Creative Sustainability and its Application in the Design of the Exhibition in Slovak National Museum

Abstract

The Museum of History located in the Bratislava Castle is an important part of the complex of specialised museums of the Slovak National Museum. Its basic mission is to purposefully acquire, preserve, scientifically and professionally process, use and make available the museum collections, documenting the development of society in Slovakia from the Middle Ages until the present. In this context of the museum´s specialisation, it has a nationwide scope. The current character of the exhibition spaces in the Bratislava Castle is based on the context of the building. At the last reconstruction was castle returned to the Baroque period. This reconstruction recognizes the historicity not only of the building but also of the architectural design of the interior. The individual exhibitions, made in the castle´s premises, are adapted to the specific architectural space. The paper presents a case study of the presentation of selected specific piece of artwork in the traditional interior of the Slovak National Museum in the Bratislava Castle. The proposed presentation strategy of artwork provides a comprehensive use of information and communication technologies. These modern presentation possibilities increase the visibility and attendance this type of exhibitions. The use of new technologies and the minimalist installation of the artwork is in sharp contrast to the essence of the exhibition – The St. Ursula vax statue. In addition to the physical presentation of the piece of artwork, emphasis is placed on the presentation of the process of restoration of the statue through the itself story. The applied research, that is presented in this papier is realized through the setup of exhibition. Its aim is to present a piece of art for the general public and professional researcher. Emphasis is focusing on the use of intellectual perception of reality through vision and hearing in conjunction with the presentation of the restoration of the piece of art. By combining the spoken word, story, music and visual background in relation to the architectural space, we verify the possibilities of the exhibition system itself in the context of the sustainability of creative activities in the Slovak National Museum. Thanks to the non-traditional form of exhibitions in the architectural space of the museum, this type of presentation is innovative and unconventional.