Prof. dr hab. JAN SWIECH

Intitute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology

Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Poland

The contemporary cultural pattern of the active old age pensioner

on the example of open air museums

Kraków, 16.06.2009

The elderly people are the best 'clients' to museums. Their decision to visit a museum is

deliberate as they find remnants of their lives there. The research done in air museums reveal many

interesting details about these cultural events.

Open air museums, commonly known as skansens, firstly at the turn of the nineteenth century,

revolutionized the idea of a museum. They were first to record and present the existence of the social

class which had never been paid attention to before - the peasantry. The following basic facts about this

specific institution give the background for further considerations.

The interest in folk culture dates back to enlightenment, romanticism and positivism. On Polish

ground the trend had been enforced by patriotic and political aspects which aimed at incorporating

peasants and their culture into the process of renewal of the nation. Discovering the value of folk culture

inspired the wish to protect and to preserve its most valuable aspects. Then the concept of open air

museums came into being.

The founder of the first open air museum was the Swedish ethnographer - Artur Hazelius. In 1891

he organized an exhibition on the Djurgarden island in Stockholm. There were trenches there which are

called in Swedish 'skansens'. Later on this name became attributed to his museum and soon the open air

museum all over Europe were called skansens. This term has a symbolical meaning - the place where

the military art had been taught was turned in a place which recorded cultural heritage of Swedish villages

and small towns.

Artur Hazelius put a message to numerous visitors to his museum: “Learn about yourself“. Do it by

learning about living conditions of the people. The conditions created either by people themselves or by

the nature. The new type museums were to make people realize that they weren't superior to the natural

world, and at the same time demonstrate the wisdom of a simple man and his coexistence with nature.

Hazelius' concept quickly found followers in Scandinavian countries and then spread over Europe,

North America and Australia. Currently there are over 2,000 open air museums all over the world.

The first museum of this type was created in Poland by Izydor Gulgowski who opened to public

Kaszubskie Museum in Wdzydze Kiszewskie, which was situated in an 18th century cottage. Gulgowski

intended to extend the museum by incorporating historic stable, barn and church. These were the origins

of the Museum - Kaszubski Ethnographic Park named after its founder - which is still being extended.

At present there are 34 open air museums, of which best known are - Museum of Folk Buildings in

Sanok opened in 1958, Kurpiowski Skansen in Nowogród Łomynski, opened after war damages in 1958,

Land Construction Museum in Olsztynek in 1962, Slavic Folk Museum in Kluki in 1963, Gornoslaski

Ethnographical Park in Chorzów in 1964, Museum of Agriculture in Ciechanowiec in 1964, Nadwislanski

Ethnographical Park in Wygiełzów in 1968, Museum of Opole Countryside in Opole in 1970, Sadecki

Ethnographic Park in Nowy Sacz in 1975, Museum of Folk Culture in Kolbuszowa in 1975, Museum Of

Lubelskie Countryside in Lublin in 1979, Wielkopolski Ethnographical Park in Lednogóra in 1982 ,

Museum of Mazowieckie Countryside in Sierpiec in 1985 and Museum of Kielce Countryside in Tokarnia

in 1986.

Polish open air museums cover from one to several ethnographic areas (there are seventy in

Poland) and they present the whole range of the regional folk architecture which was shaped by the world

of nature, social and economic conditions, esthetic preferences of inhabitants and the work of local

carpenters. The factors mentioned above influenced the settlement patterns - the shapes of villages, the

layouts of houses , construction and building materials and decorative elements. That's why a cottage in

Kaszuby region couldn't be built in Podhale, Kurpie or Podlasie region. In addition to country houses we

can also include industrial buildings: windmills, watermills, fulling-mills, oil mills, sawmills; sacred buildings:

churches, Orthodox churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, bell towers, presbyteries; social life

buildings: inns, schools, fire-stations, community centres, manor houses with farm buildings; as well as socalled

small architecture: fences, gates, wells, well-sweeps, cellars, bridges, way-side shrines and

crosses. All these items reflect the regional character.

The significant part of skansen exhibitions are carefully prepared and display the cottages

interiors. They often present everyday life (burning fire in a fireplace and a pot with a percolating soup). All

this makes the exhibition more realistic and elevates everyday objects to a range of museum exhibits. A

mere pre-war matchbox, a pair of worn out shoes, a tea box and similar objects cannot be called

monuments but in a skansen are essential as they play a vital part in creating the right atmosphere. In

some open air museums the interiors are arranged in compliance with the ritual calendar, for example

Easter, Christmas – Museum of Mazowieckie Countryside in Sierpiec or in accordance with family

celebrations - christenings, weddings, funerals - Museum of Folk Culture in Osiek). In addition to dwellinghouses,

interiors of various workplaces are also presented, farm and inventory buildings, industrial

buildings, fire stations, places of different crafts - smithery, pottery, cooperage, wheel-wright's trade and

weaving. The objects in each room tell their own stories, so any comments aren't necessary. Without

these arrangements, open air museums would only be a lifeless collection of objects which would

demonstrate various architectural styles.

