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  • Writer's pictureTomislav S. Šola

"Towards the Total Museum"


Five years after Georg Henri Rivere’s mentorship, at Sorbonne, back in 1985, I have finally made my PhD “Towards the Total Museum” at University of Ljubljana. I tried once to have it published, but in vain. Then, 26 years later, in 2011, the integral version of theses was turned into a designed book, well edited, translated into Serbian and published. For the idea and effort, I have to thank my precious colleague Professor Dragan Bulatović, at the time the Head of the Centre for Museology and Heritology and the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. Attracted by my neologisms, he created a library MNEMOSOPHIA and the book “The Total Museum” was the first. Besides explaining what heritology was and giving still a usable view of the state of museums and their future, it was entirely permeated by the enthusiasm for new chances of the sector. Much of it is now our reality, but the vision of the total museum as described there is still a valid ideal. I am indebted to Professor particularly for deciding to go with the integral text. Except for technological references his judgement was that the text was “still alive” after 27 years. That is one of the best compliments I have received. I am ever thankful. With more time to reflect, and having returned to the text after decades, I must admit that the rest of my latter work and interests has been encoded there entirely. Being somewhat heretic, provocative, dishevelled and intentionally naïve, I seem to have been competing with myself. Again, great thanks to Dr Bulatović for having published the book and for agreeing that we put it on this website some time ago. Ideally, about twenty million people could understand the language of it, but if twenty museum geeks will enjoy the book, - it was still worth the effort.

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