Museion Director Bart van der Heide Outlines 2021 Program

Bart van der Heide, director of Museion in Bolzano since 2019, has detailed the museum's upcoming programming for 2020-2021 in an interview. The autumn/winter 2020 season continues with two ongoing exhibitions: a collection show featuring artifacts from explorer Erling Kagge (until February 14, 2021) and a solo exhibition 'Space Junk' by Sonia Leimer (until January 17, 2021). For 2021, van der Heide announced a group exhibition on new donations to the collection, focusing on the museum's social role, and a major thematic exhibition planned for autumn 2021. The museum is also developing new interdisciplinary formats that will physically transform its spaces. To expand its reach, Museion has launched the 'Museion Bulletin,' a trilingual online platform featuring articles, interviews, and extended captions. The collection will be highlighted at Museion Passage, which van der Heide describes as a database of untold stories. Regarding attendance since reopening, numbers have been better than expected, though schools and summer event audiences are missed. Van der Heide emphasized the need for flexibility in programming due to travel restrictions and called on politicians to view museums as partners, not luxuries. He recommended Francesco Careri's 'Walkscapes: camminare come pratica estetica' as a reading suggestion.