Thomas Wagner on the future of the museum

The museum is the "ventricle" of contemporary art, writes Thomas Wagner, who has visited all three of this summer's major exhibitions: the Venice Biennale, the documenta 12 in Kassel and the "Sculpture Projects" in Munster. "The museum is the place that unites the many periods, that brings to light the differences, underscores the links over the centuries and allows things to find their own place because it grants them long-term freedom from the forces of the market. Naturally the institution of the museum cannot encompass everything; and the exhibition collections in particular are currently in a crisis. But at the same time it's as if contemporary art, which lacks a historical dimension but not acceptance, yearns for a benchmark that the present alone cannot offer. Even the market has a need for the timeless in order to categorise its commodities."

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