MeLa Publications

The MeLa editorial activity promotes the widespread use of the advancement of knowledge produced by the Project. Special policies have been agreed by the Consortium Partners in order to guarantee a high open access level to all Project products, and in particular to make publications readable and downloadable.
In this page, you can find a selection of MeLa related documents, and the articles, papers and books produced by the Consortium members within the MeLa Project, which will be available free of charge whenever possible and, in any case, at least in their executive summary.

These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.

The MeLa*Books Series

>> Access the series of open-access digital publications which report the main findings ensued from the research activities developed by the different MeLa Research Fields.

• European Museums in the 21st Century - Vol. 1

  Basso Peressut, Luca, Francesca Lanz, and Gennaro Postiglione, eds. 2013. European Museums in the 21st Century: Setting the Framework - Vol. 1. Milan: Politecnico di Milano.
  
  This book grew out of the earliest work of the MeLa Research Field 6, “Envisioning 21st Century Museums,” aimed at exploring current trends in European contemporary museums. Analysing their ongoing evolution triggered by this “age of migrations” and with specific attention to their architecture and exhibition design, the volume collects the preliminary observations ensuing from this survey, complemented by the some paradigmatic examples, and further enriched by interviews and contributions from scholars, curators and museum practitioners.
  With contributions by Florence Baläen, Michela Bassanelli, Luca Basso Peressut, Joachim Baur, Lorraine Bluche, Marco Borsotti, Mariella Brenna, Anna Chiara Cimoli, Lars De Jaegher, Maria Camilla De Palma, Hugues De Varine, Maria De Waele, Nélia Dias, Simone Eick, Fabienne Galangau Quérat, Sarah Gamaire, Jan Gerchow, Marc-Olivier Gonset, Klas Grinell, Laurence Isnard, Marie-Paule Jungblut, Galitt Kenan, Francesca Lanz, José María Lanzarote Guiral, Vito Lattanzi, Jack Lohman, Carolina Martinelli, Frauke Miera, Elena Montanari, Chantal Mouffe, Judith Pargamin, Giovanni Pinna, Camilla Pagani, Clelia Pozzi, Paolo Rosa, Anna Seiderer.
  
  Volume 1 includes: Introduction, Chapter 1: National History Museums, Chapter 2: Natural History Museums, Chapter 3: Ethnographic and World Culture(s) Museums

  European Museums in the 21st Century - Vol. 1 Luca Basso Peressut, Francesca Lanz, Gennaro Postiglione - Books - March 2013 Fd06 Document more

• MeLa Newsletter #07

  The MeLa Staff is pleased to launch the new issue of the MeLa Newsletter, providing updated news about the Project outcomes, events and publications. Don't miss in this issue: reporting about the latest MeLa Design Actions; presenting the RIME final conference; introducing the new MeLa Books; illustrating the programme of the forthcoming MeLa Seminar in Paris.

  MeLa Newsletter #07 MeLa Newsletter - Document - July 2013 Fd07 Document more

• Redefining the Lobby of the MACBA Study Center

  Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, ed. 2013. Redefining the Lobby of MACBA Study Center. Selection of Proposals. Barcelona: MACBA.
  
  One of the main purposes of museum archives and libraries is to make the knowledge contained in their documentary collections available to the public. For this transmission to be e‚ective, it must take place in an appropriate environment, its design going beyond sites traditionally devoted to document consultation and exhibition. Accordingly, it is important to consider the role that the architecture of such sites and their visibility from the exterior play in leading the public to them, and in users’ sensory and cognitive experience of them. The objective of the call for proposals, launched as part of the MeLa Project and aimed at students of design and architecture, is to find creative solutions for and reflect on this concern, taking the lobby of the MACBA Study Center as a case in point. This book contains the projects that best respond to the desire to promote documentary heritage and provide a flexible, multi-purpose space that facilitates interaction with the public. With contributions by: Isabel Bachs, Mela Dávila Freire and Gennaro Postiglione.
  

  Redefining the Lobby of the MACBA Study Center MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona - Books - June 2013 Fd05 Document more

• What dust will rise? Il museo sotto assedio (o in esodo…)

  The latest issue of the online peer-reviewed journal Visual Ethnography includes an article by Giulia Grechi, research fellow at “L’Orientale”, cooperating to the enhancement of the MeLa Research Field 02, who offers a reading of an unsolved process about the role and the identity of contemporary museums, and their vocation as institutions devoted to citizen education. This role, in a difficult economic and cultural situation like the present one, is experiencing new unrests, but it is also experimenting new ways of discussing old questions, like representativeness and accessibility of the museum as a public place, heritage, citizenship and authority of museum narrations.
  
