Paper short abstract:

Three essential specifics of ethnographic film in the Slovene Ethnographic Museum are: it is integrated into exhibitions; ethnographic films and audiovisuals, data and reflections on them are accessible to visitors in various manners; audiovisuals serve as a medium for communication with museum visitors, inviting them to take an active part.

Paper long abstract:

Professional activities of the Department of Ethnographic Film (established in 2000) in The Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana, Slovenia, has three essential specifics. Recently it has been orientated into production of visual ethnographic contents for the permanent exhibition of SEM, where several parameters are considered: the concept of the exhibition, the exhibition's author' guidance, references of ethnographic film and the medium itself, audience, and user friendly integration of the media in the exhibition. The second characteristic of the ethnographic film and audiovisual media in SEM is accessibility to the visitors at the exhibitions, at film presentations, as a part of workshops, and through a review of Slovene ethnographic films Ethnovideo Marathon, which transformed into an international festival Days of Ethnographic Film in 2007. The Department supports the accessibility of the audiovisuals, as well as of data and reflections on them with DVD publications, on the web page of the Museum, with lectures in the museum and outside it, and with participation at the conferences and festivals. The third challenge is to establish the two way communication with the visitors at the exhibition. This can be achieved at several levels: at the level of the contents of audiovisuals, with the mode of screening and accessing them, at the level of encouraging (self)reflection of the visitors, and finally, by inviting the visitors to active participation.