CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Merete Sanderhoff
Curator of digital museum practice
Statens Museum for Kunst
@MSanderhoff
Curatorial Challenges
University of Copenhagen
26-27 May 2016
Mix it up!
Old collections inspiring
new creativity and learning
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
About SMK
The National Gallery of Denmark
Western art from 1300 to the present
260,000 artworks
66 % in the public domain
27 % digitised
About me
Art Historian
Digital Research & Development
Advice on copyright and public domain
Standards and policies
at the national and European level
Facilitation of educational
and creative reuse
Overview
1. SMK – a catalyst for creativity and learning
2. Curatorial challenges of mixing it up
3. Re-interpreting Bildung as Building
Museums have always been
places for learning
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/j/japanese-cloisonne-in-19th-century-literary-sources/
Today,
learning happens everywhere…
…and often,
outside formal institutions
Maker Culture
DIY learning
active creativity
learning-by-doing
constructivist approach
practical skills
informal networks
cross-over between subjects
Maker culture has attracted the
interest of educators concerned
about students’ disengagement from
STEM subjects (science, technology,
engineering and mathematics) in
formal educational settings.
Maker culture is seen as having
the potential to contribute to a
more participatory approach to
learning and create new pathways
into topics that will make them
more alive and relevant to learners.
Innovating Pedagogy, 2013
http://arcade.dewlines.org/tag/maker-culture/
Art enhances the equation
http://stemtosteam.org/
*SMK’s first digital strategy, 2009
We want to be a
catalyst for
users’ creativity*
Galleries
Libraries
Archives
Museums
Open digitised collections
open up creativity and learning
http://openglam.org/
Pioneers
A beacon
400,000 quality images for free download
Remix as a way to learn
“The action of actually working with an image,
clipping it out and paying attention to the very
small details, makes you remember it.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/arts/design/museums-mull-public-use-of-online-art-images.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Taco Dibbits
Samlingschef, Rijksmuseum
https://twitter.com/PUBDOMAINHULK
A growing public demand
Working bottom up
Johannes Simon Holzbecker, Hyacints, from Gottorfer Codex, 1649-59, KKSgb2947/26. Public Domain.
Think Big,
Start Small,
Move Fast
Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy, Smithsonian
Advisory meeting with the SMK management team, November 2011
160 high res images
in 2012
http://collection.smk.dk/
25,000 images
in 2015
What does it mean?
Copyright is “a little coral reef
of private right jutting up from
the ocean of Public Domain.”
Paul Torremans, Copyright law: a handbook of contemporary research, 2007
Adam Olearius, "Oftt begehrte Beschreibung Der Newen Orienthalischen Reise [...]",
Schleswig 1647, KKSgb10873/28, SMK. Public Domain
Works that are in the Public Domain in
analogue form continue to be in the Public
Domain once they have been digitised.
http://pro.europeana.eu/files/Europeana_Professional/Publications/Public%20Domain%20Charter%20-%20EN.pdf
But people don’t
know we’re open
unless we tell them
An opportunity
Design challenge needs an exhibition venue
http://www.europeana.eu/portal/
http://pro.europeana.eu/structure/europeana-creative
Exhibitions at SMK
5 million DKK
3 years of planning
Exhibitions at SMK
5 million DKK
3 years of planning
Think Big,
Start Small,
Move Fast
Raise awareness of open collections
‘Set art free’ event, May 2015
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
A celebration
of open collections
Remix exhibition
Culture Cam installation
VanGoYourself workshop
Wiki edit-a-thon
Animated GIF workshop
Performances
Film screenings
Artist talks
Art DJ’s
In collaboration with
In collaboration with
Europeana Creative – basic funding and concept
Aalto University – project organiser
SMK Fridays – venue, framework, and manpower
= We have a project
Johannes Simon Holzbecker, Hyacints, from Gottorfer Codex, 1649-59, KKSgb2947/26. Public Domain.
