Museums in Short is an audiovisual platform and an international award dedicated to short videos realized by museums. It is promoted by musil – museum of industry and labour of Brescia, in collaboration with EMA - European Museum Academy and FSK - Forum Slavic Cultures.
This year, 40 museums from 20 Countries participated to our initiative, all gathered in a freely accessible online platform: www.museumsinshort.eu
The nomination for the most voted video by the popular jury goes to «The Female Perspective» (Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain), with a total of 1.781 votes, followed by «Ancient Olynthos. A Unique Experience of a Journey in Space and Time» (Ephorate of Antiquities of Chalcidice and Mount Athos, Polygyros, Greece), with 1.144 votes.
The International Jury decided that the X Winner of Museums in Short is the video “Carnival Masks", from the Museum of Bećarac (Pleternica, Croatia). This is the Jury’s Motivation:
“The surrealist moment in ethnography is that moment in which the possibility of comparison exists in unmediated tension with sheer incongruity”, so James Clifford in his pioneering essay “On ethnographic surrealism”.
In 1981 this famous American anthropologist explored the French cultural field between two world wars. In 2024, in another part of Europe, one documentary film resonates with that experimental period: “bećarac”, a two verses folk song from Slavonia, becomes the soundtrack of a footage in which a venerable tradition creates an unmediated tension with contemporary life.
In this visual short essay, part of the new Museum of Bećarac’s permanent exhibition, ruins of rural buildings host living practices - in spaces where all was supposed to had come to an end, something unexpected appears. In this re-inhabitated land, archival materials face rituals of re-enactment, humans sing (and drink), animals stand and observe, in Carnival time.
Like in Paris one century ago, also in Pleternica a sheer incongruity opens possibilities of comparison: there and here, then and now, masks and faces, ancestors and descendants.
It's all surreal!
The winner receives a prize (an image of a rhodoid for animated film, from the audiovisual archive of MUSIL) and the invitation to Best in Heritage 2025, international event in Dubrovnik dedicated to excellence in museums.
Members of the Jury:
René Capovin (Italy)
He is founder of Museums in Short and currently director of musil – Museum of Industry and Labour of Brescia (Italy).
Elise Nguema (Gabon)
She is currently studying Education in Museums and Heritage through the joint program offered by the University of Glasgow.
Elia Vlachou (Greece)
She is an archaeologist and museologist. She has led major museological projects, more than 90 temporary exhibitions, E.U. programs, educational activities and outreach events.
Massimo Negri (Italy)
He is a museum consultant and active lecturer. European Museum Academy Foundation (NL) Scientific Director.
Ana Berwanger (Brazil)
She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil). She is currently a student of the MBA in Museum Management and Innovation, a member of the working group in charge of the Capixaba Computer Museum.
Francesca Trovato (Italy)
She is a freelance director and filmmaker. She participated in international co-productions, exploring the relationship between the traditional and the global dimension, especially focusing on Central American culture.
Isaac Anim Ntiri (Ghana)
He is a scholar currently pursuing a master’s degree in Education in Museums and Heritage through the joint program offered by the University of Glasgow, University of Tartu, and Radboud University.
Elisa Chiari (Italy)
She is a freelance director and filmmaker. Her research revolves around our relationship with the landscape, both natural and industrial.
Andreja Rihter (Slovenia)
She is the president of the European Museum Academy(2009-) and of Women Writer Routes (Culture Route). She works as Director of International foundation Forum of Slavic Cultures in Slovenia.
