Museum till salu? : En museologisk studie av varufiering och digital utveckling i Hallwylska museet
(2021) ABMM74 20211Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Abstract
- This master’s thesis examines the museum as a commodity and the consequences that has on the Hallwyl museum. The museum is a former private palace built in 1893-1898 as the Stockholm home for Wilhelmina von Hallwyl (1844-1930) and her family. The palace was constructed with the intention to become a museum and she donated the house to the Swedish state. The museum opened in 1938 and is today incorporated in a bigger authority called Statens Historiska museer (State Historical Museums), which reports to the Ministry of culture. The thesis is based on a case-study including four qualitative interviews with employees (specialised in communication and education) at the Hallwyl museum and the department of communication at the museum authority,... (More)
- This master’s thesis examines the museum as a commodity and the consequences that has on the Hallwyl museum. The museum is a former private palace built in 1893-1898 as the Stockholm home for Wilhelmina von Hallwyl (1844-1930) and her family. The palace was constructed with the intention to become a museum and she donated the house to the Swedish state. The museum opened in 1938 and is today incorporated in a bigger authority called Statens Historiska museer (State Historical Museums), which reports to the Ministry of culture. The thesis is based on a case-study including four qualitative interviews with employees (specialised in communication and education) at the Hallwyl museum and the department of communication at the museum authority, participation in Hallwyl’s online tours, as well as online observations from their social media. All material was gathered during spring 2021. The theoretical perspectives are centered around marxism. In the analysis I use Karl Marx ́s concept regarding commodities and commodification and Benedict Anderson ́s concept the imagined community. The findings show that the informants in the case-study have a clear vision of what constitutes the museum. The vision is part of a branding-process where the Hallwyl museum want to position themselves on the market of social media. Social media generates an imagined community that becomes part of the employees` market orientation. In this orientation process, I argue, the museum and what it stands for is adapted and commodified to be viable on the capitalist market. Simultaneously, the informants are very critical of any kind of indication of them selling the museum as a commodity. They have almost an antagonistic approach to explicit marketing and see themselves as part of public service. The findings are complex and show the ambiguity the employees feel about marketing, as they must reach out with their activities but don ́t want to “sell out” their values. The informants also testify that the pandemic covid-19 has shown that people need museums and culture in times of crisis. The Hallwyl museum would not have made it through the pandemic without the yearly financial grant from the state. Based on the analysis I argue that state funding is an important part of the survival of museums as they are today in Sweden. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9063984
- author
- Johansson, Erika LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Museum for sale? : A museological study of commodification and digital development in the Hallwyl museum
- course
- ABMM74 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Museums, Marketization, Marxism, Community making
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9063984
- date added to LUP
- 2023-05-16 13:44:21
- date last changed
- 2023-05-16 13:44:21
@misc{9063984,
abstract = {{This master’s thesis examines the museum as a commodity and the consequences that has on the Hallwyl museum. The museum is a former private palace built in 1893-1898 as the Stockholm home for Wilhelmina von Hallwyl (1844-1930) and her family. The palace was constructed with the intention to become a museum and she donated the house to the Swedish state. The museum opened in 1938 and is today incorporated in a bigger authority called Statens Historiska museer (State Historical Museums), which reports to the Ministry of culture. The thesis is based on a case-study including four qualitative interviews with employees (specialised in communication and education) at the Hallwyl museum and the department of communication at the museum authority, participation in Hallwyl’s online tours, as well as online observations from their social media. All material was gathered during spring 2021. The theoretical perspectives are centered around marxism. In the analysis I use Karl Marx ́s concept regarding commodities and commodification and Benedict Anderson ́s concept the imagined community. The findings show that the informants in the case-study have a clear vision of what constitutes the museum. The vision is part of a branding-process where the Hallwyl museum want to position themselves on the market of social media. Social media generates an imagined community that becomes part of the employees` market orientation. In this orientation process, I argue, the museum and what it stands for is adapted and commodified to be viable on the capitalist market. Simultaneously, the informants are very critical of any kind of indication of them selling the museum as a commodity. They have almost an antagonistic approach to explicit marketing and see themselves as part of public service. The findings are complex and show the ambiguity the employees feel about marketing, as they must reach out with their activities but don ́t want to “sell out” their values. The informants also testify that the pandemic covid-19 has shown that people need museums and culture in times of crisis. The Hallwyl museum would not have made it through the pandemic without the yearly financial grant from the state. Based on the analysis I argue that state funding is an important part of the survival of museums as they are today in Sweden.}},
author = {{Johansson, Erika}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Museum till salu? : En museologisk studie av varufiering och digital utveckling i Hallwylska museet}},
year = {{2021}},
}