O baštinskim ustanovama u kontekstu teorij a kulturnog pamćenja
On Heritage Institutions in the Context of the Theories of Cultural Memory

Summary/Abstract: Heritage institutions of today – firstly archives, libraries and museums, but not neglecting the importance of their other different forms – adjust constantly to information requests of active user and social community in general in the way that they are obliged to redefine traditional heritage practice and demand modified models of accomplishing their fundamental, unchanged and lasting final goals. Together with these needs of developing modified business models in realization of heritage institution services, on a higher, conceptual level as well, there appears the process of the redefinition of the fundamental concepts by which heritage institutions will confirm themselves as institutions of a great social value in the 21st century too, continuing in this way the mission started millenniums before. However, unlike their social, communication and information role, which was recognized long time ago, heritage institutions are not as much regarded as memory institutions in the theoretical literature as much as information institutions. In relation to this, the understanding of heritage institutions as memory institutions does not come exclusively from the heritage sector, but it is a result of the common, widespread scholarly interest in the issues of memory and the past which has marked social sciences and humanities ever since the first decades of the 20th century. This new approach to heritage institutions as such is founded on the idea that these institutions – due to their role in forming and representing the knowledge of the past – are directly involved in understanding the present and – doing so – in acting for the future as well. Therefore, trying to remain socially important, heritage institutions should not insist on their information role only, but also on their role of memory institutions, the institutions of constructing, reconstructing and representing the memory, as well as the institutions of lasting preservation of the identity characteristics of a society, because these are the aspects that confirm their social need and survival too.

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