How the Museum Works
This exhibition explores the operations of the museum’s human-driven “machines”. Looking at the history and present of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, we will now focus not on art history or the annals of a collection known around the world, but all that accompanies it and allows it to operate. It speaks of the invisible actions of many people, conservation, research, and mediatory work, and logistical and technical processes.
INFO
Place
Time
Opening
Curatorial team
exhibition coordination
Editorial coordination
graphic design
diagram design
communication
conservation
installation
education
The work of the artists on display at How theMuseum Works,alongside the information and archival materials, gives us a look into previously unrevealed aspects of the institution, letting us see what generally remains invisible. These are accompanied by works from the museum collections, not selectedaccording to acurator’s narrative, but based on the decisions of the workers contributing to the institution. These works display the diversity of their tastes and how the standpoint of their jobinfluences their perspective on art.
Here the institution’s public life weaves with the private, and the museum storerooms become no less important than the exhibition rooms. What path must a work travel to end up at an exhibition? And how many people are involved? Which pieces can tell us about working here? How does themuseumoperate and who actually makes sure it does? Since the opening of the first exhibition of the a.r. Group International Collection of Modern Artin 1931, the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź has been a locus of the avant-garde, but also a workplace. This exhibition gives the public access to knowledge on its functions and specifics, while honoring the everyday activities of behind-the-scenes culture workers.
How theMuseum Workscontinues exploring the identity and history of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, following such projects as Marysia Lewandowska’s Tender Museum exhibition (2009), the publication on Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź (2015), and research into the workers’ oral history:Please Carry on: A Social History of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź.
Patronage
Media patronage
