The director of a small city museum in Germany received anonymous phone calls threatening her. The tyres of her bicycle were slashed on her doorstep and defamatory campaigns and rumours were spread about her on social media. She only told Julia Leser all’of this in the interview on condition of anonymity. The political scientist from the Institute of European Ethnology at HU has documented and analysed the story of the museum director and the experiences of numerous other employees from other institutions for the project ’Challenging Populist Truth-Making in Europe: The Role of Museums in a Digital "Post-Truth" European Society’ (CHAPTER).
The starting point for the project, in which the University of Tübingen, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and University College London are also involved, was the realisation that right-wing populist politics are increasingly influencing cultural institutions, particularly museums, cultural heritage and memorial sites - and therefore truth-making. Under the direction of Sharon Macdonald, who founded the ’Centre for anthropological research on museums and heritage’ at the HU, and Christoph Bareither, professor at the University of Tübingen, the aim was to systematically investigate how and in which institutions right-wing populism intervenes and how employees are affected by it at work and personally. Both the analogue spaces of museums and cultural heritage sites and digital spaces such as social media platforms were of interest.
Julia Leser’s four-year research centred on a country comparison. In 2021/22, she and her team conducted in-depth interviews with around 40 people working at museums in Poland, Germany and the UK. ’This is more of an exploratory study. We wanted to capture a variety of experiences with populist politics, find out which museums are most affected and to what extent this differs in the three countries.’
Suddenly artworks were missing
The researchers approached large and small institutions located in both urban and rural areas, including history, art and open-air museums, memorials and exhibitions on migration, for example in the UK. ’We tried to speak to all levels - from the management to curators and permanent and freelance staff involved in educational work,’ says the researcher. In order to capture all the experiences, the names of not only the interviewees but also the organisations and locations remain anonymous. The starting point was Poland, as the Ministry of Culture of the right-wing PiS government had dismissed senior staff in several museums, including the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk, and filled these positions with new staff, as Julia Leser describes: ’The aim of this policy was to present Polish cultural identity and history in only one particular way.’The change in the museums surveyed was silent, creeping and hidden, according to the results. ’There were no major discussions among the curatorial team. The art museums suddenly lacked artworks that dealt with feminism, migration or gender diversity. Some permanent exhibitions had a new focus.’ In some cases, this did not happen on the orders of the museum management or the Ministry of Culture, says the political scientist: ’The museum staff were afraid. They anticipated that topics such as feminism would lead to problems and avoided them.’
Cancelled funds, insecure staff
She conducted most of the interviews herself in Germany. ’I didn’t expect to find much here because we don’t have right-wing governments and a different situation to Poland.’ In fact, however, she found similar attempts to exert political influence in German and British museums as in Poland, where the PiS ruled until the end of 2023. ’In Germany, the AfD is trying to exert influence by making small requests.’ They address them to museums that address racism or gender-sensitive language, questioning their funding and - with reference to the neutrality requirement of public institutions - their political stance.There are also more extreme cases: The director of the small town museum mentioned at the beginning was threatened because she had organised a series of events on the subject of right-wing extremism in the region. When a right-wing populist party came to power in a minority government after the local elections, she was put under intense pressure to focus more on local history and rename her museum the ’Heimatmuseum’. ’After a few months, the city council cancelled the funding for her position as director and she lost her job.’
The bottom line is that the pressure from right-wing populist politicians has led to some museum employees feeling insecure. ’Some feel exhausted by the confrontation with this loud minority, not only because they have to answer small enquiries, for example, instead of devoting themselves to their normal work,’ reports Leser. They are also intimidated by shitstorms and hate speech on social media as well as threats on the phone or by post.
The majority are in favour of an open society
According to the political scientist, it has been a long time since guides have given tours of a memorial site and been confronted by a group of AfD politicians. ’At first, many people didn’t know how to deal with it,’ says Julia Leser. This has now changed - and is one of the positive results of her study. ’Many people working at the museum attribute the attempts to influence and intimidate to a minority and say that the majority are in favour of a democratic, open society and behind the museum’s work.’Museums are now networking with other cultural institutions such as theatres that have had similar experiences and with civil society initiatives. They are joining forces in the International Association of Museums, where museums are defined as places that are not neutral but are allowed to get involved in socio-political debates - ’even if this provides a target for right-wing populist politics,’ says Julia Leser.
An app shows how populism works in museums
Public interest in the chapter project is very high due to the successful state elections for the AfD in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg. From 7 to 9 October, the results will be presented at the ’Heritage, Museums and Populism’ conference at the HU. In addition to a keynote speech and panels, podium and roundtable discussions, the three-day conference will also include the launch of the chapter app. This invites visitors to three museums - including the Berlin City Museum in the Humboldt Forum, Schindler’s Enamel Factory in Krakow, Poland, and the Museum of London - to engage with the topic of populism using specific objects.In the ÜBerlin Global’ exhibition, for example, there is an old map of German colonies. The app with the ’Appropriation of the Past Challenge’ links the object with the statements of right-wing populist parties in the social network that whitewash the colonial past. Visitors can learn more about the background, alone or in groups. ’They not only learn what populism has to do with museums,’ emphasises Leser, ’but also why the cultural sector is so interesting for populist actors.’
Challenging Populist Truth-Making in Europe: The Role of Museums in a Digital ’Post-Truth’ European Society (CHAPTER), project duration 2020-2026, is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.
