The Museum of the Future | Museums and culture in times of social and technological change

18 Jul, 2017 • Case studies, Inspiration • 7547

The Creative Museum – Using the creativity of communities in culture

Four years ago I was approached by Cécile Marsan to participate as special advisor in a European research project about creativity in museums. The proposed research was action-based – learning by doing – and the partners came from France, Ireland, the UK, Norway, Finland, Italy and Croatia, as well as the United States (my fellow special advisor Don Undeen). This month, the final meeting took place in Lyon. Time for a wrap-up!

The Creative Museum Project kicked off with a mapping of good practices from across the world about the collaboration between creative communities and museums. Within the project, I interpreted creative practice as the act of involving creative communities (e.g. makers, artists, or active citizens) in core functions of the museum, such as storytelling, exhibition design, research, etc. What we found, was a high quantity and diversity of creative practice in cultural institutions. There are many ways in which museums are opening up their collections and buildings to new audiences. Many of them are guided by notions of a participatory museum, technological innovations or simply a desire to be more audience-cantered.

We found something similar when (as a spin off of the project), we mapped cases of participatory governance in cultural heritage. There are sufficient cases of institutions that genuinely involve their audience, all for their own reasons. Continue Reading
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1 Jul, 2017 • Inspiration, Strategy • 5139

Valuing community impact with more than money
- If people can see another future, they can make that future theirs. The task of cultural institutions is to give people a view on another future.
- Every community around the world has assets of value. Community wealth is our wealth.
- Culture and communities are never not the same thing.
Deborah Cullinan of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts rocked this MuseumNext when she presented CultureBank, a new investment model for culture and the arts. (The paraphrased quotes above are hers.)

YBCA is a world-leading community arts center, which does not only present leading edge contemporary arts, but strives for what they call a ‘culture of invitation’. Last year, in Dublin, Deborah already presented her strategy for generating culture that moves people.

CultureBank is something different though, and something beyond a deep focus on community engagement and partnerships. The initiative started with the observation that in many community-driven cultural projects, traditional ideas about financial investment and ROI fall short. They only measure money in and money out. Community impact, however, generates much more than only a financial ROI. It changes lives, communities and society.

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8 Jun, 2017 • Case studies • 4801

Visit Amsterdam’s neighbourhood museums on bike

You are invited to join me for a bike tour of some of Amsterdam’s small and neighbourhood museums on 9 July 2017. Amsterdam is fortunate enough to have a great number of small, community-led museums that tell the story of a neighbourhood, or work with the neighbourhood to tell universal stories.

The bike tour connects these museums with each other, and with new audiences. Participants in the tour are Museum Indische Buurt, Museum Perron Oost, Museum Amsterdam Noord, Van Eesterenmuseum and Street Art Museum Amsterdam. There will be coffee and drinks and we’re using the event to celebrate the collaboration between the museums. The full route is about 15 kilometers, and in full Amsterdam fashion you will have to take a ferry multiple times. See the full route or sign up immediately.

The idea for this bike tour came up while I was playing with Cards for Culture – Museum Edition. I combined the inspiration cards of Tour de Culture and the Street Art Museum Amsterdam with the trend of Together Alone, and added the strategy cards example, tours and guides and partners.

I became involved with Amsterdam’s small and neighbourhood museums about two years ago, when they invited me to inspire them with a short talk. I quickly fell in love with many of the enthusiastic and energetic people who run the museums, which are often as much social and cultural initiatives. The museums do amazing things with limited resources, and are a source of inspiration in my work (and on this blog: one, two, three). Continue Reading
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2 Jun, 2017 • Organisation, Thoughts about museums • 5033

A museum to connect the world

In the past few months I’ve helped the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions design a global conversation about how libraries can tackle the challenges of the future by working together. In the process, I’ve had the honour to work with inspirational librarians, and talk with library professionals from around the world.

What stood out for me in the conversations and the workshops I facilitated, is how committed the participating librarians are to their mission and vision of a better world. I am pleasantly surprised by their awareness of, and focus on large societal issues, and their willingness to work together to address these issues.

Many of the challenges the world faces are too large for any one organisation alone to tackle. Whether it is climate change, human rights or international migration and security, these topics go beyond the sphere of one organisation, even if that organisation is a large country.

I am also involved in an environmental scan about the big stories for museums in the coming decade. I’ve spoken with influential thinkers and leaders about 21st century approaches to 21st century challenges, and the role museums and their collections play. Almost in one voice, they ask for more collaboration. Between museums, between museums and other organisations, and between museum and their audiences. Continue Reading
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21 Apr, 2017 • People, Thoughts about museums • 5805

Heritage and peacebuilding

Museums have the potential to change lives and strengthen communities. In recent years, it seems the interest in this part of their brief (“in the service of society”) and the evidence for it has increased, with many discussions and books dedicated to this topic. The new book Heritage and peacebuilding, which brings together essays from many of the field’s leading thinkers and practitioners, looks at the relation between cultural heritage, museums and – according to contributor Peter van Dungen – one of humanity’s oldest and most lofty goals: world peace. In the words of the editors, and my experience after reading it, it is a hopeful book, full of case studies and examples of how heritage can contribute to peacebuilding.

In order not to bury the lead: Cultural heritage and museums can contribute to peacebuilding. Throughout the book, cases ranging from Kenya to Israel and from the Western Balkans to Northern Ireland show the role cultural heritage institutions and professionals can play in peacebuilding. And should play. As Diana Walters writes, peace is too large a topic to be left to official peace makers such as UNESCO, ICOM, and Cultural Councils. Museums, being used to dealing with slippery subjects, may take on enhancing the conditions for peace as one of their purposes.

Many authors show how this role can even occur in conflict situations. Sultan Somjee explains that even during conflicts, there exist pockets in society that maintain their heritage of peacebuilding. We need to strengthen these pockets and individuals. Timothy Gachanga gives examples of communities in Kenya that have continued to use heritage for peacebuilding and conflict transformation, even in moments of turmoil.

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