ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE ASSOCIATION'S STATUTE II (extended version)

1. The Association's Mission

1. The Association's overriding goal is the protection, preservation, documentation and continuation of the original idea, heritage, achievements and concept of the Book Art Museum in Łódź (BAM).
2. The point of reference for determining the “original idea of BAM” is the first 30 years of BAM’s existence and activity.
3. This does not refer solely to formal founding documents, but to the actual manner of BAM’s functioning: its activities, values, ideas, program, achievements and practices that shaped its identity during the first 30 years.
4. The Association is to serve as a guardian of the ideological continuity and heritage of BAM, regardless of later organizational, legal, ownership, institutional, financial or personnel changes.

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2. The original idea of BAM as the reference period

1. The first 30 years of BAM’s activity constitute the primary source material for defining its original idea.
2. In determining this idea, particular attention should be paid to:

• BAM’s activities;
• the activities and achievements of its founders, creators and co-creators;
• projects carried out;
• artistic activity;
• museum activity;
• educational activity;
• research activity;
• publishing activity;
• the operation of workshops and studios;
• applied technologies and traditional techniques;
• collections, archives, machines, devices and equipment;
• publications, catalogues and documentary materials;
• testimonies of people connected with BAM;
• the way BAM functioned as a living cultural centre.

1. The original idea should not be defined on the basis of a single document or a single event, but on the basis of as complete a picture as possible of BAM’s first 30 years of activity.

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3. Protection of BAM’s heritage

The Association shall protect both the tangible and intangible heritage of BAM, in particular:

• BAM’s history;
• its collections;
• archives;
• documentation;
• publications;
• equipment;
• machines and devices;
• tools;
• matrices;
• typefaces and printing forms;
• traditional technologies;
• knowledge and skills;
• working methods;
• artistic achievements;
• scholarly achievements;
• educational achievements;
• technological achievements;
• organizational achievements;
• the memory of people connected with BAM.

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4. Protection of the founders' and creators' achievements

The Association should protect and document the achievements of the people who created, developed and co-created BAM.

This specifically concerns:

• artistic achievements;
• intellectual achievements;
• scholarly achievements;
• educational achievements;
• technological achievements;
• organizational achievements;
• documentation of their activities;
• the memory of these people.

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5. Preserving the concept of a “living museum”

One of the fundamental elements of BAM’s original idea is treating it as a living museum, not merely a place for storing exhibits.

The Association should work to preserve:

• the practical character of BAM;
• historical technologies that are functional or can be made operational;
• workshops and studios;
• the practical transmission of knowledge;
• education through direct contact with technology and craft;
• the combination of museum, art, education, research and practice;
• intergenerational transmission of knowledge and skills.

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6. Protection of the artist’s book and traditional techniques

The Association should support and protect heritage related to:

• the artist’s book;
• printing;
• typography;
• papermaking;
• bookbinding;
• traditional printing techniques;
• technologies related to book production;
• artistic use of historical techniques.

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7. Documentation and archiving

The Association should systematically document BAM’s history and heritage by:

• creating an archive;
• collecting documents;
• collecting photographs;
• collecting audio and video recordings;
• digitizing materials;
• creating catalogues;
• creating databases;
• creating digital repositories;
• documenting witness accounts and people connected with BAM;
• documenting changes occurring at BAM.

Particular importance should be attached to securing materials relating to BAM’s first 30 years.

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8. Evaluation of changes concerning BAM

The Association should have the ability to analyse and publicly present a position regarding changes taking place at BAM.

In particular, it should be possible to assess:

whether a specific change concerning BAM is consistent with its original idea shaped during the first 30 years of its existence.

The assessment may concern changes that are:

• organizational;
• legal;
• ownership-related;
• institutional;
• financial;
• programmatic;
• artistic;
• educational;
• technological;
• relating to collections;
• relating to archives;
• relating to equipment;
• relating to the way BAM functions;
• relating to its identity and character.

The Association is not to replace BAM’s governing bodies, but to monitor, analyse, document and evaluate changes from the perspective of protecting its original idea and heritage, and then to take actions permitted by law.

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9. Independence of the mission from organizational changes

The Association’s mission should be independent of:

• who runs BAM;
• who organises it;
• its legal form;
• its organizational structure;
• who manages it;
• how it is financed;
• its ownership status;
• the composition of its staff;
• what institutional changes may occur in the future.

A change of organiser or legal form of BAM should not mean that the Association loses its basis for protecting BAM’s original idea and heritage.

