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Introduction. 50 years of the Round Table of Santiago de Chile: current key readings

Leonardo Mellado et Bruno Brulon Soares
p. 25-33
Cet article est une traduction de :
Introducción. 50 años de la Mesa Redonda de Santiago de Chile: lecturas en clave actual [es]

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1In 1972 a meeting was held in Santiago de Chile on “La importancia y el desarrollo de los museos en el mundo contemporáneo” ("The Importance and Development of Museums in the Contemporary World"), which gave rise to a statement known as the Declaration of the Round Table of Santiago (UNESCO, 1973). The origins of this initiative date back to the 16th General Conference of UNESCO, which approved a Resolution to promote the development of museums in the member states and stimulated them to adapt to the requirements of their current reality. Simultaneously, within the framework of the recently concluded Third United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD III), a call for proposals was launched to conduct a meeting in Chile that would include museum professionals and specialists in other areas. This event was convened by UNESCO, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Chilean Committee of Museums (ICOM-Chile), at that time chaired by Dr Grete Mostny. From 20 to 31 May 1972 meetings, field visits and encounters were carried out, which culminated in resolutions that were followed by the signing of the Declaración de Santiago de Chile.

2At a moment when many of the countries of the area were facing a period of authoritarianism and various forms of national social control, that Declaration became a key milestone in reflections on the role of the museum in the contemporary context. It also established the basis for an openness to different approaches (new museology and other forms of museology: critical, social, participative, experimental, community-based, etc.) in a discussion that became paradigmatic regarding new ways of conceptualising, managing and understanding the museum, as well as its actions and links with society and communities. A so-called “postcolonial” turn in the world of museums might well be rooted in this political event, which included the participation of representatives of multiple states and that, for the first time in the history of ICOM, was held in Spanish.

3Another element highlighted in the Declaration is the designation of the MUSEO INTEGRAL or INTEGRADO (integral or integrated museum), which defined itself as “… an institution at the service of society, of which it is an inalienable part, and which has within itself the ingredients that allow it to take part in the process of bringing awareness to the communities it serves. Through this awareness it can contribute to putting those communities into action, projecting their activity into the historical field that would have led to the present situation; in other words, building links between past and present, engaging with prevailing structural changes and motivating others, within their respective national realities” (Resoluciones, 1972, p. 5). This social role of the museum has transcended time and represents a debate that we consider a key point in the context of this issue.

4In addition to its importance for Latin American museologists, the notion of “integral museum” (museum integrated into society) has been revisited through the concept of the “ecomuseum”, proposed in France in 1971 by Hugues de Varine and defined by means of French practices which embraced that label from 1973 onward. The opening up of museums to all areas of society that occurred at the end of 20th century was based on the idea of the museum as a tool for social transformation, concerned with the problems of “the communities to whom it serves” (UNESCO, 1973, p. 199). Inspired by the idea of the “integral museum”, in the decades following the 1970s Latin American museologists have developed a basis for critical reflection on the “universal pretension of the museum” (Rússio, 1974, p. 47), which led to the “new” museum defining itself as a “living institution, integrated into society” that must assume the active role of “continuously forming and transforming its environment” (Rusconi, 1987, p. 241). The intended break with the “traditional museum” enabled the appreciation of new experiences that have in common a receptiveness to cultural difference and to a social participation unprecedented in the history of museology.

5Despite the existence of an extensive literature that considers the social role of museums and the latest definitions of the museum, including the most recent definition approved [by ICOM] in August this year (which has as a framework the basic principles stated in the Declaration), a contemporary reinterpretation of the issues and challenges present during the Round Table has not yet been made. What are the major influences of the Mesa in the current practices of museums in Latin America? Which are the challenges that have not yet been overcome? To what extent have the claimed ideas, considered by some as utopian, enabled the change dreamed of by the thinkers present in Santiago?

