CDR Public Art Museum

Muzealisation of Public Art. Study of Museums, Sculptures Parks and Gardens

As part of a "Credit de recherche" from the Conseil sectoriel de la recherche en sciences humaines of the Université de Liège, the "Musealisation de l'art public" project aims to determine the strategies, both historical and current, used to musealize public art. From open-air university collections to sculpture parks and museum gardens, the ways in which works of art are exhibited and conserved outdoors are as diverse as the issues they raise. These ensembles, which in some cases can be identified as "open-air museums", do not meet a strict museum definition and, for this very reason, the musealization of public art raises questions, for how can works exhibited outdoors (Outdoor Sculptures) be considered as museum objects like any others when we know that the institutions in charge of them are not bound by a program and "classic" missions of conservation, exhibition and mediation? Through a study of sculpture museums, parks and gardens, we aim to grasp the mechanisms and issues involved in the musealization of public art, both from a historical and theoretical point of view, and in terms of the means employed to ensure the longevity of the works.