  The full paper can be read and downloaded via the website of the Visual Ethnography journal. In order to access it, open the following link, register to the "online submission" and log-in.

  What dust will rise? Il museo sotto assedio (o in esodo…) Giulia Grechi - Essays - July 2013 Fd02 Document more

• Agency, Ambivalence, Analysis

  Noack, Ruth, ed. 2013. Agency, Ambivalence, Analysis. Approaching the Museum with Migration in Mind. Milan: Politecnico di Milano.
  
  This research publication offers 15 essays which contribute towards building an argument about the role of museums in a migratory society, taking into account artistic practices, collections, exhibition – and audience – making. It is argued that artistic practices can give us valuable leads as to how museums should forge their policies, that the empirical studies of audiences show that contemporary approaches to audience building result neither in integration nor equal treatment of migrants, and that it is worth looking at questions of migration through the lens of museum display and collection. With contributions by: John Barker, Roger M. Buergel, Clare Carolin, Clémentine Deliss, Andrew Dewdney , Branislav Dimitrijević, Geneviève Frisson, Gangart, Ays¸e Güleç, Clemens Krümmel, Pablo Lafuente, Kristen Marek, Carmen Mörsch, Peter Osborne, and Victoria Walsh.
  

  Agency, Ambivalence, Analysis Ruth Noack (ed.) - Books - February 2013 Fd04 Document more

• "Placing" Europe in the Museum

  Whitehead, Christopher, Rhiannon Mason, Susannah Eckersley and Katherine Lloyd. 2013. "Placing" Europe in the Museum: People(s), Places, Identities. Milan: Politecnico di Milano.
  
  The book represents the proceedings of the international conference "Placing" Europe in the Museum: People(s), Places, Identities, held at Newcastle University in September 2012. This was the first in a series of events intended to complement and inform research within the context of the MeLa Project. The papers relate to Research Field 01, which focuses on Museums and Identity in History and today, and will develop policy-relevant arguments concerning the cultural significance of place within museum representations for questions of contemporary European identities and notions of citizenship. The volume includes contributions of: Christopher Whitehead, Rhiannon Mason, Susannah Eckersley, Katherine Lloyd, Tomasz Maślanka, Michal Luczewski, Christine Cadot, Roxana Adina Huma, Elisabeth Tietmeyer, Barış Ülker, Kylea Little, Francesca Lanz, Michelle More, Sonja Kmec.
  

  "Placing" Europe in the Museum Whitehead, Christopher, Rhiannon Mason, Susannah Eckersley and Katherine Lloyd - Books - March 2013 Fd01 Document more

• MeLa RF04 Bibliography: History of Temporary Exhibitons

  This bibliography is part of the process of research and knowledge sharing that RCA, London, and MACBA, Barcelona, have undertaken within the context of the Research Field 04 of the MeLa Project, which investigates the documenting, archiving and historising of contemporary art exhibitions. The aim of this process is to reflect on current practices for the documenting and archiving of exhibitions and the ways these inflect upon the writing of exhibition histories. This is not just so as to identify and replicate “best practices” for exhibition archives, but rather, to think beyond these in order to propose new ones, taking on board the challenges brought on by a newly globalised artworld and an increasingly digitalised exhibition practice.
  
  This work-in-progress bibliography, intended as a selection of the most relevant references, will continue to be expanded during the duration of the MeLa Project. In putting it together, RCA and MACBA expect to produce a succint account of how the history of temporary exhibitions has evolved along the last thirty years, encompassing not only the most significant texts and/or exhibitions in the Western countries, but also other in areas of the world.

  MeLa RF04 Bibliography: History of Temporary Exhibitons Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona & The Royal College of Art - Document - March 2013 Fd04 Document more

• MeLa Newsletter #06

  The MeLa Staff is pleased to launch the new issue of the MeLa Newsletter, providing updated news about the Project outcomes, events and publications. Don't miss in this issue: the introduction of the new MeLa Books, the report from the latest MeLa Conferences, an insight on the MeLa RF04 Exhibition, the presentation of the EUBORDERSCAPES Project, and the dissemination of the final outcomes of the EUNAMUS Project.