Design challenge:
Remix exhibition
13 artists and
designers were
invited to mix up
SMK’s collections
The artists got to hack
our museum for a weekend
CC BY-SA 4.0 Merete Sanderhoff
Filip Vest, 22 Skies
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Their remixes ranged
from lasercut installations…
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
…over tapestries,
fashion clothes, collages…
Harald Slott-Møller, Danish landscape, 1891
Product of Public Domain
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Jamie Seaboch, Collage
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
…to a pop-up version of a painting
with motorized moving light
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Kati Hyyppä, As light goes by
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Artists talks
- communicating remix culture
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Huge interest from the audience
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
A unique mix between old and new
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
More than 6,000 people
joined the party
Feedback from artists/designers
Feedback from artists in Mix it up!
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
”It is a giant toolbox with a fantastic amount of materials to
work with.”
”It is a giant toolbox with a fantastic amount of materials to
work with.”
“It was a very strong symbiotic experience to be in so close
dialogue with the original work. It added a fresh dimension to
the permanent collections.”
Feedback from artists in Mix it up!
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
”It is a giant toolbox with a fantastic amount of materials to
work with.”
“It was a very strong symbiotic experience to be in so close
dialogue with the original work. It added a fresh dimension to
the permanent collections.”
“I have been creating collages using international museum
collections for 20-25 years (...) But I have only been able to share
them with my friends and family, knowing that if I were to
present them publicly I would face legal retribution. Now I am,
for the first time, allowed to share my perspective.”
Feedback from artists in Mix it up!
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Feedback from visitors
Feedback from guests at SMK Friday
CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
Many respondents did not know about the
museum’s open collections. Many still feel that
the museum is an old and traditional institution
whose role doesn’t rhyme with open source and
sharing culture.
Feedback from guests at SMK Friday
CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
”You know, sometimes art can feel a bit
inaccessible. And when it is just set free like this,
then people can do with it what they want. I think
that’s pretty nice.”
Feedback from guests at SMK Friday
CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
”If the artworks are to be used, it must be facilitated –
perhaps by the museum itself. The Internet is flooded
with images, it is therefore essential that SMK takes the
lead and show users how the digitised collections can
be re-used for something fun, and thought-provoking.”
Feedback from guests at SMK Friday
CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
Feedback from curators
Interesting intervention on the concept level
Some well conceived and well crafted remixes in the
show
Positively surprised at the high investment of artists
and designers in the challenge
Feedback from curators
The decision making process was rushed and unclear
Quality of the resulting remixes was too diverse
Conditions for participating artists were below SMK
standard
The design challenge would have benefitted from
integration with the curatorial workflows of SMK
What did
we learn?
Curatorial friction
Move fast > < careful preparation
Limited resources > < professional standards
Beta mindset > < perfect products
Can we/should we integrate
‘hacks’ in the organisation?
Bildung ~ Building
With universal access to
cultural heritage as raw
materials for new
creativity and innovation,
Bildung becomes closely
connected to Building.
Creating an understanding of the
world and your own place in it
becomes a product of active
processing, adapting, rebuilding
and repurposing.
The word Bildung is particularly
apt in this context, since
etymologically it is derived from
the verb bilden (to form or
create) which again originates
from the noun Bild (image).
https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-
museum/wanna-play-8f8e2e8cb2fe#.g41p8a4np
”Our role is still more to facilitate public use of
cultural heritage for learning, creativity, and
innovation.
Today, learning happens in reciprocity.
We are all a part of the web.
We shape each other.”
Mikkel Bogh
Director, SMK
http://bit.ly/1dMX0BJ
Background reading
on potentials and
challenges of
open collections
www.sharingiscaring.smk
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
Merete Sanderhoff
Curator of digital museum practice
Statens Museum for Kunst
@MSanderhoff
Curatorial Challenges
University of Copenhagen
26-27 May 2016
Questions?

