SLOVAKIA     2007

Consultants: Gary Sturm • Jim Weaver • Sally Yerkovich

 

Bratislava

Jim Weaver, former Curator of Cultural History at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, and Gary Sturm, Chair of the Division of Music, Sports and Entertainment at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution, led the four day conference, “A Symposium on Progressive Management of Cultural Institutions”, for participants from thirty-four Slovakian organizations. Regional representatives from seven libraries, sixteen cultural centers and theaters, ten museums and historical sites, and one planetarium/observatory attended the daily sessions and workshops.

The conference began with an open forum in which participants described issues which were most important to their work; this determined the focus and structure for everything that followed. During the first afternoon, Mr. Weaver and Mr. Sturm described the nature and utility of mission statements. The participants were then divided into three working groups to craft mission statements.

The following days were focused on dialogue in fours areas of greatest concern: programming and education, audience development and presentation, sharing resources and collaboration, and financing. Mr. Weaver and Mr. Sturm demonstrated the inter-dependence of these interests by descriptions of theory backed by concrete examples of success. Mr. Sturm provided examples of both short-term and long-term projects. Building on this, participants were asked to develop a project that centered on working with an object or an idea that could be used to draw diverse support, including both government and private, and that would be multi-generational in its impact.

The final assignment for the working groups was to create a grander vision through cross-organizational cooperation. That is, three groups (a mix of libraries, museums, and cultural centers) were asked to explore how they might work together to find success collectively. As it happens, there is a major cultural year scheduled within the European community for the title of European Capital of Culture 2013. Eight Slovak regional cities, including Banská Bystrica, will compete to obtain the title along with a sister city in France. To illustrate how their cooperation might earn them the title, Mr. Sturm provided an example of a project he had initiated in 1999 that required long-term planning, that utilized a group of instruments (the electric guitar as invention and innovation), and that involved museum exhibition, performance, distance learning projects, major media participation, and strong public/private support. It involved celebrities, important educational initiatives, and resulted in such products as a book, a website, and, just this year, a feature television documentary.

The end result was a high level of camaraderie and an expressed plan that the groups will continue meeting together on a regular basis. It is also useful to note that there was some ongoing participation from state and regional officials who made it clear that they would like very much to see an increase in cultural planning, including promotion of tourism, and to expand project funding. The conference’s host, Dagmar Bencova, asked for The Fund’s help to build interest and momentum for these projects. The 2013 date offers the opportunity to vigorously pursue such goals.