In the latest podcast in the Holistic Heritage series, John Beauchamp talks to Dr Katarzyna Jagodzinska about her latest book which explores the theme of participation and the concept of the ‘post-museum’. The setting for the discussion is the picturesque historic garden of the Royal Łazienki Museum in the heart of Warsaw.
What exactly is a post-museum? Do museums really use participatory tools as often as they are portrayed as doing? How can museums – as custodians of knowledge – open up their collections and involve the public in their interaction? Or should they not do so at all?
“In the book, I show that museums overuse the term participation, inviting collaboration while maintaining their authoritarian position,” observes Dr Jagodzinska, who adds that “even if this is so, it is nevertheless wonderful that more and more museums are deciding to open up and break from their traditional way of functioning by leaving their buildings and going beyond the museum walls.”
The discussion on the practices of cooperation with the public – co-creation and co-responsibility – Is conducted on the examples of several dozen Polish museums: art, historical, ethnographic, as well as universal. There is also a discussion of how museums themselves participate in public life by speaking out and taking actions for positive changes in their surroundings. Dr Jagodzińska points out that such a cooperative and participatory method of action, which she undertook in the context of museums, can also be successfully applied by various types of historic sites, cultural institutions and organisations.
The book was published by the prestigious Routledge British publishing house in 2025 and will be launched during three meetings in the coming weeks. They have been scheduled at museums that feature extensively in the publication. The first is scheduled for 15 May 2025 at 6pm at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, followed by another on 28 May 2025 at the Museum of Podgórze (branch of the Museum of Kraków) and on 5 June 2025 at the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź. We warmly encourage you to attend!