6On the basis of these and many other questions, this issue of the ICOFOM Study Series brings together the reflections of researchers from different parts of the globe who were invited to engage on a situated dialogue on the longer-term perspective of the role of museums in 2022, the year when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaración de la Mesa de Santiago de Chile. This issue is a response to ICOFOM’s desire to present a review of the perspectives on museums and museology in the world fifty years after the Round Table. We believe that contemporary re-readings of the notion of the "integral museum" and its effects on the present draw attention today to a number of new issues and trends affecting museums: the continuing transformation of their minority-oriented social function; state support for small, community and experimental museums; the importance of the educational service in fulfilling the didactic, mediating and social function of the museum; museological contributions to decolonisation and anti-racism, challenges for the future and the transformations of museums in the post-pandemic world. In this direction, we have received contributions that address experiences and reflections on some of the issues raised in the Santiago Declaration, as well as on its re-signification in the present.

Historical contributions from Santiago de Chile, 1972-2022

7Between 20 and 31 May 1972, the emblematic Round Table organised by ICOM and UNESCO took place in Santiago de Chile, which promoted a regional debate on "the role of museums in relation to the social and economic needs of modern Latin America" (UNESCO, 1973). This event was considered by some as a milestone in the process of redefining the museum and revaluing museum practice in the region, with the proposal of an "integral museum", a museum integrated into its societies. In the Latin American context, the Round Table marked the awakening of professionals in the region to reflect on a transformation already underway. At the international level, it marked the recognition of progressive visions and practices that were already being developed (albeit marginally) in the Latin American context.

8Museology, in this context, debated the new ideas amid a flow of new social perspectives that emerged in Latin American countries under the influence of perspectives present in such writings as, for example, Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) and Enrique Dussel's Philosophy of Liberation (1977), both concerned with the worldviews of the oppressed classes.

9In this context, the trajectory and the role of Grete Mostny in Chile deserves special attention. The meticulous article by Yocelyn Valdebenito Carrasco, based on careful research of primary sources, shows a thorough reflection on the work and vision of Mostny for museums throughout her life and in times of great political uncertainties, both in Chile and globally. The founder of the first Association of Museums in Chile (1959), and director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (from 1965), Grete Mostny was responsible for positioning her country in the international museological debate, creating the bridges necessary for the organisation of the Round Table with the support of UNESCO and ICOM.

10Based on Mostny’s biography and legacy, Valdebinito Carrasco denounces the invisibility of certain agents of historical and social change in the context of museums and cultural heritage, reaffirming that this context is a fundamentally political field. From the perspective of gender relations, the author argues that it is possible to recognise the legacy of important intellectuals and museologists in different countries, such as Marta Arjona Pérez (1923-2006) from Cuba; Ema Araujo (1930-1999) from Colombia; Nise da Silveira (1926-1999) and Waldisa Rússio (1935-1990), both from Brazil, among many others, who have contributed considerably to international debates on the future of museology and its contribution to society.

11Also drawing from this context, the article by Camila Seebregts, Claudia Romero, Guilherme Godoy, Karoliny Borges, Taís Costa and Viviane Sarraf presents a theoretical reflection based on recent research on the works and writings of Brazilian museologist Waldisa Rússio. They consider the social and political contexts that informed Rússio’s perspective on museology, exposing the influence of the ideas disseminated from the Round Table on her thinking and on her progressive views on museum work. According to the authors, drawing on various sources from the 1970s and 1980s, Rússio’s inspiration from the Santiago Declaration allowed her to combine preservation and access to cultural heritage, proposing new paths for the democratisation of museums in Brazil and the inclusion of new audiences.

12At this point, Cristóbal Bize’s invitation to reflect on the social role of museums today propels us to identify the historiographical contribution of the Santiago Declaration at different moments after 1972 and into the future. His revision proposes to understand the 1972 Declaration from what the author defines as "its place in the history of museums and modern museology", where the idea of the 'integrated museum' is valued as a turning point which, from an ethical-political perspective, recognises that the main contributions are translated into a theoretical-philosophical framework. In a current reading and from a perspective of history and memory, this framework draws from Walter Benjamin’s reflections, aiming to demonstrate the influence that the Declaration has had on several generations of museologists as expressed in successive declarations of regional meetings such as those of Morelos (1984) and Caracas (1992), in the recommendations of UNESCO (2015) and Museos Reimaginados (2017 and 2019), or in movements such as the New Museology after the meeting in Quebec (1984). Bize’s reflection on the social role of museums at a time of change and transformative action brings light to present day challenges for institutions in their own territorial, community and heritage environments.

