Throwaway is a project that unearths the hidden history of waste in Europe while simultaneously highlighting its significance as a marker of social change. It displays the profound changes in how we have dealt with rubbish in bygone years, and the way we think, or don’t think about waste. By looking at the past, it makes current criticisms and the resounding calls for change relevant and meaningful.
Over 25 objects from 10 museums
Play over 20 videos featuring people from Europe and behind.
Since 2021, the House of European History has been working with 9 museums from 8 European countries active at local and national levels in the fields of culture, ethnology and history. Together, they created a pan- European platform connecting objects, stories and people across time and space, in order to offer diverse and engaging content on the topic of waste.
This publication gives the floor to those behind the project: from curators and museum educators to the exhibition’s designers, as well as true local experts on rubbish. Academics outline how they view waste through the lenses of history, archaeology, sociology, anthropology and art.
The printed version of this book is available for purchase from the museum e-shop.
Digital version of this book is available for free.
Article Sweeping stories: conversations about rubbish with people on the ground in English.
