Project Museum: Private and Public Collecting of Non-European Objects in the Early 20th Century: International Symposium, Ljubljana, Slovene Etnographic Museum, 22-24 April 2026, Programme and Abstracts

In the first half of the 20th century, Europe experienced a boom in collecting practices that blurred the lines between private enthusiasm and public exhibition. Individuals—travelers, missionaries, scholars, and entrepreneurs—assembled collections of non-European objects, which they often presented as “museums.” These collections reflected personal visions, self-assertion, or aspirations to become authorities in the cultural sphere. At the same time, numerous public institutions, as well as the Catholic Church and other missionary organizations, began establishing non-European collections and integrating them into broader institutional and ideological frameworks. The symposium “The Museum Project” aims to explore these intertwined practices of collecting, interpreting, and exhibiting. With a focus on the shifting relationships between the private and public spheres, it invites reflection on how objects circulated through domestic interiors, church settings, and emerging museums. The goal is to explore how issues of authorship, authority, the transfer of knowledge, and representation shaped the collecting landscape in the early 20th century and how these collections—whether temporary or permanent—contributed to the idea of the museum as a cultural project.

The symposium and the publication are a result of research projects Life of the Skušek collection: from the living room to the virtual museum, J6-4618, and Between a Mission and a Museum – Missionary Collections in Slovenia and their Significance Today, J6-60114, which are financially supported by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency.