Interview with Robert Zydel

How has your background in both marketing and anthropology influenced your approach to leading museums and shaping visitor experiences in the European cultural sector?

Anthropology is my formal academic background, and I remember my studies as a particularly enriching period of my life—one filled not only with intensive reading and theoretical exploration, but also with hands-on field research. On the other hand, I never formally studied marketing; I practised it for many years through qualitative market research and, most notably, as a strategist at one of the leading advertising agencies.

Both experiences have deeply shaped my professional perspective. In many ways, they touch on similar aspects of everyday life: they both analyze our habits, routines, and behaviors, as well as how these evolve over time. Let’s not forget that in anthropology, culture is not limited to theatre, opera, or poetry—it also encompasses how we work, learn, eat, and rest. That’s why I’m convinced that both anthropology and marketing are invaluable tools in designing visitor experiences and managing engagement in my latest project: the E.Wedel Chocolate Factory Museum.

The Chocolate Factory blends food heritage with cultural storytelling—how do you see such thematic museums contributing to broader museological narratives across Europe?

Europe holds an immense heritage in this area. We protect our flavors, food products, and culinary recipes. To paraphrase the saying “you are what you eat,” Europeans are often proud of what they eat. Food is a vital part of our heritage, and some of the most compelling stories are built around it. The production of wine, olive oil, beer, bread, and cheese—or even cod and herring fishing—is far from simple. In the past, it required not only craftsmanship but also advanced technology.

I believe we are entering a new era in which, after a long fascination with global cuisines, there’s a renewed desire to celebrate and preserve our own gastronomic traditions—and to share them with others. Thematic museums like this are also often used as powerful tools to promote brands with longstanding histories.

During your leadership at the National Ethnographic Museum, how did you navigate the challenge of making ethnographic collections relevant to contemporary audiences in Poland and beyond?

This question is not an easy one, as it first requires an explanation that Central and Eastern European ethnography is not exclusively focused on non-European cultures. In countries that lost or had not yet gained statehood in the 19th century, folklore became a source of national identity and cultural roots. That is why ethnographic museums in Central and Eastern Europe often have a different profile—and public perception—compared to their Western European counterparts.

I operated on the belief that a museum is more than just collections and exhibitions; it is also an educational platform and a communication medium—whether through programming or social media. Among my most successful initiatives, I would highlight opening the museum to visitors accompanied by their pets, and launching the Vistula Ethnographic Expedition—an annual journey on foot and by boat along Poland’s most important river. This initiative served as a way to raise contemporary social and cultural questions, while remaining rooted in ethnographic inquiry.

How can European museums better incorporate market and audience research to remain culturally relevant while maintaining academic and curatorial integrity?

Sometimes I feel that we don’t necessarily need more data—we just need a better understanding of the data we already have. When a filmmaker releases a movie, they cannot observe viewers’ reactions in every cinema where it’s shown. But when we create an exhibition, audience responses are right in front of us.

I believe we don’t observe our museum visitors closely enough. I’m also convinced that the best kind of knowledge exchange isn’t just theoretical—through meetings or seminars—but practical, through cross-sector collaboration on real projects. It’s in these shared initiatives that we can learn from one another through doing, rather than just talking.

What potential do you see for cross-sector collaborations—between museums, brands, and municipalities—within the framework of the European Museum Academy’s mission?

Museums operate in an increasingly competitive environment: the leisure-time economy. Unlike many other players, museums face the challenge of needing to master a wide range of expressive tools and communication styles in order to create meaningful and emotionally resonant exhibitions. That’s a tall order—and if we don’t embrace collaboration, we risk falling behind spaces that offer more immediate, sensory, or personal experiences.

I firmly believe it’s time to rethink our role. We should not act only as guardians of treasures locked away in vaults, occasionally revealed in our ‘temples.’ We must begin to step actively beyond the walls of our institutions—because if we don’t, we may one day find that no one is knocking on our doors anymore.

Robert Zydel