The Past as Science: Romanian Cartography at the Paris Peace Congress of 1919

Romanian cartography at the Paris Peace Conference has so far received very little attention. Nevertheless, Romanian scholars produced tens of maps to support Romanian claims, most of them ethnographic ones. Seen as unscientific in 1919, they were quietly brushed aside. The present article argues that Romanian maps of 1919 displayed the same ideas found among Romanian elites. Ethnographic space was for them not just a matter of graphic representation of census results, but also the historical development of ancient and modern Dacia. Romanian cartography was congruous with Romanian culture in a wider sense. The article will review these ideas and then discuss their impact in Paris in 1919 and for Romanian culture since then.

A Theory-Practice Divide in a Museum Showcase

We aim to map the divide between practice and research in the field of knowledge production and diffusion related to museum studies. In doing so, we draw on the domain literature regarding the evolution of museums as institutions and its implications for the development of a dedicated field of studies. The current research focuses on the publishing work undertaken by museum professionals and researchers, as an essential component contributing to the advancement of research as well as to the diffusion of good practices. More precisely, we scrutinized European journals from the domain available on the Web of Science (WoS) as well as journals not included in the “main” scientific flows and generally published in various languages, other than English.

Becoming Social Museums by Being Virtual-Oriented and Technology-Driven Organisations

As audience-oriented and information-driven organisations, museums are embracing the Internet and interactive technology for developing virtual museums by encouraging the participation of the users in cultural activities. Technology does not exist per se being socially shaped. Museums have the opportunity to promote social innovation by developing technology and opening up to the audience as an active participant in the definition of cultural contents emphasising the interaction and communication between museums and their users. The Internet and interactive technology help museums to drive service innovation by opening up to the participation of the audience in defining cultural heritage contents. As virtual-oriented and technology-driven organisations, museums are becoming social, developing social spaces for innovation, selecting different pathways by managing information and knowledge sharing, developing interactive and virtual technology, building a shared authority on cultural heritage, involving the user as an active participant in co-production of cultural heritage knowledge.

Cultural Capital in the Digital Age. The YouTuber Online Persona

In this essay, we will examine if and how Bourdieu’s cultural capital theory can be applied to the YouTuber online persona and if any significant alterations could point towards the consideration of a new form of capital – digital capital. We will also be looking at how a YouTuber persona and its capital can be transferred and used in different environments and situations. We aim to examine how one’s online persona is becoming just as, if not more important than one’s real-life actions, managing to overcome punitive measures (inauthenticity aversion) usually applied to inauthentic forms of capital. We will take into account how the embodied, objectified, and institutionalized cultural capital can be found in YouTuber personas, but are being altered by the online environment, by exposure, by the algorithms used by the platform, by ‘internet history’. With the help of these alterations, the forms of capital associated with the online persona – in this case the YouTuber persona – have transcended the classic definitions of cultural capital. These developments can be analyzed and further explored in several fields, such as personal branding.

Tighina-Bender Fortress – (Re)Inventing a Museum

This article discusses the case of the transformation of the Tighina-Bender fortress in a historic museum and tourist attraction site. The fortress is one of the most important medieval fortifications in Eastern Europe and is a national monument registered in the State Register of Protected Monuments of the Republic of Moldova. Paradoxically, but the fortress has not benefited from serious historic and archaeological research so far. It must be because during the Soviet era the fortress was a military base and it was closed to the public. Its recent transformation into a museum, the launch of a rehabilitation project, and ensured access inside this fortification inspire us for the possibility of transforming this site into one of the most attractive tourist places in the Republic of Moldova. But for better interpretation and presentation is strictly necessary to understand the history of the place, its role from regional and European perspectives, the relation of historic place with the local community, etc. (Re)inventing a museum needs, in, first of all, a vision and, secondly, a strategy of museum sustainable development.