kulturarvsvetenskap.

Cette thèse présente les modalités d’expérience muséale proposées aux visiteurs déficients visuels et auditifs. Elle expose pour cela à la fois les dispositifs d’accueil et de médiation culturelle des musées, leurs discours sur l’accessibilité et la différence, mais aussi la réception et l’expérience vécue par ces visiteurs. À partir d’un travail de terrain mené dans des établissements muséaux d’Île-de-France et auprès d’individus en situation de handicap, il s’agit d’abord de montrer comment ces institutions structurent et révèlent le traitement social du handicap. Les processus sociaux assignant une place et une identité sociale y étant fortement perceptibles, le musée est pris comme cadre d’analyse et de compréhension des trajectoires identitaires des personnes en situation de handicap. Plus encore, le dispositif muséal conditionne aussi le rapport sensible à l’environnement, notamment par le biais des outils de médiation culturelle. Il contribue en conséquence à imposer une image de soi, et à structurer la carrière de visiteur. En outre, cette recherche souligne la capacité des individus à s’emparer de ces éléments pour élaborer leurs propres trajectoires identitaires. Ainsi, la responsabilité portée par l’institution muséale est mise en évidence, puisqu’elle participe à la construction des identités sociales et des modalités d’être au monde des visiteurs en situation de handicap. / This PhD dissertation focuses on the ways and means of the museum experience for visitors with visual or hearing deficiencies. For that matter, the aim is to grasp both the cultural mediation systems, the welcoming apparatus proposed by museums but also the experience lived by the visitors. This allows to touch upon the discourses then carried out regarding accessibility and difference. A field work was carried out in the museums of the region Île-de-France and through interviews with people with disabilities. The main objective was to bring out the way in which museums, through the devices they propose and by the discourses they carry and relay on accessibility, organize and reveal at the same time the social treatment of disability. Museums can be considered frameworks for analysis and for understanding identity trajectories, since the social processes giving a place and an identity to people are strongly perceptible in this institution. Moreover, the sensitive connection to environment and, in this case to the exhibits, is also conditioned by the museum. It therefore contributes to establish a self-image for the visitor, and thus to structure the visitor's journey. In addition, by also highlighting the ability of individuals to seize these elements to develop their identity trajectories, this work highlights the responsibility of the museum as an institution, which participates in the construction of social and personal identities.