Rereadings of the "integral museum" in the present day

13In the Latin American genealogy of 'social museums', the idealised concept of the 'integral museum' proposed in 1972 can be seen as the object of a cultural appropriation, a 'hybrid' concept that reflected the needs and utopias of the region but also reflected the projection of Eurocentric conceptions of museums and nation-states onto the context of Latin America when it was proposed. In its contemporary re-readings, we observe the unfolding of this ambiguity, as well as the subversion of concepts in the light of current rhetoric, such as that of "development" or the "social role" of museums.

14Amidst the attempt to reconcile the competing discourses, the proposal of the idea of the 'social museum', defined as a synonym for 'integral and integrated museum', was conceived by the participants of the Round Table, among them the Argentinian Mario Teruggi and the Mexican Mario Vázquez, who used such a pragmatic concept in discussions that arose around the “question of integration between rural and urban problems” in contemporary societies (Guido, 2012 [1972], p. 130). The debates in Santiago de Chile undoubtedly influenced the subsequent development of ecomuseums in France, with the inspiring idea of a "museum integrated with societies and their environment". However, in the context of Brazil and other South American countries, it is above all the notion of the “social museum” that would be taken up a few years later in the emergence of social museology, in direct relation to the principles of the New Museology disseminated by MINOM and ICOM.

15Bringing a new reading of this context, we come across the very significant contribution made by Leticia Pérez Castellanos. In her article Pérez presents a model of analysis called Holistic Cultural Participation (HCP), applied to a distinguished project: La Casa del Museo (Mexico City, 1972-1980) developed by the Mexican museologist Mario Vásquez, an active participant and promoter of the constitution of the Santiago Round Table. The article demonstrates that, despite being a founding case of new museological approaches, little is known about La Casa’s actions and results. It describes and examines the project promoted by Vásquez and a team of outstanding professionals, based on the HCP model, through four dimensions that serve for the analysis (access and enjoyment; production; representation; and decision-making power). By allowing us to understand, on the one hand, the application of the model, and above all its functionality, the analysis explores the effectiveness of the Museo Integral (1973-1980), in which it is possible to observe practices based on social participation, where enjoying, producing, representing and being represented in culture, as well as influencing public policy decisions, was and can continue to be possible. Such an approach leads us to conceive the idea that beyond interpretations, an integral museum could have been a real possibility.

16For Rebeca Ribeiro Bombonato and Marília Xavier Cury, the Declaration of the Round Table of Santiago de Chile paved the way for the transformation of museums into political devices with new forms and shapes. As Brazilian museology has shown, the museum in the past few decades has shifted from its traditional/modern conception to incorporate new configurations and social significance. Social museums, living museums, Indigenous museums, territory museums, pontos de memória (memory spots) are all only a few of the expressions that denote the variety of cultural experiments in urban and rural areas of the country, which has transformed the museum landscape and influenced the development of social museology in Latin America. In their article, the Brazilian authors analyse how the Indigenous perspective has been allowed in the redefinition of museums’ core functions and in the decision-making processes that shape museums’ collections. By observing different kinds of Indigenous collaboration in the context of Brazil, the authors show how the participation of Indigenous groups and individuals in museums have not only transformed central institutions but also fostered the creation of new museums in Indigenous lands.

17In his brief case study on the transformation of museums in the context of Burkina Faso, Bély Hermann Abdoul-Karim Niangao introduces a reflection on the potential effects of the ideas from the Round Table in the context of African museums and the barriers that prevent these museums from engaging more actively in societies’ current issues. In Burkina Faso, under a 2004 decree the transfer of competences and resources from the State to the municipalitiesin the fields of culture, youth, sports and leisure was responsible for excluding these museums from local policies, creating impediments for their management and social role in the current century. This critical review raises some interesting questions on the difficult place of museums in the context of colonised countries, where institutions struggle to find balance between the will to change and the lack of financial and political stability that persists there – a reality that should lead to many dialogues between museologists in Africa and those in Latin America.

