We’ve reached the seventh season!
As per custom, or rather, tradition, all archives are reset, and the site begins anew, as if it were the very first day of publication. Yet it carries the strength of experience, matured season after season, year after year, release after release.

Some have asked why we completely reset the archives (with the sole exception of a few particularly significant contributions produced during the current year).

There are mainly three reasons. First and foremost, especially regarding interviews, we all know that in any organization people change, their ideas change, the organizations themselves, made up of people, change, and the times lived by those people change. Who would have imagined, twenty years ago when we launched the first edition of Network Museum, that Europe would be discussing conflicts with Russia, or that the Shoah would return in reversed roles? We believe it is appropriate for individuals and institutions to present their viewpoints as updated as possible, rather than perpetuating expressions in which even the original authors might no longer recognize themselves. This is also a respectful way to comply with data protection regulations, not in a formalistic sense, but in a way that truly honors the spirit of the law. We are neither journalists nor historians, and this is not a site about the history of museological evolution.

Secondly, Network Museum, born to host scientific work, promote collaboration among museum professionals, and foster a deeper understanding of museum sciences and the very essence of “doing museum”, feels the need to relaunch proposals and experiments, based on past insights, to evolve its mission. Proof of this is the creation of structures derived from Network Museum, which has taken on the role of a sector-leading entity, or as we say in our own terminology, a first-level spin-off from which several specialized operational units branch out: from Network Museum People, now preparing its second season, to Network Museum LAB, Network Museum People Café, Network Museum TV, Network Museum Explorer, and Network Museum EDU.

The third reason stems precisely from the emancipation mentioned above. Network Museum will increasingly present itself as the coordinating body of a multimodal research paradigm, entrusting, in the near future, a purely editorial webzine with the original and catalytic function of publishing scientific work related to museum sciences, especially those not strictly focused on conservation. We are observing how the model of web presence as a catalyst and incubator for evolving research protocols yields promising results, both in terms of subject matter and strategic enterprise perspective. (It’s worth reminding readers that Network Museum funds its activities precisely through the sale of its research outcomes, in the form of consultancy, management, and the creation of those very spin-offs that underpin its evolution.)

Let us return to this seventh season, which, barring unforeseen events, will accompany us for the next three years. In line with what has been described, and alongside a new graphic identity, it will feature characteristics that diverge from current norms.

Despite statistics and direct or indirect pressures, content will be governed solely by the fulfillment of its subject matter. Those who lack time or patience to read, need not read us. One, ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million visitors per day, none of this poses a problem for us. We sell nothing, we host no advertising, precisely because content is sacred to us. It is the site’s true attraction. It is the star.

We will continue to publish only when there is something worth publishing. The museum landscape, especially in Italy, is far from easy. It certainly has much to say, particularly in educational terms, but communication “with” and “from” the system remains difficult, except for the usual promotional campaigns and press releases.

To support the transition from webzine to lead site in a research network, we will publish fewer interviews and fewer general articles, reserving more space to present what is happening within our institution’s spin-offs and the results of our research. We will certainly not stop hosting contributions that are kindly submitted to us—this has always been, and remains, a cornerstone of our mission. However, we prefer that visibility and interaction with external content be entrusted to a dedicated webzine, one that can work in synergy with other strategic components such as Network Museum TV or the Network Museum (People) Café network.

We will dedicate much more space, time, and resources, despite the system’s inertia and challenges, to the effort of involving colleagues from sector institutions in the sharing, study, and experimentation of managerial and educational activities.

Modern scientific research is no longer the romantic pursuit of solitary heroes sacrificing themselves on the altar of knowledge, but a process of shared inquiry governed by refined rules through which unexpected achievements can be reached collectively.

Following this same spirit of collaboration, our communication and professional training activities will be further promoted, thanks to the new spin-off, Network Museum EDU. Its aim is to foster reciprocal transmission of experiences and information, avoiding didactic frameworks focused solely on evaluative formalism devoid of lived experience and opportunities for professional growth, human relationships, and a renewed understanding of the true recipients and subjects of museological attention: the individual and the public.

To this seventh season, we entrust a task of exceptional responsibility. It is not merely about evolving from a webzine into a coordinating body of an experimental research network, but, if you’ll forgive the sentimentality, about celebrating what we hope are our first twenty years of presence in the field of museum research, the market, and the web. In 2006, Network Museum, a specialized branch of the research company INFOGESTIONE, arrived online to better explore and narrate the ways in which knowledge propagates through the museum-exhibition system. It became a specialized extension of INFOGESTIONE’s mission, which since 1997 has been committed to cultural dissemination, shaping its field of inquiry around cultural production and communication, school and university education, territorial cultural identity, and, through Network Museum, heritage culture.

We will have the opportunity to recount and, we hope, celebrate this twenty-year milestone, which we prefer to consider a springboard, with you throughout the coming year, a year that will surely bring new developments to share.

As for the celebrations, if there are to be any, there is still time.

We wish everyone meaningful participation and a joyful seventh season!