The lecture presented the reactions of adult viewers to IRWIN’s Kapital, on view since 2011 in the new permanent exhibition of 20th century Slovene art: Continuities and Ruptures at the Moderna galerija. The lecture was a part of NSK from Kapital to Capital exhibition. Exhibition webpage.

The empirical research project encompassed both the “general” and “expert” publics, as museum visitors are traditionally categorized by museologists. It was carried out on a sample of 23 people who were either professionally qualified or unqualified in the field of fine arts. With the technique of gathering the thoughts, associations and feelings triggered in the interviewees when observing the works of art, the author determined the ways in which museum visitors responded to the focal works, what kinds of knowledge they used in understanding them, what motivated them in this, and how their previous experiences and other interests affected their experience. In the case of IRWIN’s Kapital, the majority of interviewees had trouble understanding the concept and artistic expression of the pieces, while some did not even wish to understand the works and simply avoided the exhibit. The author will present the reasons for this, based on the opinions of the visitors.

Rajka Bračun Sova holds a PhD in educating educators, and specifically education in the field of art. She teaches art history as part of the informal education of adults, and carries out research in museum pedagogy, in particular education in art museums, and in art-related didactics.

More about the exhibition on exhibition web page.

The exhibition is a part of a five year programme The Uses of Art – Legacy of 1848 and 1989 led bz L'Internationale confederation of museums. Supported by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, European Union's Culture Programme and Foundation for Arts Initiatives. The publication accompaning the exhibition is supported by Kontakt, Erste Group Collection and ERSTE Foundation, published and distributed by MIT Press.