Film museums. Local, regional and national stories about film and culture

Exhibitions in film museums are focused in this project, which asks questions about film aesthetics, film history, nation and culture. What do the exhibitions express in terms of conceptions, and which discourses become central? Are the film museums predominantly film cultural projects or can other agendas be discernible that draws on regional economics, national ideologies or geographical place?

Film archives as an institution has long been a prominent object in film studies and archives research. Film museums have since also been studied, but mainly as a place for the archives and less as a locality for exhibitions about film. This project investigates the different types of film museums, ranging from the smallest local to the national-level. What kind of exhibitions can you find in the museums, and to what areas do these connect? What significance is attached to film, and what aspects of film culture are highlighted – historical, technical, aesthetic? How do the different objectives that can be derived from museum exhibitions cooperate? And is it possible to discern political interests and/or ideological considerations in the locations and the exhibitions of the museums? The research project relates to the extensive research on museums in general, and also to the growing field of research that draws attention to the film cultural context.