MUSEUM AS AN OBJECT OF CHANGE

Abstract

Over the last decades the museum sector has experienced substantial changes. The need for change has been stressed by such well-known museologists and practi- tioners as Stephen E. Weil, David Flemming and others. Moreover, the change of and within museums has arisen as one of the most important topics of several professional networks and conferences, such as “We Are Museums”, which was cre- ated in 2013 as yearly event at the intersection of culture and innovation. Thus, we can speak about paradigm of change in contemporary museums that affects their performance and future strategies. This paradigm of change in museum sector seems especially interesting if we think about the symbolic role of a museum. Traditionally a museum is an institution that keeps our heritage intact and until recently this task has been perceived as its main function. Not without reason the museum has been used as symbol for standstill, unchangeable in art and literature. Yet now we are asking for museums to change themselves and their public offer. The aim of the article is to track the development of paradigm of change in museum sector and to outline the most important fields that had been affected by change during past decades. The change of museum sector has been viewed in regional context, marking the most important trends: 1) changes in the models of museum funding; 2) changes in museum’s strategic priorities; 3) changes in our perception of a museum. Still, it is important to remember that an organization can never change just one thing – in most cases museums are subjected to more than one of these trends. The results in almost all cases are similar – growing importance of museum management.