Museum
From the very beginning the Lichtspiel showed characteristics of a museum – by collecting, maintaining, exhibiting and making accessible artefacts of the history of cinema. This is visible in a vivid, changing display storage, where machines, objects used on filmsets and other cinematographic material is presented: projectors of all times, shapes and colours, viewing machines, cameras and tripods, posters and lobbycards. The Lichtspiel houses one of the world’s most important, richest collections of the history of film and cinema, and this dimension can be entered, discovered, smelt and heard.
Our latest acquisition is a unique collection of laterna magica machines that can be marvelled at in our cinematheque. This huge collection of magic lanterns was generously handed over to the Lichtspiel by the descendants of the collector Heinz Leuenberger as a permanend loan. The rare marvels of cinema technique are witnesses of an important stage of the first steps of the moving image and screening techniques and can be explored in an a new exhibition room.
From the outset Lichtspiel defined a new interpretation of the term museum. On one hand, the collection and conservation of the objects confided to our archive were one of our primary concerns – many of the objects have to be revised, repaired and restored. On the other hand we always tried to keep our machines going. Restoration projects also aim to keep machines running, to make it possible to use them for screenings. In this sense we also live the history of cinema and film in practice: Films should be screened in the frame of their original infrastructure and context, and – in terms of an experiment – techniques and practices of different eras are brought together. This approach to interpreting the term ‘museum’ means mediation by using and experimenting.
The Lichtspiel is a member of the Association Museen Bern. The cinemathèque cooperates with other museums on different levels. Yet, we passionately live our own interpretation of what makes a museum: playful, curious, accessible for your feet, your eyes, your nose and your ears.
