Outstanding Objects

2023. Nov. 26. - 2024. Apr. 28.

Our Contemporary Collection 2.0

Who is the target audience of a museum and for whom does such an institution work? Which communities are given the opportunity to enter and showcase, and how much does a particular exhibition engage them? To what extent can an exhibition space or the arrangement of the (art) works in it be democratic?

What kind of museum do the residents of a given city desire? What is it about their city and communities, and the relationship between them, that largely determines their identity? What is the present and future role of museums? What is the relationship between the citizens and their city?

We address questions like these and more in the current stage of the collaborative project between MODEM and Ferenczy Museum Center, whose (art) objects on display here are organised around the cultural and personal (identity) patterns of Debrecen-ness.

Within the framework of the collaboration, participatory and participative exhibitions based on the collections of the two museums will be on display in both institutions, having been created by different local communities with museum educators, curators, art educators and mediators. The aim of the project is to create opportunities for local communities to express themselves through the exhibition, and to articulate and express what is important to them in a museum and in their city.

The methodology was to explore the problems of local communities as far as possible from a critical perspective and to attempt to reflect on the role of institutions in the particular (micro- and macro-) social context.

At MODEM, two communities from Debrecen participated in the project, and their works will be on display in two consecutive exhibitions. The current exhibition was created in cooperation with the University of Debrecen as part of an elective course. During the semester, we primarily explored different art projects critiquing institutions and discussed with the students how they relate to Debrecen and what role the city plays in their identity. Finally, based on the aspects that were important to us, we selected three works from the collection and, together with the artists, discussed the backstory of the given works and their possible interpretations. The central element of the exhibition is a stylised Debrecen map, on which the locations of the objects selected by the students are marked.

Participating students in the project: Csige Cintia / Faitli Zoltán / Gajdos Boglárka / Györgyi Kata / Hartyányi Panna / Kegyes Lilla / Kiss Tamás / Kosina Dávid / Kulcsár Kevin / Papp Violetta / Toronyi Réka / Váncsa Zsófia

Curator: Don Tamás

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