The sharing of cultural heritage – that is the goal the Museum of Communication hopes to achieve by opening up and developing the way in which it works with its collections. In participatory projects we explore various different questions: What is it that attracts people to the photos, objects, films and works of art that are stored at the museum? What stories and experiences might be missing from the museum? And quite generally: what is this “cultural heritage” that we have inherited, and who do we mean when we say “we”? The only way to find out is to collaborate with the cultural heirs and heiresses, and this includes every one of us in all our colourful diversity.

But it is not enough to declare everyone an heir or heiress. True sharing also means that we must ask who is privileged within the Swiss culture of remembrance and who has been excluded or “disinherited” up to now. The museum wishes to share its interpretational sovereignty and make room for marginalised perspectives. Together with stakeholders in civil society and the museum’s visitors and armed with lots of questions, we are setting out on a journey towards an open process.

The emphasis is on the collection of some 500,000 photographs which will be fully digitised by 2030. It records, not just the developments in communication but also the history of everyday life in Switzerland, a country that is part of an interconnected world. 

SKKG (page translated in german and french), the Art, Culture and History Foundation, supports our participatory work involving our collections with the aim of sharing our cultural heritage.