Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art consistently bore thememory of those who had been responsible for founding andrunning the museum. Others were forgotten for a certaintime. Sometimes these were external actors who had instigateddisagreements with those at the museum, and the museumhad reacted accordingly.

4| The Museum as USEum

Cultural and historical museums collect material evidence ofthe past and present, research, categorise, store and presentit and utilise it in different formats for particular purposes.Museums are also in continuous dialogue with their environ-ment and are located within a field marked by academic,cultural and social, as well as political and economic interests.With their collections and their status as public institutions,museums represent an attractive' resource' for society andpoliticians. In turn, this attention is vital and museums have fre-quently and still do seek to work together with these groups.

The history of the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Artand its collections provides an example of both this interplayand these dependencies. It reveals how particular objectscome into fashion or how their public' value' shifts duringdifferent political periods.