THE CONCEPTS OF IDENTITY AND MUSEUMS: A TOWN IN A MUSEUM OR A TOWN - MUSEUM (THE CASE STUDY OF THE SLOVENE TOWN OF CELJE)

Exhibitions in Slovene museums, galleries, private collections and the homes of famous people are arranged traditionally, i.e. as dictated by the principles of natural science exhitibions since the second half of the 19th century. The arrangement follows a thematic order, starting with a section dedicated to archaeology, followed by sections on ethnography, art history and modern history. The arrangement of exhibits respects the chronological order, thus arousing the visitor's feelings of already seen and repetitive.
The uniqueness and diversity of the historical background and heritage of a particular region are lost in exhibitions arranged according to the above-mentioned principles, for these give absolute priority to the categorisation based on absolute, aesthetic and preserved values of the exhibits even when playing with space and design. Modern museums are inserted in environment and cultural landscape, thus bringing to life the concept of a complete museum.
Museums, based on such a concept, boast of originality, for they may build a story around a particular phenomenon in time and space. What makes them recognisable is their focus on local subjects, for these explain the historical, social, spiritual and natural values of a particular environment more effectively, while sheding light on the events that led to the period shown and the events following the period focused on in the exhibition. The identity of the area covered by the museum is thus introduced through an exhibition focusing on one of the most important segments of local history.
The paper presents the case study of Celje aiming at pointing out the sensical and non-sensical aspects of a historical museum. It introduces the concept of the so-called complete museum based on the architectural heritage of the area, on the landscape and the destiny of the people living there.