Abstract
The origins of “open-air museums” date back to the nineteenth century and from the very beginning were closely linked to efforts to capture, preserve and present folk culture. However, during the course of the twentieth century, especially in its later part, the concept of open-air museums began to expand. Open-air museums were founded that focused on urban, industrial and military environments, ecological issues, or on charting the life of prehistoric and ancient cultures. Along with this, the methodological concept for this specific type of institution saw some development, and the interdisciplinary approaches expanded in response, covering a wide range of humanities as well as natural sciences. Besides the academic approach, a social and community overlap is also required from these institutions. This article poses the question of how the concept of open-air museums can continue to develop and what direction the role of presenting cultural heritage in an open landscape could take in the future. The arguments herein are based on the philosophical and spiritual dimension of man’s dwelling in the world and his relationship to the landscape in which he lives. We believe that the future of open-air museums should, wherever possible, focus on the preservation of monuments in their historical context and especially in their natural links in terms of landscape, urbanism and architecture. To ensure this concept remains sustainable, it is necessary that these monuments be involved in the life of villages and communities, ideally also on the basis of cooperation between academia and local entities, which are usually villages or municipalities and citizens’ initiatives. Examples of such a direction can be seen in the founding and running of Rochus Park in the Uherské Hradiště region and in the concept of the association of villages called Mariánská zahrada in the Jičín region, both in the Czech Republic.
Highlights
The English notion of the open-air museum (Freilichtmuseum in German, muzeum v přírodě in Czech, where it is often referred to as skanzen) denotes, according to a definition by one of the leading figures in this branch of museum work and the first Czechoslovak theoretician, Jiří Langer, “an academic institution which, on a scientific basis, interprets and preserves folk culture in the form of a specialised museum exhibition in the open air”.1 It should incorporate interconnections of space, time, society, culture and nature and present a comprehensive picture of folk culture
To ensure this concept remains sustainable, it is necessary that these monuments be involved in the life of villages and communities, ideally on the basis of cooperation between academia and local entities, which are usually villages or municipalities and citizens’ initiatives. Examples of such a direction can be seen in the founding and running of Rochus Park in the Uherské Hradiště region and in the concept of the association of villages called Mariánská zahrada in the Jičín region, both in the Czech Republic
How can the concept of open-air museums continue to develop? In what way should the role of presenting cultural heritage in an open landscape develop in the future? The first part of this article will provide a brief overview of the history of this specific means of presenting cultural heritage, and we will look at some contemporary examples, and will outline the philosophical bases from which the possible directions and future scopes can stem, and eventually the article will present
Summary
The English notion of the open-air museum (Freilichtmuseum in German, muzeum v přírodě in Czech, where it is often referred to as skanzen) denotes, according to a definition by one of the leading figures in this branch of museum work and the first Czechoslovak theoretician, Jiří Langer, “an academic institution which, on a scientific basis, interprets and preserves folk culture in the form of a specialised museum exhibition in the open air”.1 It should incorporate interconnections of space, time, society, culture and nature and present a comprehensive picture of folk culture. The English notion of the open-air museum (Freilichtmuseum in German, muzeum v přírodě in Czech, where it is often referred to as skanzen) denotes, according to a definition by one of the leading figures in this branch of museum work and the first Czechoslovak theoretician, Jiří Langer, “an academic institution which, on a scientific basis, interprets and preserves folk culture in the form of a specialised museum exhibition in the open air”.1 It should incorporate interconnections of space, time, society, culture and nature and present a comprehensive picture of folk culture. Openair museums offer, besides an effort to capture the tangible as well as intangible manifestations of rural folk culture, some urban, industrial or military phenomena,[3] or efforts to reconstruct the life of prehistoric and ancient cultures.[4] This is the direction in which the methodological concept of “open-air museums” should necessarily develop, and expand to include the interdisciplinary approaches we hear so much of today, in which a broad range of the humanities as well as the natural sciences are addressed. Muzeológia a kultúrne dedičstvo, 1/2022 an example demonstrating how specific museum activity could be carried out in the open and in situ, and within the framework of man’s modern social structures
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