Version française |“80% of Europeans consider cultural heritage essential. It is import

Version française |“80% of Europeans consider cultural heritage essential. It is important to celebrate this consensus!”In the second and final part of our interview with David Vuillaume, director of the German Museums Association (Deutscher Musemsbund e.V.) and president of the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO), learn about the Association’s plans for the European Year of Cultural Heritage, NEMO’s work, and the role of digital technology in protecting threatened cultural heritage. The first part of the interview can be read here.What projects for the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH 2018) are in the works at the German Museums Association?First of all, we are very happy that this event exists. We have found that for the majority of citizens, whether they be Germans or Europeans, cultural heritage is fundamental. According to one of the latest Eurobarmeters, a European opinion poll published in December 2017, 80% of Europeans consider cultural heritage essential both at a European level and in their daily lives. It is important to celebrate this consensus about our wonderful cultural heritage.In Germany, we are going to motivate museum management to work with their European colleagues. European networks within the museum field exist, such as the one that I run [NEMO]. But from day to day, it’s difficult and rather rare to call a colleague in another country. We would like our members to do that. It seems minor but it’s still important to take advantage of this year to encourage people to put to good use their international network.We also want to motivate our members to get in touch with professionals from fields other than museums. What I mean by this is the cultural field in a very large sense: dance, theatre, intangible cultural heritage, cultural start-ups, etc. In a nut shell, all the institutions, all the organisations that play a role in the cultural heritage field. We would like this cultural network as a whole emerge strengthened from 2018.Other than these two internal objectives, our external goal is obviously to demonstrate what we do since the public expects nothing else than to see our work, to participate, to get engaged, and to give their opinion. So, we are going to open our doors and motivate the public to take ownership of their cultural heritage. We expect a very positive dynamic. At the beginning of the year, Germany had already planned three hundred projects.David Vuillaume speaking at NEMO’s 24th annual conference in 2016. Credit : NEMOAnd projects at the European level?We are in the process of establishing a partnership with a neighbouring country, Denmark, which decided to start a collaboration with Germany over three years. We are building networks and holding talks between German and Danish museum management. For example, we are discussing how we can use media, television, radio, and the internet to spread cultural heritage values.What do you think of the role of digital technology in protecting threatened cultural heritage?In Europe, we have little cultural heritage that is extremely threatened. However, what is of interest is using our skillsets to support other countries that have a difficult time protecting their cultural heritage. Our job is to preserve cultural heritage. But its true that by digitising it, we can make cultural heritage accessible that cannot typically be visited. Therefore, we contribute to its recognition by the international community and indirectly to its preservation: once it is well-known and indexed, it will be more difficult for this cultural heritage to disappear. Iconem’s work is truly fascinating and I hope that it will contribute to the removal of monuments from the endangered cultural heritage list.A training session on audience development organised by NEMO in Sarajevo in 2017. Credit : NEMOYou are president of the organisation NEMO, could you briefly describe NEMO and its work? NEMO is the Network of European Museum Organisations. It was founded 25 years ago when the European Union was created. The goal was to give the EU a representative in the European museum world. For over twenty years now, the EU finances this network so that it can be that voice of the European museum landscape.Within this framework, we organise professional training sessions because even 25 years after NEMO’s creation, we see that there are still enormous differences between the south and the north of Europe but also between the east and the west. Our job is to spread knowledge from one country to another. We are the only organisation that does this and we organise dozens of webinars or conferences all year long. Digital technology is no longer presented within our organisation as something innovative but as something self-evident. I am exaggerating a little but I want to emphasize that it is no longer about whether digital technology can play in the cultural field. It is about making use of digital technology to make our work more efficient and our cultural heritage more accessible. We do not offer a class on digitisation. Instead, all of our courses incorporate digital technology. Thank you David Vuillaume for sharing his vision for digital technologies in German and European museums and his thoughts on the European Year for Cultural Heritage and cultural heritage. For more information about the Deutscher Musemsbund e.V., you can check out the association’s Facebook page and Twitter account. NEMO is also active on Facebook and Twitter. You can also follow David on Twitter at @DavidVuillaume. Main photo: The cover of a guide to internships and volunteering in museum, published by the German Musuems Association (Deutscher Musemsbund e.V.). Credit: Deutscher Musemsbund e.V. -- source link

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