  MeLa Newsletter #06 MeLa Newsletter - Document - March 2013 Fd07 Document more

• MeLa Newsletter #05

  The MeLa Staff is pleased to launch the new issue of the MeLa Newsletter, providing updated news about the Project, the latest publications and the forthcoming events. Don't miss in this issue: the presentation of the new MeLa Books, ensued within the Research Fields 01, 02, 03 and 05; ‘Remarks on "Placing" Europe in the Museum’: a report from the first MeLa International Conference, by Chris Whitehead; a presentation of ‘The Conclusion of the EuroMed2012 Conference under the EU Cypriot Presidency'; an introduction to the project 'Brera: un'altra storia', by Silvia Mascheroni; an overview about the exhibitions and the seminars promoted in cooperation with the MeLa researchers within the [S]oggetti Migranti project; MeLa forthcoming events.

  MeLa Newsletter #05 MeLa Newsletter - Document - November 2012 Fd07 Document more

• Placing Migration in European Museums

  Whitehead, Christopher, Susannah Eckersley, and Rhiannon Mason. 2012. Placing Migration in European Museums: Theoretical, Contextual and Methodological Foundations. Milan: Politecnico di Milano DPA.
  
  How might we understand and study museum representations pertaining to place, identity and migration in contemporary Europe? This question is addressed in this book, which is the first of a series produced by researchers at Newcastle University in the context of the EC-funded project ‘European Museums in an Age of Migrations’ (MeLa). The book sets out the theoretical and methodological premises for Research Field 1 of the MeLa Project. This Research Field focuses on Museums and Identity in History and today, and will develop policy-relevant arguments concerning the cultural significance of place within museum representations for questions of contemporary European identities and notions of citizenship.
  

  Placing Migration in European Museums Christopher Whitehead, Susannah Eckersley, Rhiannon Mason Category: Books - Books - November 2012 Fd01 Document more

• Cultural Memory, Migrating Modernities and Museum Practices

  Ferrara, Beatrice, ed. 2012. Cultural Memory, Migrating Modernities and Museum Practices. Milan: Politecnico di Milano DPA.
  
  The intention of the contributions in this volume is to explore the parameters and paradigms of the contemporary museum—its spaces, practices and avowed purposes—in the light of the critical interrogations raised by postcolonial criticism and analyses. How are we to re-think museum studies, exhibitionary practices and archiving procedures within the radical revaluation of Occidental modernity? Such an investigation witnesses the latter’s historical and cultural premises being exposed to questions and possibilities it has rarely authorized. When the unsung bodies, cultures and histories of colonialism and Empire return to ghost the contemporary world—this, too, is “globalization”—then the manner of picturing and framing the memories of that past and present becomes a pressing and contested matter. Are we merely to adjust and enlarge an inherited frame of understanding to incorporate this critical encounter, or is something more required? With contributions by: a.titolo, Danilo Capasso, Iain Chambers, Lidia Curti, Alessandra De Angelis, Beatrice Ferrara, Giulia Grechi, Celeste Ianniciello, Mariangela Orabona, Michaela Quadraro, and Federica Timeto.
  

  Cultural Memory, Migrating Modernities and Museum Practices Beatrice Ferrara - Books - November 2012 Fd02 Document more

• European Crossroads

  Innocenti, Perla, ed. 2012. European Crossroads: Museums, Cultural Dialogue and Interdisciplinary Networks in a Transnational Perspective. Milan: Politecnico di Milano DPA.
  
  This volume collects a series of essays and interviews exploring diverse European perspectives on interdisciplinary collaborations between cultural institutions. International scholars and practitioners discuss cross-domain partnerships, cultural identity and cultural dialogue, heritage for the arts and sciences, European narratives, migration and mobility, and describe real-life case studies in museums, libraries, foundations, associations and online portals. With contributions by and interviews with: Joan Abella, Agnes Arquez Roth, Janine Burger, Mela Davila, Sergio Dogliani, Helene du Mazaubrun, Annette Friberg, Fabienne Galangau, Michel Guiraud, Els Jacob, Jean Patrick Leduc, Pompeo Martelli, Perla Innocenti, Laurence Isnard, Ellen McAdam, Jan Molendijk, Antonio Perna, Anne Solene Rolland, Sreten Ugričić, and Katherine Watson.
  

  European Crossroads Perla Innocenti - Books - November 2012 Fd03 Document more

• Representing Museum Technologies

  Allen, Jamie, and Eleonora Lupo, eds. 2012. Representing Museum Technologies. Milan: Politecnico di Milano DPA.
  
  The use of technologies in the context of museums and cultural institutions is a topic that helps bring a focus to the myriad of representational, interactive and informational forms these cultural milieux allow. Combined with developments in the public take-up of mobile technologies and networked media and communications, technologies used in representing and producing culture cause us to fundamentally re-imagine and reinvent the role of cultural institutions in a technological society. This case study source book is a snapshot, a distillation of contemporary practice by museums and cultural institutions, along with commentary, critique and best practice reflections by interdisciplinary-researchers from the MeLa project.
  

