Posted 2/4/2010 5:52:39 PM by Mort Gamble
News from Press Release viewed 345 times
Thursday, February 04, 2010 - Monte-Carlo, Monaco
(L to R) Zita Herman (MICIVA), Sylvie Francois (Cirque du Soleil), Arie Oudenes (European Circus Association), Douwe Schulte (private collector), Catherine Shaina (Museum of Circus Arts St. Petersburg), Rodney Huey (Federation Mondiale du Cirque)
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
More than 50 participants from the museum and circus communities recently gathered in Budapest, Hungary to explore the goals and challenges of public, private and circus organizations' collecting, archiving and exhibiting circus memorabilia and artifacts. Mr. Lzl Varjasi, General Director of MACIVA, organizer of the 8th International Circus Festival of Budapest, opened the meeting by presenting a new book commemorating the 120-year history of the Capital Circus of Budapest, published for its Jubilee celebrations. The seminar was hosted by MACIVA, the European Circus Association and the Federation Mondiale du Cirque, and constituted the first event in the Phase II of the Federation's Preservation Project. The first phase opened with a Roundtable in Monaco in January, 2009 to define the role of the Federation in supporting the preservation of circus history and artifacts. Mr. Douwe Schulte, a private European circus collector, discussed the challenges he faces in making his collection publicly accessible through the establishment of a documentation center or other public exhibition. Presenting on behalf of his co-author, Ms. Debbie Walk, curator of the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida, Mr. Rodney Huey reported on the latest developments of the vast circus collections at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin and the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida, the two preeminent collections in the United States. Mr. Huey described both financial challenges in keeping circus museums open and donations enabling the growth of exhibition, storage and conservation spaces dedicated to circus history. The first circus museum in the world, the Museum of Circus Art in St. Petersburg. Russia, was presented by its director, Catharina Shaina who described not only extensive collections and resources made available to the academic community, but also the living role of the museum in inspiring artists by studying the past. Cirque du Soleil's Sylvie Francois, head of Global Citizenship Service, described Cirque's collection and housing of its own history and artifacts. Ms. Francois provided information about Cirque's collecting policy and the challenges related to growth of the company, cost and structure. While the presenters from private, public and circus collections described unique aspirations and difficulties with each, financial issues were at the heart of most challenges faced by all types of collections. Equally challenging was the issue of space: while the specialists advised private collectors and circuses to preserve everything possible, storage and exhibition space permits only a fraction of the items that are historically or otherwise significant to be selected for collections and exhibitions. Another common theme concerned the disposition of large collections by private collectors in cases where the collector did not have family members interesting in maintaining them. Discussions suggested that public museums faced challenges in reaching agreements with private collectors to exhibit only selected items of a collection; equally, private collectors often wish to maintain the integrity of their collection and to perpetuate it. sU On the other hand, one of the participants provided a positive example in which numerous collectors united to create a shared documentation center in Italy. The seminar concluded with the announcement of a major professional meeting to be held in Montreal, June 16-19, 2010 that would enable detailed exploration of some of the issues and themes identified in Budapest. Hosted by Cirque du Soleil and En Piste in partnership with the Federation, the meeting will be entitled "Preserving our Memory: The Importance of Circus Artifacts". Further information about the professional meeting in Montreal and copies of all of the presentations in Budapest will be available shortly at www.circusfederation.org under "Projects". The Federation Mondiale du Cirque was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Monte-Carlo. The goal of the FMC is to promote circus arts and culture worldwide, to support the circus through proprietary projects, to serve as a voice for the circus community and to represent circus interests to international organizations. Its six founding members are the Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo, the European Circus Association, the Outdoor Amusement Business Association in the United States, the Circus Federation of Australia, the Animal Interest Alliance in South Africa, and the Canadian organization En Piste.
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