<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Contemporary collecting relies on the expertise of museum professionals. They identify, acquire, and safeguard current objects and testimonies that can illustrate and challenge history writing in the future. This paper presents the contemporary collecting endeavours of the House of European History—a museum that opened its doors in Brussels in 2017, as an academically independent project of the European Parliament. It contributes to the current discussion on best practices in collecting materials relevant to present-day society and documenting history in the making. In particular, it stresses the importance for a history museum to document significant aspects of the present and focuses on two recent collecting actions of the House, which were undertaken to document the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.</p>
</abstract>

Contemporary collecting relies on the expertise of museum professionals. They identify, acquire, and safeguard current objects and testimonies that can illustrate and challenge history writing in the future. This paper presents the contemporary collecting endeavours of the House of European History—a museum that opened its doors in Brussels in 2017, as an academically independent project of the European Parliament. It contributes to the current discussion on best practices in collecting materials relevant to present-day society and documenting history in the making. In particular, it stresses the importance for a history museum to document significant aspects of the present and focuses on two recent collecting actions of the House, which were undertaken to document the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.

Tomorrow’s History in the Museum. Collecting Testimonies of Current Events for the House of European History

Culture. Society. Economy. Politics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Contemporary collecting relies on the expertise of museum professionals. They identify, acquire, and safeguard current objects and testimonies that can...

Tomorrow’s History in the Museum. Collecting Testimonies of Current Events for the House of European History

Published Online: Mar 27, 2023

Page range: 63 - 79

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/csep-2022-0011

Keywords
Museum collecting, history museums, contemporary history, pandemic, Ukraine war

© 2022 Perikles Christodoulou et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Tomorrow’s History in the Museum. Collecting Testimonies of Current Events for the House of European History

Published Online: Mar 27, 2023

Page range: 63 - 79

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/csep-2022-0011

KeywordsMuseum collecting, history museums, contemporary history, pandemic, Ukraine war

© 2022 Perikles Christodoulou et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Museum collecting, history museums, contemporary history, pandemic, Ukraine war