Mix it up! Old collections inspiring new creativity and learning

  • 1.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup Merete Sanderhoff Curator of digital museum practice Statens Museum for Kunst @MSanderhoff Curatorial Challenges University of Copenhagen 26-27 May 2016 Mix it up! Old collections inspiring new creativity and learning
  • 2.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup About SMK The National Gallery of Denmark Western art from 1300 to the present 260,000 artworks 66 % in the public domain 27 % digitised
  • 3.
    About me Art Historian DigitalResearch & Development Advice on copyright and public domain Standards and policies at the national and European level Facilitation of educational and creative reuse
  • 4.
    Overview 1. SMK –a catalyst for creativity and learning 2. Curatorial challenges of mixing it up 3. Re-interpreting Bildung as Building
  • 5.
    Museums have alwaysbeen places for learning http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/j/japanese-cloisonne-in-19th-century-literary-sources/
  • 6.
  • 7.
  • 8.
    Maker Culture DIY learning activecreativity learning-by-doing constructivist approach practical skills informal networks cross-over between subjects
  • 9.
    Maker culture hasattracted the interest of educators concerned about students’ disengagement from STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in formal educational settings. Maker culture is seen as having the potential to contribute to a more participatory approach to learning and create new pathways into topics that will make them more alive and relevant to learners. Innovating Pedagogy, 2013 http://arcade.dewlines.org/tag/maker-culture/
  • 10.
    Art enhances theequation http://stemtosteam.org/
  • 11.
    *SMK’s first digitalstrategy, 2009 We want to be a catalyst for users’ creativity*
  • 12.
    Galleries Libraries Archives Museums Open digitised collections openup creativity and learning http://openglam.org/
  • 13.
  • 14.
    A beacon 400,000 qualityimages for free download
  • 15.
    Remix as away to learn “The action of actually working with an image, clipping it out and paying attention to the very small details, makes you remember it.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/arts/design/museums-mull-public-use-of-online-art-images.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Taco Dibbits Samlingschef, Rijksmuseum
  • 16.
  • 17.
    Working bottom up JohannesSimon Holzbecker, Hyacints, from Gottorfer Codex, 1649-59, KKSgb2947/26. Public Domain.
  • 18.
    Think Big, Start Small, MoveFast Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy, Smithsonian Advisory meeting with the SMK management team, November 2011
  • 20.
    160 high resimages in 2012
  • 21.
  • 22.
  • 23.
  • 24.
    Copyright is “alittle coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of Public Domain.” Paul Torremans, Copyright law: a handbook of contemporary research, 2007 Adam Olearius, "Oftt begehrte Beschreibung Der Newen Orienthalischen Reise [...]", Schleswig 1647, KKSgb10873/28, SMK. Public Domain
  • 25.
    Works that arein the Public Domain in analogue form continue to be in the Public Domain once they have been digitised. http://pro.europeana.eu/files/Europeana_Professional/Publications/Public%20Domain%20Charter%20-%20EN.pdf
  • 26.
    But people don’t knowwe’re open unless we tell them
  • 27.
    An opportunity Design challengeneeds an exhibition venue
  • 28.
  • 29.
  • 30.
    Exhibitions at SMK 5million DKK 3 years of planning
  • 31.
    Exhibitions at SMK 5million DKK 3 years of planning Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast
  • 32.
    Raise awareness ofopen collections ‘Set art free’ event, May 2015
  • 33.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup A celebration of open collections Remix exhibition Culture Cam installation VanGoYourself workshop Wiki edit-a-thon Animated GIF workshop Performances Film screenings Artist talks Art DJ’s
  • 34.
  • 35.
    In collaboration with EuropeanaCreative – basic funding and concept Aalto University – project organiser SMK Fridays – venue, framework, and manpower = We have a project
  • 36.
    Johannes Simon Holzbecker,Hyacints, from Gottorfer Codex, 1649-59, KKSgb2947/26. Public Domain.
  • 37.
    Design challenge: Remix exhibition 13artists and designers were invited to mix up SMK’s collections
  • 38.
    The artists gotto hack our museum for a weekend CC BY-SA 4.0 Merete Sanderhoff
  • 39.
