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How We Understand the Defense of MKA
Protection of continuity, identity, and living practiceThe defense of MKA is understood here as the protection and documentation of the Museum of Book Art's history, heritage, achievements, identity and original concept.
The reference point for understanding that original concept is the first 30 years of the Museum's existence and activity. This means looking not only at formal documents, but also at the way the Museum actually functioned: its artistic activity, museum work, education, publishing, workshops, technologies, collections, archives and relationships with artists and visitors.
What should be protected
The heritage of MKA includes both tangible and intangible elements. These include collections, archives, machines, tools, matrices, typefaces, printing forms, publications, documentation and historical technologies. It also includes knowledge, skills, working methods, artistic achievements, educational work and the memory of people who created and developed the Museum.
The living museum model
A central part of this understanding is the idea of a living museum.
The Museum should not be understood only as a place where finished objects are stored behind glass. Its identity is also connected with practice: working with technologies, demonstrating processes, sharing knowledge and maintaining direct contact between people, objects, tools and craft.
Why documentation matters
Documentation creates a reference point for future discussion. It makes it possible to compare changes in organisation, financing, management, programmes, collections, technology and everyday operation with the historical identity of the Museum.
The purpose is not to freeze the Museum in time. The purpose is to make continuity visible and to ensure that changes can be discussed with knowledge of what has been built over decades.
The defense of MKA therefore means protecting the possibility of continuation, documentation and development of its heritage as a living cultural practice.
A living museum is the application of a museological concept in which the most important elements are not the exhibits themselves, but the living experience of culture, art, history, technology and craft. Visitors do not only look at collections, but actively participate in the process of their creation.
LIVE GUTENBERG TECHNIQUE at BAM
LIVE GUTENBERG TECHNIQUE at BAM is: a collection of tools, machines, skills and technological processes that remain IN USE thanks to people able to apply, transmit and creatively develop them.
Over 33 years a unique profile has been formed that combines artists, the artist's book, printing technique and public trust. A conversation about the future should begin by naming this legacy and the values that need to be preserved.