Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

In the turbulent times after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire a progressive culture-philosophical tradition evolved in Vienna, conceiving of public museum work as providing for engaging and empowering shared discursive settings. This, in its time (r)evolutionary democratic approach, an embodied and egalitarian method for considering pressing social problems and for communally deciding on sustainable ways forward, yielded exemplary experiences, practical and theoretical, still unmet in contemporary museum practice. Imbued with enthusiasm and hope for humanity’s progress, in spite of incisive experiences of persecution, expulsion and exile, proponents of this work carried the underlying socio-political ideas and practical know-how of designing three-dimensional communication structures into the world. My paper considers decisive characteristics of achievements of three eminent museum workers: Otto Neurath (1882–1945), Hans Tietze (1880–1954), Alma Wittlin (1899–1991) which can be usefully transmitted into a futurologist scenario for socially responsible heritage communication.