Robert Rauschenberg

In connection with the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Combines, organised by Paul Schimmel for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Moderna Museet and the art history departments at Uppsala and Stockholm Universities jointly organised a seminar series on Rauschenberg. The themes of the seminars were “Postmodern genealogies: new interpretations of Rauschenberg’s works in late 20th century reception” (spring 2005), “Historic revisits: a close study of Rauschenberg’s influence in late 1950s and early 1960s art life” (autumn 2005), “Genius loci: on Rauschenberg’s influence on Moderna Museet’s identity, and the influence of modern art museums on the production of meaning in contemporary art” (spring 2006). Since Rauschenberg is so strongly linked to the history of Moderna Museet, it appeared natural to focus on him when discussing issues such as the museum’s identity.

The project was concluded with an international symposium in spring 2007, while the exhibition was shown at Moderna Museet. Several researchers had been invited to deliver their perspective on Rauschenberg and Sweden. Material from the research side was published in a double issue of Konsthistorisk tidskrift/Journal of Art History, 1–2, 2007. In addition to articles, it also contains several documents and photographs relevant to Rauschenbergs relationship to Sweden and Moderna Museet.

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The History Book

When an institution such as Moderna Museet celebrates its 50th Anniversary, it can prompt a desire to look back and analyse history as a starting point for a discussion about the future of the museum. In October 2008, the History Book Moderna Museet 1958-2008 was published, the result of a major research project. The book presents twelve new essays on subjects that have been central to the museum’s activities. It is also generously illustrated, and contains information on exhibitions and events and a bibliography.

The History Book authors:
Eva Eriksson, Annika Gunnarsson, Martin Gustavsson, Maria Görts, Anette Göthlund, Hans Hayden, Marianne Hultman, Karin Malmquist, Magnus af Petersens, Martin Sundberg, Anna Tellgren, Jeff Werner. The artists Marysia Lewandowska and Neil Cummings were invited to contribute an artistic intervention to the book.

Editor: Anna Tellgren Moderna Museet
Design: BrittonBritton
Co-produced by Moderna Museet and Steidl, Göttingen.

The research project
The History Book deals with the museum’s history from several perspectives that sort under three general themes: the history of the collection, museum policy aspects and the various activites of the museum. In the first category we find Annika Gunnarsson’s essay on how the Nationalmuseum collection of graphic art was incorporated with Moderna Museet in 1998, focusing on collection policy, the decisions preceding the transfer, and the theoretical distinction between modern and contemporary art. Anna Tellgren also touches on these subjects in her essay on the establishing of Fotografiska Museet as a department of Moderna Museet. Based on the debate concerning the position of photography, Tellgren discusses the shift in the content and expression of the photographic medium in the past few decades. Where Gunnarsson and Tellgren focus on history in recent years, Marianne Hultman highlights Moderna Museet’s early activities, the legendary 1960s. Hultman studies Pontus Hultén’s relationship to Billy Klüver of New York. Basing her essay on interviews and correspondence, she reveals Klüver’s significance to Hultén’s American network of contacts, in relation to a few of the museum’s most highly acclaimed exhibitions.

Maria Görts and Martin Gustavsson apply a broader perspective in their examination of how the collection has developed over a longer time span, and how the museum is a playing field for a political game. Görts discusses how Moderna Museet grew out of Nationalmuseum, and shows how the collection has been shaped by a combination of donations and acquisitions, contact networks, randomness and goal-oriented decisions. Gustavsson, on the other hand, studies the activities from an economic angle. The government’s letter of mandate serves as Gustavsson’s starting point for a discussion on how political and financial frameworks from different periods have related to the reality facing the museum.

The museum’s exhibitions form the basis for all its activities. Magnus af Petersens and Martin Sundberg look at the part of the collection where the exhibition medium has been more ephemeral: film and video events, events on stage and performance art. Hans Hayden looks at a few seminal exhibitions, Movement in Art (1961), Inner and Outer Space (1965), Implosion – a Postmodern Perspective (1987), and Wounds – Between Democracy and Redemption (1998), to study how they have influenced and changed notions of art and our recent art history. Martin Sundberg focuses on another facet of exhibition activities, the catalogues. Aesthetic, economic and art policy aspects of Moderna Museet’s exhibition catalogues are discussed in an international and historic context. The international perspective is the main focus of Jeff Werner’s essay on how Moderna Museet has been received abroad. From the outside, the activities of Moderna Museet have been interpreted in different ways in different countries, and international interest has fluctuated over the years.

Anette Göthlund and Karin Malmquist have studied Moderna Museet’s educational history. Göthlund’s essay compares the museum’s educational methods with society’s attitude to children and teenagers in general. Tendencies and trends change over the years, and Göthlund’s essay starts by looking at Carlo Derkert’s famous educational work and moves on to today’s values. Karin Malmquist’s essay describes the museum’s educational activities decade by decade, focusing specifically on learning activities for adults.

The publication includes a rich visual material illustrating exhibitions, events and staff, along with a chronology, a list of publications and a bibliography on publications about Moderna Museet.