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10. Civic activities

The Association should be able to undertake lawful civic actions related to protecting BAM, in particular:

• submitting motions;
• submitting petitions;
• submitting comments and positions;
• participating in consultations;
• applying to public administration bodies;
• using the right of access to public information;
• analysing public documents;
• conducting public debate;
• organising social campaigns;
• informing public opinion;
• preparing reports and analyses.

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11. Scientific and expert activity

The Association should be able to:

• conduct research;
• commission research;
• fund research;
• commission expert opinions;
• commission assessments;
• prepare analyses;
• prepare reports;
• cooperate with universities;
• cooperate with scholars;
• cooperate with experts;
• publish research results.

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12. Education and dissemination of knowledge

The Association should be able to organise and fund:

• lectures;
• workshops;
• seminars;
• conferences;
• meetings;
• debates;
• demonstrations;
• practical classes;
• educational programmes;
• teaching materials;
• courses;
• online educational activities.

The subject matter should include in particular BAM, its history, the artist’s book, printing, typography, paper, bookbinding, traditional technologies and cultural heritage.

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13. Publishing and informational activity

The Association should be able to create and publish:

• books;
• catalogues;
• albums;
• studies;
• reports;
• articles;
• historical materials;
• educational materials;
• photographic materials;
• films;
• recordings;
• multimedia materials;
• websites;
• knowledge bases;
• digital archives.

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14. Cooperation

The Association should be able to cooperate with:

• museums;
• libraries;
• archives;
• universities;
• scientific institutions;
• cultural institutions;
• non-governmental organisations;
• artists;
• creators;
• scholars;
• experts;
• educators;
• people historically connected with BAM;
• public administration;
• local government;
• national and international organisations.

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15. Fundraising

The statute should enable raising funds to achieve the Association’s goals, in particular from:

• membership fees;
• donations;
• inheritances and bequests;
• grants;
• subsidies;
• public collections;
• sponsorship;
• income from assets;
• other legally permitted sources.

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16. Expenditure of funds

The statute should enable financing all expenditures directly or indirectly related to achieving statutory goals.

In particular, funds may be used for:

• protecting heritage;
• documentation;
• archiving;
• digitization;
• conservation;
• research;
• expert opinions;
• analyses;
• educational activity;
• publishing activity;
• organising events;
• information campaigns;
• purchasing equipment;
• purchasing tools;
• purchasing materials;
• purchasing software;
• specialist services;
• remuneration for persons performing statutory tasks;
• maintaining infrastructure necessary to achieve goals;
• administrative costs related to statutory activity.

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17. Acquiring and accepting goods

The Association should be able to:

• accept donations in kind;
• acquire documents;
• acquire publications;
• acquire equipment;
• acquire tools;
• acquire machines and devices;
• accept materials related to BAM’s history;
• secure and conserve such items;
• create its own archive and documentary holdings.

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18. Legal actions

The statute should provide for the Association's ability to undertake legal, administrative and judicial actions to the extent that the law grants it the appropriate rights.

This should include in particular actions related to:

• protecting heritage;
• protecting cultural goods;
• protecting documentation;
• protecting collections;
• access to information;
• the fulfilment of statutory goals.

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19. Principle of broad pursuit of goals

The statute should be drafted so as not to limit the Association to a closed catalogue of specific projects.

The principle should be adopted that:

The Association may undertake any lawful actions, directly or indirectly, serving the achievement of its statutory goals.

This will enable responses to new situations and problems that cannot currently be foreseen.

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20. Key interpretive principle

All the Association’s goals and activities should be interpreted through the prism of its overriding purpose:

the protection, preservation, documentation and continuation of the original idea, heritage, achievements and concept of BAM, whose basic point of reference is the first 30 years of its existence and activity.

Every project, expenditure, donation, grant, educational, research, publishing, archiving, social or legal action should be possible to attribute to at least one of the statutory goals.

At the same time, the statute should not restrict the Association's activity exclusively to actions carried out directly on BAM’s premises. The Association should be able to pursue its mission also through activities outside BAM, on the internet, in other institutions, in public space and in cooperation with other entities.

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21. Principle of continuity

The Association shall protect not only BAM’s current state but also the continuity of its idea.

This means that its task is not only to preserve the building, collections or equipment, but above all to preserve the answer to the question:

What BAM was meant to be and what it actually was in the first 30 years of its existence?

That answer should form the basis for evaluating future changes and guiding the Association’s actions.

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22. The most important assumption of the entire statute

The statute should not create another general association dealing with “culture” or “monument protection.”

It should unambiguously state that:

The Association was established primarily to protect the original idea of BAM, its heritage, achievements and concept, as shaped in the first 30 years of BAM’s existence, and to ensure the possibility of documenting, defending, continuing and transmitting them to future generations.

All other goals and forms of activity are to serve this overriding purpose.