The aim of the research strand of museology is to respond to the changes taking place in the fields of cultural heritage and museums through academic research. It focuses on museum issues today and the development of the museum and cultural heritage sector. Some research problems of this strand are thus idiosyncratic, while others are closely related to the overall functioning of institutions in the context of structural and cultural changes. Answering the research questions related to the planning, execution and analysis of exhibitions and other museum work requires multidisciplinary, collaborative and co-creative research that takes an active role in international dialogues and museum policy debates.

The ENM’s museum research is informed by auditoriums and communication studies which provides a theoretical framework for issues of audience participation, engagement and representation of different cultural groups. The research is placed in the context of different forms of cooperation, improved engagement of existing interest groups and audiences, as well as the addressing of new visitor groups and stakeholders (different socio-cultural groups, public and private sector).

Digital communication and access to cultural heritage bring about changes in the way museums work, but this must also be accompanied by a critical analysis of museums in the context of digitalization and data acquisition, and research into the phenomenon of digitalization itself. The research strand combines the processes taking place in the physical, on-site space of museums as well as the representation of museums and cultural heritage in the digital environment. Therefore, it is potentially necessary to apply data science and computational methods. Currently, the research has focused primarily on the aspects of digitalization in exhibition communication.

Similarly to the research on the history of ethnography, the museology research strand has a certain historical dimension as the two strands are united by an interest in museum collections and their origins, as well as in issues related to the use and development of collections. Thus, questions about heritage representations and interpretations are raised, including questions about access, communication, ownership, identity, as well as related art and design practices.
The research strand of museology is integrated with artistic research. To meet the multifaceted challenges in the fields of museum communication and museum development, we use an experimental approach that views the museum as a research method and the museum-based research and its results as open and dynamic. At the heart of the approach is a multidisciplinary exhibition activity that combines researches based on scientific and artistic practice.

Artistic research is also represented in the ENM by visual anthropological research. We are developing visual anthropology into a discipline that can create independent research outputs across the main research strands or support either methodically or theoretically interdisciplinary qualitative research. The research methods characteristic of visual anthropology have historically been applied and are also currently applied in Estonian and Finno-Ugric ethnology.

The museology strand is built upon international cooperation with research institutions, museums and specific researchers through collaborative projects of various scale. Although the ENM does not act as a provider of formal education in museology, an important output of its work is the provision of museum education through various levels of study.
 

 

 

Communication of the ENM’s permanent expositions 2017-2022
The research focuses on the use practices of ENM exhibitions and the design and technological development aspects based on different users (auditoriums, curators). Drawing upon interdisciplinary research that primarily combines approaches from museum studies and media and communication studies, we analyze the innovative and creative opportunities offered today by the museum and cultural heritage. Our research, which combines basic and applied research, provides both an applied (direct input for the development of current exhibitions and new exhibitions) and a theoretical output.
Implemented by: Pille Runnel, Agnes Aljas
Project: study, network

Influential museums (2020-2022)
With its applied focus, the aim of the international museum development project is to help museums increase their influence in society. The aim of the project is to provide a framework for museum impact assessment that would aid a museum organization in its efforts to assess the impact of its activities on society. The ENM’s research group participates in the project from an action research perspective, providing analyses at both macro and micro level and contributing knowledge and competencies derived from previous research in addition to the application, collection and analysis of new data. Outputs: a comprehensive assessment model created by the project consortium, consultancy activities, academic presentations, professional and popularization publications.
Performers: Pille Runnel, Agnes Aljas
Project: study, network

Social memory and inclusive museum anthropology (2020-2023)
The aim of the project is to analyze different, sometimes contradictory, memory practices from the point of view of inclusive museum anthropology using the example of two Estonian memory communities and to examine the inclusion of these practices in the collection and exhibition activities of the ENM. The focal points of the research are: a) an analysis of the memory work on the part of the socially respected and validated community of the repressed; b) museum anthropological fieldwork and cooperation with a memory community that is underrepresented in the museum (predominantly Russian-speaking residents of northeastern Estonia, who are predominantly former mining workers) with the aim of bringing the voice and stories of the Russian-speaking community to the ENM’s collections and exhibitions; c) a creative project aimed at museum visitors, over the course of which outputs will be created that would incorporate the different modes of remembering in contemporary Estonia and that would allow for a critical and reflexive interaction. Presentations and a research article will also be completed based on the documentation of the work process.
Implemented by: Terje Anepaio, Ene Kõresaar (University of Tartu), Kirsti Jõesalu (University of Tartu)
Project: research, creative project, collection activities, network

The cultural context and sources of body interpretations in memory institutions (2018-2022)
The exhibition project “Right Body, Wrong Body” explores and shows body conceptions and perceptions in Estonia in the past and in the present. The human body is viewed as a product of culture: collective body perceptions and norms and their historical evolution is examined using examples from Estonia. The exhibition addresses six themes: 1) the human life cycle, 2) beauty and body techniques, 3) food and health, 4) socially valuable body, 5) trauma and stigma, 6) technological and fantasy body. A key aspect of the project is the re-contextualization and rethinking of the material of the collections and archives of the ENM and other memory institutions; however, other sources such as media texts and materials from private collections are also integrated so as to create new knowledge. Interpretive projects (performance, film, exhibition, etc.) of various genres that tie in with the exhibition theme, but are the product of unconnected authors have also been integrated into the exhibition project.
Implemented by: the team of exhibition curators: Kristel Rattus, Terje Anepaio, Anu Järs, Anu Kannike, Tenno Teidearu, Karin Leivategija, Reet Piiri, Ellen Värv, Pille Runnel, Inna Jürjo (Tallinn University), Toomas Gross (University of Helsinki)
Project: research, creative project, collection activities