Ideas and challenges for the future of museums

18In the transition to the 21st century, influenced by the rise of socio-political movements for the liberation of colonised societies, feminist and other minority-affirming movements or promoters of diversity, some museums have redefined their social role into new political uses by Indigenous populations, racial and gender minorities, LGBTQIA+ associations and other groups on the periphery of nation-states and neoliberal markets. However, the contemporary transformation of museums, as we have pointed out in other works (Brulon Soares, 2020a, 2020b), remains tied to a linear perception of time, a constant march towards "progress" which has marked the history of these institutions since the Enlightenment and colonisation. The break with the notion of "development" based on the rather extractivist logic of the countries of the global North, as well as the proposal of Indigenous readings through notions such as the Andean conception of "good living" (Sumak Kawsay) or the "ubuntu" promoted by Afro-descendant communities, point to alternative possibilities for imagining the future of societies in relation to heritage in general and museums in particular.

19Within this framework, the work of Alejandra Gabriela Panozzo presents us with three political-museological scenarios for thinking about the current instrumentality of public museums. Her reflection is based on the assumption that museums – especially those in public ownership – have an intrinsic or instrumental value, understood as the capacity of these institutions and cultural policies to be managed as a means to obtain ends that are not limited to the cultural sphere, but which seek to achieve certain goals for the benefit of society. To this end, she articulates a conceptual crossover between different paradigms (artistic excellence, cultural democratisation and cultural democracy) and different museological currents (traditional museology, new museology and critical museology). And as part of this exercise, it is demonstrated that – as we pointed out previously – that linear perception of time can be broken without the need to follow a categorical and sequential order of representation, where the coexistence of different museological and public policy expressions can be clearly manifested. Perhaps in the future a cross-analysis of museological and public policy currents could be made with possible hybrid results. Finally, and as part of Panozzo’s contributions, she demonstrates that the museum from any perspective is an instrumental entity and an active political agent, not a neutral one, leaving the doors open to the redefinitions that museums currently face and to future ones that will undoubtedly come.

20Following the same idea of a temporal analysis based on the context of the Santiago Round Table, we find the text by Pablo Andrade, in which he recognises that it is possible to observe a dynamism of the museological concept that confronts, dialogues or encounters the social and political contexts of the present, exposed in various proposals and in particular in what he calls "mestizo museology". It is within this proposed museological framework that concepts such as identity, heritage, territory, representation and performativity, among others, are confronted in order to be related as crossroads with others, in which "the work" emerges as a situated intervention, "the city" as a palimpsest, "memories", among others. After which the conceptual becomes tangible through a curatorial proposal that makes visible the history that was hidden and interrupted 50 years ago, and which, through a site-specific effort, combines memory, history, heritage and visual arts through performative strategies in which the visitor is, in turn, the actor of his own stories, thus reminding us of the participatory role played by museums towards their communities, as advocated by the Santiago Round Table. Thus, the museum space is constituted in the territory and the subjects, where theory becomes praxis, activating the dialogue between the conceptual plane and the empirical knowledge of the community.

21As proposed by some of the authors in this issue, the Round Table of Santiago de Chile proposes to "sulear" or "surear" (to be oriented by the South, according to Campos, 1999) the world of museums, with museological delineations and heritage orientations that are fundamentally connected to the social, economic and political problems of an unsustainable life in terms of the future. The year 2022 must mark the moment when present generations reconsider their legacy in the sense of reconceiving museums for a different way of life, of living in society and of relating to the planet in a more sensitive and sustainable way.

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Leonardo Mellado et Bruno Brulon Soares, « Introduction. 50 years of the Round Table of Santiago de Chile: current key readings »ICOFOM Study Series, 50-1 | 2022, 25-33.

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Leonardo Mellado et Bruno Brulon Soares, « Introduction. 50 years of the Round Table of Santiago de Chile: current key readings »ICOFOM Study Series [En ligne], 50-1 | 2022, mis en ligne le 01 décembre 2022, consulté le 13 mai 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/iss/4090 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/iss.4090

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Auteurs

Leonardo Mellado

Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), Chile

Bruno Brulon Soares

University of St Andrews, Scotland

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