    Filip Vest, 22Skies CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
  • 40.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup Their remixes ranged from lasercut installations…
  • 41.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup …over tapestries, fashion clothes, collages…
  • 42.
    Harald Slott-Møller, Danishlandscape, 1891 Product of Public Domain
  • 44.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup Jamie Seaboch, Collage
  • 45.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup …to a pop-up version of a painting with motorized moving light
  • 46.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup Kati Hyyppä, As light goes by
  • 47.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup Artists talks - communicating remix culture
  • 48.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup Huge interest from the audience
  • 49.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup A unique mix between old and new
  • 50.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup More than 6,000 people joined the party
  • 51.
    Feedback from artists/designers Feedbackfrom artists in Mix it up! CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup ”It is a giant toolbox with a fantastic amount of materials to work with.”
  • 52.
    ”It is agiant toolbox with a fantastic amount of materials to work with.” “It was a very strong symbiotic experience to be in so close dialogue with the original work. It added a fresh dimension to the permanent collections.” Feedback from artists in Mix it up! CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
  • 53.
    ”It is agiant toolbox with a fantastic amount of materials to work with.” “It was a very strong symbiotic experience to be in so close dialogue with the original work. It added a fresh dimension to the permanent collections.” “I have been creating collages using international museum collections for 20-25 years (...) But I have only been able to share them with my friends and family, knowing that if I were to present them publicly I would face legal retribution. Now I am, for the first time, allowed to share my perspective.” Feedback from artists in Mix it up! CC BY-SA 4.0 Ida Tietgen Høyrup
  • 54.
    Feedback from visitors Feedbackfrom guests at SMK Friday CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
  • 55.
    Many respondents didnot know about the museum’s open collections. Many still feel that the museum is an old and traditional institution whose role doesn’t rhyme with open source and sharing culture. Feedback from guests at SMK Friday CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
  • 56.
    ”You know, sometimesart can feel a bit inaccessible. And when it is just set free like this, then people can do with it what they want. I think that’s pretty nice.” Feedback from guests at SMK Friday CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
  • 57.
    ”If the artworksare to be used, it must be facilitated – perhaps by the museum itself. The Internet is flooded with images, it is therefore essential that SMK takes the lead and show users how the digitised collections can be re-used for something fun, and thought-provoking.” Feedback from guests at SMK Friday CC BY-SA 4.0 Olivia Skjerk Frankel
  • 58.
    Feedback from curators Interestingintervention on the concept level Some well conceived and well crafted remixes in the show Positively surprised at the high investment of artists and designers in the challenge
  • 59.
    Feedback from curators Thedecision making process was rushed and unclear Quality of the resulting remixes was too diverse Conditions for participating artists were below SMK standard The design challenge would have benefitted from integration with the curatorial workflows of SMK
  • 60.
    What did we learn? Curatorialfriction Move fast > < careful preparation Limited resources > < professional standards Beta mindset > < perfect products
  • 61.
    Can we/should weintegrate ‘hacks’ in the organisation?
  • 62.
  • 63.
    With universal accessto cultural heritage as raw materials for new creativity and innovation, Bildung becomes closely connected to Building.
  • 64.
    Creating an understandingof the world and your own place in it becomes a product of active processing, adapting, rebuilding and repurposing.
  • 65.
    The word Bildungis particularly apt in this context, since etymologically it is derived from the verb bilden (to form or create) which again originates from the noun Bild (image).
  • 66.
  • 67.
    ”Our role isstill more to facilitate public use of cultural heritage for learning, creativity, and innovation. Today, learning happens in reciprocity. We are all a part of the web. We shape each other.” Mikkel Bogh Director, SMK http://bit.ly/1dMX0BJ
  • 68.
    Background reading on potentialsand challenges of open collections
  • 69.
  • 70.
    CC BY-SA 4.0Ida Tietgen Høyrup Merete Sanderhoff Curator of digital museum practice Statens Museum for Kunst @MSanderhoff Curatorial Challenges University of Copenhagen 26-27 May 2016 Questions?