Conference, 28th & 29th November 2013, Berlin

Public funds finance and sustain museums, archives, libraries and monuments – but why? What is a government’s task, what is its responsibility when it comes to maintaining and creating access to cultural heritage?

The focus of the conference on 28th/29th November 2013 is a contemplation of the self-image of cultural institutions and what is expected of them. What is the relationship of cultural institutions to private initiatives and commercial activities? Is there a public responsibility to sustain what is culturally relevant? Can culture be equated with economic utility? Or does the responsibility of public archives, museums and libraries only start when economic utility ends? What is the reason behind legal tax or copyright privilege of so-called „memory institutions“? Finally it will be discussed whether and to what extent legal regulations are sufficient to enable „memory institutions“ to fulfill their duties in the digital world.

So far, the conference’s partners have been:
Jewish Museum Berlin, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Internet and Society Co:llaboratory, iRights.Lab Kultur, Open Knowledge Foundation Germany, Wikimedia Germany, Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek

Head of the conference: Dr. Paul Klimpel