Open air museums are the reserve of the natural and cultural man's environment. Plants are

equally important as museum exhibits. The detailed presentation of trees, rivers, meadows, fields,

gardens allows to incorporate the exhibits into the natural landscape. In order to achieve all that a lot of

organizational work and research had to be done. Open air museums present historical nature of the

given area or region. The presentation of the wild plants which used to grow in a given region took a lot of

time and effort.

Another project which was popular in the last decade was the idea of infusing life into open air

exhibitions. Therefore the concept of introducing livestock and domestic animals came into being as well

as folk group performances, theatrical plays, concerts, craft fairs and additional exhibitions. Other

attractions are horse riding, carriages, sleighing. In most museums there are also inns where the regional

food is served.

The question remains how the exhibitions (prepared by ethnographers, historians, historians of

art, architects, conservators, biologists, carpenters, tile-stove setters, roofers, bricklayers) are viewed by

over two million visitors who come annually to Polish open air museums? The research shows that they

fall into two categories. The first one is made of young people who regard the open air museums as a

chance to see a historical countryside and opportunity to come into contact with the genuine history of our

ancestors. The second category are the people advanced in age for whom exhibitions are the sentimental

journey which help them to recall memories and brings about reflection over the past life. Most of them

due to their origins feel the strong link with the countryside. Others face history, not a great, monumental

one known from course books but local, familiar which has been saved from oblivion. Other people

consider a skansen exhibition a way of making up for a loss of cultural familiarity and identity caused by

a fast, hectic life and transitions. Some people treat particular exhibitions as a means to arrange their own

surroundings in accordance with regional features, which are distinctive and preserve the unique

character of their ' little fatherland'. All these feelings and motives boil down to a sense of nostalgia. In

contemporary culture this is treated as a form of coming into contact with our own self through the

museums and exhibitions. Due to this experience the present may not be regarded as a time of loss and

fall because museum exhibitions enable them to find remnants of the past and reassure them that the

past isn't completely gone, even though it's only fragmentary.

Another question is whether open air museums require new techniques that would change them

into interactive installations and whether the elderly people won't be put off by them.

It turns out, however, that a lot of elderly people made a decision about visiting a museum after

having browsed the Internet websites which all Polish open air museums have. Elderly people plan

museum tours carefully. They enquire not only about the place, opening hours, ticket prices but also about

the museum history, description of exhibits and other events which are organized during the exhibitions.

For them the interactive Internet presentations only act as a catalyst to compare the virtual presentation

with the real museum exhibits.

Elderly people also appreciate pre-exhibitions which often present, with the use of interactive

techniques, the issues of transportation of the exhibits, reconstruction and renovation works, processes

and techniques of various crafts.

Audio guides are the new technique to facilitate visiting an exhibition. These electronic devices

provide a wider background and information related to particular parts of exhibition. The simpler ones are

turned on by pressing the number on the keyboard, whereas more complicated ones turn on by

themselves by the ultra red or radio transmitter. This kind of equipment is being tried in open air museums

in Poland. The elderly people choose more preferably manual audio guides as they offer them the choice

of the appropriate comment.

All that concludes that the introduction of new electronic techniques makes the open air museums

even more attractive for elderly people. However all the devices should be introduced with moderation.

The borderline between the virtual reality and the real exhibit should not be breached. Otherwise, they feel

manipulated in terms of the pace and direction of the tour, and also stripped of the experience of personal

journey, individual discoveries and emotional attitude to their museum visit.

Could all the remarks made by elderly people be spread over other kinds of museums? Probably

yes, as elderly people who live in the world of tangible objects see the creative thoughts, symbolism and

the effort to make the objects. So if interactive devices show the real aspect of objects, they are entirely

accepted by elderly people. Museums are the art of telling about the reality by means of artefacts. The

natural sensitivity of elderly people should be taken into consideration by organizers of exhibitions. When

asked why they put down their comments in museum books rather than on museum websites the elderly

people answer that handwriting is very personal, hard to forge and leaves a lasting trace of their visit to a

museum.