Samenvatting

Today the role of the museum institution is often questioned and consumed by crises of
meaning, funding, and relevance. Within the European context the economic crisis
resulted in major budget-cuts in the public spending, which also affected artistic and
cultural public funds. It has been thus increasingly recognized the need to question the
established economic system, and to re-conceive existing infrastructures, such as the
museum, in the light of more sustainable and alternative socio-economic paradigms.
Within this framework, the aim of this thesis is to analyze the motivations and
conditions by which the concept of the commons is implemented in the cultural sector,
with a focus on contemporary art organizations. On this purpose, the commons has
been defined as a composite concept, and it has been evaluated its historical and
theoretical development, and practical implementation by means of the analysis of a
number of European art organizations. Various theoretical models were also taken into
account regarding the development and criticism of the contemporary art institution
through scholars such as Chantal Mouffe, Claire Bishop, and Gerald Raunig.
Furthermore, through an in-depth evaluation of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte
Reina Sofía and the Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove, I have tried to evaluate how and to
what extent the models arising from the practice of small and medium sized groups
outside the mainstream circuits can be applied in a more formal and traditional settings,
as that of the museum of contemporary art.