For decades, Muhka has maintained a systematic practice of research and image-building around its collection. Parallel to this, the museum developed a historiographical vision, centred on the question of the international post-war avant-garde, and a contextual research practice.
This research-driven approach is evident not only in its presentation practice, but also in the in-depth engagement with certain artists such as Jimmie Durham or Panamarenko. It also finds expression in multi-year research collaborations.
Muhka also focuses on developing instruments that can quantify and make visible the research output, such as ensembles.org – a CMS aimed at the incremental and differentiated structuring of information, connecting research and public engagement – which forms the core instrument on which these output-oriented developments are aligned. In addition, research is made accessible through instruments such as discursive platforms such as Afterall and L’Internationale Online, proprietary digital research platforms and e-books.
All of this stems from the conviction that museums have a reason to exist in the sense of the ICOM definition: collecting the material and immaterial testimonies of humanity and its environment, preserving, presenting, and researching them.
