The third autumn conference in Kumu, “What about our world after us?”, which takes place from 18 to 19 September 2009 in Kumu Art Museum (Tallinn, Estonia) focuses on the issue of the collection policies of the 21st century museum: the main problems regarding the collection policies of modern art, new perspectives and new areas of inclusion. Since the 1960s, issues concerning the collection and preservation of modern art and the role of museums in the process have become increasingly important. Modern art, where the work has often abandoned the material form and is more about sounds, smells and sociological experiments, or flows into utterly virtual worlds, can no longer be easily collected or archived using universally adopted rules. The question does not lie simply in the ways of collecting and archiving, but also in what we collect. When we keep in mind the primary principle of collection – preserving a fragment of the world today, experienced and presented through a work of art, for generations to come – first and foremost the main trends in the collection policies of modern art need to be defined. Also, the completeness of an exhibition and the issue of the contextuality of related works (e.g. biennials) are becoming increasingly important.

The Kumu autumn conference does not essentially seek answers and solutions, but is primarily a discussion, where specialists from different museums and domains exchange information on their experiences and raise new questions. The problems are not new, but they change every day. The conference is primarily addressed to those working in museums and archives, but it is also open to the wider public. Detailed programme of the conference will be announced in August 2009.

The expected conference presenters :

Perttu Rastas. (Finnish National Gallery, Central Art Archives)

Tatja Scholte. (Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), The Netherlands / INCCA)

Kirsti Harva. (Finnish National Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma)

Leevi Haapala. (Finnish National Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma)

Prof. Milan Knizak. (National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic)

Lori Zippay.  (Electronic Arts Intermix, USA)

Külli Lupkin. (Estonian National Museum)

Hilkka Hiiop. (Art Museum of Estonia)

Viktor Misiano. (Manifesta Biennale, Russia).

The conference is primarily addressed to those working in museums and archives, but it is also open to the wider public.

The working language at the conference is English.

To register for the conference, please send an e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   before 1st of September 2009.

http://www.ekm.ee/eng/ekm.php

Tel 372 602 6047

Download a PDF of this announcement here.