GrazMuseum

GrazMuseum is the culture-historical museum of the city of Graz. It´s collections and exhibitions reflect upon the history and presence of the city.

Present-day History
Museums give knowledge that has become placeless a place in real life again. They rather want to be museums of life than graveyards of objects. For this reason the GrazMuseum as a historical museum is obliged to be decidedly contemporary; hence it always looks at history from a present-day perspective and communicates it with the formal means of today.

A Forum for Urban Subjects
As a city museum, we see ourselves as a platform for contemporary urban subjects that make us feel like dealing with and perceiving the city. In accordance with the objectives of present-day city museums as defined by the International Committee for the Collections and Activities of Museums of Cities (CAMOC), we want to be a space for investigating and discussing contemporary urban subjects.

Experiments in Civic Identity
The GrazMuseum as a permanent identity laboratory continuously looks for both scientific and artistic answers to the question how reasonable, not irrational, identity can be found at all in the more and more complex society of a “Europe of the Regions”. We think that today’s city museums have to dismiss the myth of the homogenous citizen and pay particular attention to not or little represented segments of the population or urban subjects.

Open to All Interested Parties
We see our museum as a visitor-oriented but by no means populist place. In the GrazMuseum as an open place for cultural participation, local experiences can be organised as a resource for social processes.