The Implicated Museum: Cares, Values, Powers, and Conflicts

Discussion moderated by: Katarzyna Jagodzińska

In the series: Museum and Care | Muzeum i troska

Lecture and discussion in English

The lecture turns to the central tasks of museums: caring for collections, conducting research, and providing public displays and educational resources. These activities are implicated in the reproduction of values and the interests of powers. Recognising that museums are not monolithic entities, the lecture will examine imperial collections, state museums, activist initiatives, and community-based institutions. It will demonstrate how museums can become platforms for conflicting value systems as they negotiate power.

During the subsequent discussion, we will explore critical reflections on more recent case studies, considering possible solutions that museums could implement to empower themselves during negotiations of power relations, while addressing conflicts and aspirations in line with the philosophy of care.

Dr Elke Krasny is a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Her research and curatorial work focuses on care and social reproduction, as well as transnational feminist activism and the politics of memory in contemporary art and architecture. In recognition of her contributions to feminist research, she was awarded the Gabriele Possanner State Prize in 2023. Her major publications include Critical Care: Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken Planet (with Angelika Fitz, MIT Press, 2019); Living with an Infected Planet: Covid-19, Feminism, and the Global Frontline of Care (transcript, 2023); Curating with Care and Curating as Feminist Organising (both with Lara Perry, Routledge, 2023); and Feminist Infrastructural Critique (with Sophie Lingg and Claudia Lomoschitz, 2024). Further information can be found in the FKW Journal.