  Representing Museum Technologies Jamie Allen, Eleonora Lupo - Books - November 2012 Fd05 Document more

• Museum Policies in Europe 1990 – 2010: Negotiating Professional and Political Utopia

  Eilertsen, Lill, and Arne Bugge Amundsen (eds.). 2012. Museum Policies in Europe 1990 – 2010: Negotiating Professional and Political Utopia. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press.
  
  This EuNaMus report studies how nations develop policy in order to deploy national museums in the redefinition of the national vision. Considering museums as utopian institutions, it focusses on the negotiations between politicians and museum professionals in Europe from 1990-2010.
  
  This publication is the third in a series of open access reports from EuNaMus.
  
  Original source: Linköping University Electronic Press
  
  

  Museum Policies in Europe 1990 – 2010: Negotiating Professional and Political Utopia Eilertsen Lill, Bugge Amundsen Arne - Books - September 2012 Document more

• Great Narratives of the Past Traditions and Revisions in National Museums: Conference Proceedings fr

  Poulot, Dominique, Felicity Bodenstein, and José María Lanzarote Guiral (eds.). 2012. Great Narratives of the Past Traditions and Revisions in National Museums: Conference Proceedings from EuNaMus, European National Museums: Identity Politics, the Uses of the Past and the European Citizen, Paris 28 June – 1 July & 25–26 November 2011. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press.
  
  This collection of conference papers examines the different narratives that museums have, since the beginning of the nineteenth century and up until the present day, developed as monuments to and of national histories. The aim has been to identify how narratives and their impact might have changed over time and more particularly how this can contribute to our understanding of how they might be changing today.
  
  This publication is the fourth in a series of open access reports from EuNaMus.
  
  

  Great Narratives of the Past Traditions and Revisions in National Museums: Conference Proceedings fr Poulot Dominique, Bodenstein Felicity, Lanzarote Guiral José María - Books - October 2012 Document more

• Voices from the Museum: Survey Research in Europe's National Museums

  Bounia, Alexandra, Alexandra Nikiforidou, Niki Nikonanou, and Albert Dicran Matossian (eds.). 2012. Voices from the Museum: Survey Research in Europe's National Museums. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press.
  
  This report presents visitor perspectives on what it means to be a national museum and relations between national museums and identities.
  
  This publication is the fifth in a series of open access reports from EuNaMus.
  
  Original source: Linköping University Electronic Press
  
  

  Voices from the Museum: Survey Research in Europe's National Museums Bounia Alexandra, Nikiforidou Alexandra, Nikonanou Niki, Matossian Albert Dicran - Books - November 2012 Document more

• MeLa RF1 International Conference_Abstracts

  The document collects the abstracts of the papers presented during the first MeLa International Conference, held in Newcastle on the 3-4th Semptember 2012. Conference Title: ‘Placing’ Europe in the Museum: people(s), places, identities. Organized by the International Centre for Cultural & Heritage Studies, Newcastle University

  MeLa RF1 International Conference_Abstracts MeLa* - Document - November 2012 Fd01 Document more

• Research Field 03 International Conference - Conference Program and Abstracts

  The document collects the abstracts of the papers presented during the first MeLa International Conference, that will be held in Glasgow on the 3-4th December 2012. Conference Title: ‘Migrating heritage: networks and collaborations across European museums, libraries and public cultural institutions.” Organized by the Organised by HoA - School of Culture and Creative Arts, University of Glasgow as part of EC-funded FP7 project European Museums in an Age of Migrations (MeLA).

  Research Field 03 International Conference - Conference Program and Abstracts Perla Innocenti - Document - 1 November 2012 Fd03 Document more

• MeLa* 2012 Calendar

  The MeLa* Project is organizing a series of events aimed at deppening the knowledge inthe Project Reserach Fields. Check the calendar below recording the fortcoming scheduled events and find out more on each Research Field webpage and blog.

  MeLa* 2012 Calendar Mela* - Document - September 2012 Document more

• The Development of European Identity/Identities

  The European Commission recently published the Policy Review reporting the main findings ensued from the conference on “European Identity/Identities”, organized by the EC in Brussels in February 2012. "The Development of a European Identity/European Identities: Unfinished Business", authored by Prof. Robert Miller from Queen’s University, draws on a set of EU-funded research projects under FP6 and FP7 that deal(t) with questions related to identity in Europe.

  The Development of European Identity/Identities European Commission - Document - August 2012 Document more