What was the Stadtmuseum before it became a museum? It was a house of democracy. It was a meeting place for the Saxon estates and the first constituent parliament met here. We are building on this. With a small and permanent group of city dwellers from Ukraine, we are bringing together objects, stories, perspectives and points of view for our collection. From January 2025 and for three months, we will be showing what we have collected in the city museum. The project is funded by the Foundation Places of German Democratic History.
Collections as the memory of urban society
Museum collections are the memory of urban society. Things tell stories. However, the process of collecting is usually carried out by museum experts without the participation of citizens. As a result, collections are created behind closed doors that do not reflect urban society in its entirety.
Furthermore, objects are often viewed one-dimensionally in museums. The museum perspective is the only one that is allowed and later becomes visible in exhibitions. Perspectives that enable a deeper and more personal understanding of the collected objects are largely or completely absent.
The City Museum as a place of democracy
Building on the museum's tradition as a place of democracy, as the former meeting place of the Saxon estates and the place where the first constituent state parliament met, we would like to open up to the urban community. In close cooperation with citizens, we would like to quantitatively expand and supplement our collection and collect history and personal experiences through objects, photographs and documents. We therefore focus on democratizing the collection work through participation.
Collection workshops
In our first series of workshops, which began on September 12, we are working for several weeks with a small group of people from Ukraine who have fled the war or have been living in the city for a long time. We will collect objects, stories and perspectives together. With the pilot project, we also want to gain experience in the field of participatory collecting and collecting the present. Our wish is to continue the workshops with other communities and social groups, to collect objects for our new permanent exhibition and to contribute to the formation of a pluralistic culture of remembrance in the city. The collected objects and their stories will be temporarily displayed in a workshop space from January 2025.
