Föremålsförvärv från vår samtid : en granskning av Nordiska museets styrdokument och föremålsförvärv

Today we live in a society that largely is based on objects, but in a world that more and more rely on objects it seems like the interest in the acquisition of objects from our own time decreases in museums. This master’s thesis investigates how contemporary life is represented in museums in policy documents and acquired objects. Through ideology critique and content analysis of the Nordic museums policy documents and acquisition documents, questions are answered regarding what these documents are saying about contemporary collecting and what formed them, what’s collected, what’s not and why. To find out how the documents are affected by contemporary society, neo-institutionalism and idea analysis are used. To answer what types of objects are acquired and how the Nordic museum value items, value theory is used. This review shows that our time is represented in the Nordic museums policy documents and acquired objects. In the policy documents examined it says that contemporary perspective is an important part of how people get to know this time and also the past, both today and in the future. The multicultural society we live in today effects the documents. These documents emphasizes that a broad perspective that includes many people is of high value. The policy documents also points out the importance of the immaterial culture and that it can be acquired by documentation projects. The review also shows that contemporary life is represented in the acquired objects made during the past five years. Of the total number of collected objects 66 percent comes from the present. Of these objects the majority is from the 1950–1970 century and the 2010s. Contemporary objects have a high value, but it’s not just the objects themselves that generate a high value. It’s the stories they can convey to the people who are valued. The objects have no objective value, but rather it’s the relative value that controls its value. It’s the connection between objects and people and the experience that arise in the meeting