ABSTRACT
First,museumswerenothingbutvisitablecollections.Museumsaswe knowthemwereonlytoappearthroughslowprogressivechangeovera periodoftwohundredyears.Butisthemodemmuseumthefinalandonly answertothesetofneedswhichcreatedit?Today,wearewitnessingboth anunprecedentedflourishingofmuseumsandtheirdeepestconceptual crisis.Aninvestigationofthetraditiontowhichmuseumsbelongmayhelp usunderstandthemotivesfortheirformationandtheinstitutional consequencesweknowtoday.Itmayalsohelpusmakedecisionsaboutthe futureofmuseumsandcollections,andthereforecollectingitself.
