Milja Liimatainen

Conference Report. December 2024
The theme of this year’s CIMAM annual conference, Sustainable Futures: How? When? For Whom? focused on the vast topic of sustainability, particularly from the perspectives of ecological, social, and economic dimensions. The numerous, well-curated presentations explored the theme from various angles, showcasing a wide array of speakers. Topics ranged from practical approaches on museum techniques and compact community-oriented practices to attempts to rethink the museum as an institution. The selection of presenters mirrored this diversity, including representatives from large, established institutions and small-scale initiatives, with a delightfully significant number of artists too.
In this report, I primarily reflect on the discussions around ecological sustainability, as this resonates most strongly with my current projects. My aim is to elaborate on the themes presented and consider how they could be made even more comprehensive.
The most valuable takeaway from the conference was the opportunity to understand the immense diversity of institutions, initiatives, and actors within the museum field, as well as their varying starting points and challenges. No other conference I have attended has offered such a breath of viewpoints within such a concise timeframe. However, coming from the context of a European, publicly funded, mid-scale organization, I found that the questions raised by the speakers sometimes felt rather remote from the challenges familiar to me. From my perspective it seemed that many of the institutions represented were large museums with substantial private funding (e.g., Kelsey Shell / MOCA, Daniel Vega / Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Fiona Ragheb / LACMA). As one speaker noted, ecological sustainability often requires additional funding, but in Northern Europe – and especially in Finland with strong public funding and minimal donor culture –this funding must be sourced elsewhere.
Conversely, the very small initiatives introduced (e.g., Zita C Shorefast, Mai Abu ElDahab/Mophradat and Candice Hopkins / Forge Project), operate on a scale and logic quite different from that of established museums, which bear many responsibilities not determined solely by the institutions themselves.
Some of the responsibilities centering in my mind throughout the conference were the requirements and responsibilities directed to the institutions by their funders. For example, how do the set performance targets and measurable outcomes align with sustainability goals? This tension was evident in presentations on new construction projects (e.g., LACMA). I also wondered how this contradiction plays out concerning audiences and visitors. Instead of emphasizing “visitors”, the discussion frequently centered on “communities” (as highlighted by Mark Bradford, Zita Cobb, Candice Hopkins and others), perhaps reflecting the North American context. In Europe, however, visitor numbers often remain a key performance metric directly tied to funding. Andrea Fraser touched on these fundamental discrepancies, but I would have welcomed a deeper discussion of this topic.
Candice Hopkins’ presentation offered a very valid formulation on how to rethink the museum establishment thoroughly anew but despite its sincerity remained slightly distant or perhaps even radical from an institutional perspective. Nonetheless, it felt very refreshing to hear her discussion around Forge Project’s Fellowship Program where there are no requirements for the participants to produce outcomes, or about the principles of the Forge Collection where the artist’s rights are at the center of all lending processes. The focus in all Forge Project’s operations lies clearly outside the art market, ownership models and the pressures of continuous growth.
All in all, I would have liked to hear more perspectives addressing museums’ core missions – collecting, exhibiting, and researching – and how these intersect with sustainability, particularly ecological sustainability. While collections were mentioned briefly, I had hoped for insights into how programming could evolve toward greater sustainability within the framework of established, often traditional, and somewhat rigid museum institutions. Many of the technical procedures presented on the first conference day (by e. g. Daniel Vega / Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Cecilia Winter
/ Getty Conservation Institute) are most crucial when thinking about the ecological sustainability but seem nevertheless secondary compared to the program and the thematical choices a museum chooses to make: What does it wish to present? What does it wish to discuss with its audiences?
Technical measures must align with these broader goals, but meaningful progress – particularly in addressing the climate crisis – requires consistent and dedicated decisions about programming and the topics an institution chooses to amplify. This focus on the museum’s core functions and how to approach them sustainably seemed absent from many of the presentations.
Perhaps unexpectedly, a note that for me summoned many of my thoughts during the whole conference came from the very last respondent on the last day. This was Stephanie Rosenthal from Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, who, quoting Donna Haraway, concluded that sustainability is not so much about caring for nature for its own sake; it is fundamentally about preserving nature to ensure humanity's survival on this planet. Should we wish to achieve anything within the field of ecological sustainability, perhaps this paradigm shift should also guide the sustainability efforts of the museum institutions.
Biography
Milja Liimatainen (b. 1983) is a curator at HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Lapinkylä, Finland. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Art History from the University of Helsinki, graduating in 2013.
Her master’s thesis, “Julkinen veistos ja tila: Kivi, Kolme aitaa ja Epigrammeja Helsingin kaupungin jalankulkijoille paikkasidonnaisina merkitysten muodostajina” (free transl.: “Public Sculpture and Space: Stone, Three Fences, and Epigrams for the Pedestrians of the City of Helsinki as Site-Specific Meaning Makers”), University of Helsinki, 2012, delt with public art and its relationship to space. Her minors included museology, Women’s Studies, and visual culture, which she studied at the University of Lund, Sweden, for one year.
During her studies and since her graduation, Milja’s career has mainly evolved in various museum environments. She has extensive work experience in Helsinki region art museums and other contemporary art agencies. She has predominantly worked in curatorial and project manager roles with changing exhibitions and contemporary art, but she has also familiarized herself with collection work and modern art.
The range of exhibitions she has worked with varies from large international group shows (e.g. ARS17, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, 2017; In Search of the Present, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, 2022) to solo shows by both Finnish and international artists and touring exhibitions. Her main interest is contemporary art and various exhibition methodologies, as well as understanding curatorial practices grounded in fellowship, dialogue, and facilitation. The themes she has worked with include the rights of indigenous peoples, masculinity in sculpture, fandom, surrealism and fairytales, inclusivity, and art and science.
Her current curatorial projects include Tori Wrånes’s (b. 1978, Norway) solo exhibition opening at HAM Helsinki Art Museum in September 2024. She also works as a coordinating curator for the next Helsinki Biennial, opening in 2025.
Milja Liimatainen, Curator, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Lapinkylä, Finland, has been awarded by the Saastamoinen Foundation, Helsinki.