Project Manager
Christina Gunneriusson WistmanAmount granted
50 000 SEKYear
2020
Based on museum creation and Swedish museums in the mid-20th century, this project examines art collections, the importance of art and its social function. The overall aim is to provide an overview of the ideas behind the founding of a number of museums, and a selection of museums are examined more closely, particularly with regard to their foundation: the collections. Where did the collections come from and how are they managed and administered today? The social function of the collections is an important aspect. In 1958, Moderna Museet opened in Stockholm. Ten years earlier, at the end of June 1948, Prince Eugen's Waldemarsudde was opened, a museum that by definition became Sweden's first museum for modern and contemporary Swedish art. These museums are examples of two different types of museum foundations and also only two examples of new Swedish (art) museums around the middle of the 20th century. As for the donor museums and the county museums, the driving forces behind the creation of each museum are interesting and rewarding to investigate. How did these collections become museums, and what is a museum collection? It is clear that the regional museums that actively work with art today remain more relevant and attractive than those that focus more on general cultural history. The artists' homes that were museumized around the middle of the 20th century have chosen different survival strategies. Is the original protagonist of these museums today a burden or a valuable starting point for museum activities? Are artists' homes an obsolete phenomenon?