5+1 questions for … Tullia Tarsia in Curia on the Talkshop Museum
The team at the Bauhaus-Archiv created the Talkshop Museum as a forum to discuss issues facing the museum of the future with museum practitioners, researchers and the public. The second edition of Talkshop Museum took place at the temporary bauhaus-archiv from 9 to 19 May 2022 – time to ask the art educator Tullia Tarsia in Curia 5+1 questions about the project.
Tullia, the motto of the Talkshop is “What will the museum of the future look like?”. What can visitors expect?
I wanted to make Talkshop a platform where not just one person holds a lecture followed by questions from the audience, but rather where everyone can participate on the imaginary stage: the archive’s staff, professionals from other areas and the audience, all interacting as equals. In Talkshop, we prepare ourselves for what the future could bring. Although the museum is closed at the moment, it’s still open for sharing and developing ideas. The key topics are sustainability, accessibility, and diversity. Through public, interpersonal exchange, the museum will become more transparent and vibrant, and everyone can learn from that – be it for the sake of the museum, their own career or a project. And in the spirit of sustainability, the talks will be recorded and made available online via the Soundcloud channel of the Bauhaus-Archiv.
How did you select this year’s main topics and guests?
Following the first Talkshop in 2020, we touched on a number of key issues, and after talking with Nina Wiedemeyer, curator at the Bauhaus-Archiv, these crystallised into four thematic areas: outdoor spaces, archive, artistic research and conservation. The idea was to invite one staff member from the Bauhaus-Archiv to every Talkshop in order to anchor the topics at the museum. We select our guests in very different ways, which, of course, is influenced by the respective theme. It’s like cooking – you have to combine different ingredients each time!
You already curated one edition of Talkshop Museum in 2020. Did you ever have a moment of enlightenment?
There were two discussions that I found extremely fascinating. During the Talkshop edition “Who does the museum belong to?”, there too were young adults there, the Young Bauhäusler. It was very important to me that they express themselves as co-speakers and not simply have other people talk about them.
Also, I was especially pleased by a discussion about visitor services at the museum – an underestimated topic that we had a big debate about. One of our guests was Gallus Staubli, head of the education and presentation department at the Museum of Communication in Berne, Switzerland. The museum is a good example of how one can combine aspects of education, presentation and visitor services all in one department. I learned a lot from that talk.
What were you especially looking forward to in Talkshop 2022?
I look forward to all the talks, but I think I’m was most curious about the one on outdoor spaces. How do we make use of outdoor spaces in front of the museum for the public? Does the exhibition continue there? What quality of stay do these public spaces offer? That’s something I think about as an art educator and a mother.
What do you wish for the future Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung?
I wish for an accessible, sustainable, open, diverse and transparent museum – ideally everything at once (laughs).
The Bauhaus-Archiv owns the world’s largest Bauhaus collection. We’ve chosen a photo from the collection and now I ask you to give it your best shot and tell me what you think!
It looks to me as if an object were presented on a platter. Metaphorically, it could symbolise the museum which will soon be completed and presented on a platter. But I’m put off by the colour – it’s very gaudy.
Tullia Tarsia in Curia is a freelance art educator in Berlin and second-time curator of the programme of the discussion series Talkshop Museum at the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung.
In the first edition of our discussion series in 2020, the Bauhaus-Archiv invited guests familiar with museum practice from the fields of education, art as well as design to six discussions on self-determination, inclusivity, sustainability, and outreach. The talkshop museum discussions 2020 and 2022 are available online as podcasts via the Soundcloud channel of the Bauhaus-Archiv.