Die Sprache der Dinge – zur Bedeutung von Museumsobjekten für den gesellschaftlichen Diskurs

Abstract

Museums are changing worldwide today, being fundamentally restructured and exposed to a variety of internal and external requirements. This highly charged process is needed to preserve and renew the importance of museums and their collections to society as a whole. The article begins with a discussion of this transformation and highlights the potential of museums and their social impact. In doing so, author focuses on the heart of all museums, on the objects themselves. Referring to the title of this volume, the author traces the language of the museum objects and discusses what they can tell us. But can things even talk? And if so, what stories do they tell us? Can we even understand them or are we too distracted? The language of things teaches us a lot about human history and in the best case also about their present and future. So it pays to listen carefully ...