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Collected at any cost! : why objects came to the museum through National Socialism and how we deal with them
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editing and technical implementation of the earlier projectA Museum An Object A Story: Virtual Gallery on Nazi Provenance Researchand Restitution in Austrian Museums, Collections and Libraries(www.vgprovenanceresearch.at) have resulted in a vast comple-mentary platform, also available in both German and English. All theinstitutions affected by the Art Restitution Act were invited to pres-ent the provenance research and restitution in their establishments,­illustrated by means of an example(object, stock, person) chosenby them. The sixteen contributions provide an insight into the workof federal museums, libraries and collections and of their rovenanceresearchers. The virtual gallery integrated in the exhibition in twomedia stations has proved to be a helpful and informative tool in­education projects and guided tours of the exhibition.Extensions and addendaIt was clear to us from the beginning that this topic was broad inscope. It encompasses the history and methodology of systematicNazi provenance research in the federal institutions covered by theArt Restitution Act; the historical events that led to that legislation, thepersecution of individuals by the Nazi regime and the expropriation oftheir assets; the evaluation by contemporary history of the Volkskun-demuseum Wien and of the actions of its personnel. In addition, therewere(and still are) increasingly pressing questions about other con-texts of injustice and violence, such as war robberies(for example inthe First World War) or(internal) colonialism, through which objectsended up in museums and thus also in the Volkskundemuseum. Thesystematic Nazi provenance research we have been conducting since2015 has sensitized us to the stories of origin and whereabouts thatneed to be questioned and reappraised in this context.Where to start with a subject as complex as provenance researchand restitution? And where to end? Above all in a museum whosecollections do not include the world-renowned artworks that theAustrian public associates with this theme and which are actuallyonly part of the story. We considered it necessary to deal with theseextended areas and questions in additional formats in advance andalso as a supplement.16