Dear Archive. Laboratory for Museum Innovation is a project run by the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant together with PRAKSIS, a Norwegian organization. The project aims to make a contribution to the development of the Museum’s cultural offer by harnessing its archival collections, improving the public’s access to the Museum’s heritage, and encouraging partnerships between museums and the cultural and creative sector.
The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant is member of the family of European museums of folk art and traditions. It is a national museum subordinated to the Ministry of Culture. With its remarkably rich collections of objects, hosted by a heritage building in the Neo-Romanian architectural style, the Museum has its particular brand of museography, which earned it the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) in 1996. Its original display style is echoed in the Museum’s publications, as well as its Missionary Museum, Village School, and other events, such as exhibition openings, book launches, creative workshops, concerts, fairs, and also film screenings.
PRAKSIS (Oslo, Norway) is a transnational platform for art, research and learning focused on creating artists’ residencies. With a rich experience in the field, they have produced dozens of interdisciplinary residency programs over the past years that benefitted over 200 creators and creatives from various fields. PRAKSIS places intercultural dialog and exchange at the heart of its approach, its aim being to bring a positive change in connection with contemporary issues, such as climate change, inclusion, technology development, and others.
The project DEAR ARCHIVE. MUSEUM INNOVATION LABORATORY is financed by the EEA Grants 2014-2021 within the RO-CULTURE Programme and benefits from non-refundable financing in the amount of 964 387,80 LEI (195 445,71 EUR).
The EEA GRANTS represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. There are two overall objectives: reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe, and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA Grants amount to €1.55 billion. More details are available at www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro. www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro
The RO-CULTURE programme is implemented by the Ministry of Culture through the Project Management Unit and has as its general objective the consolidation of economic and social development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage management. The Program’s budget is approximately 34 million euros. More details are available at www.ro-cultura.ro. www.ro-cultura.ro.