ABSTRACT
In 2008 the Moderna Museum in Stockholm made an appeal to the Swedish government and its private donors to generate 50 million Swedish kroner in order to fill the gap of artworks by women in its collection. The new ways in which collectors are involved constitutes an important part of museum archival logic. Indeed in the case of the Hamburger Bahnhof, they define the very essence of public heritage; simultaneously legitimating art market trends. Museums prove to be fairly reluctant to provide information about the decision-making processes involved in forming their collections. Although contemporary art constitutes the focus for all museums, the way it is understood varies considerably, taking into account their different institutional and micro-political influences. In both the Ludwig Museum and Kumu the Western narrative of art history was often perceived as something homogeneous, without considering the different conflicting agendas, problems and geographical borders at work in its definitions.
