Women who co-curated the exhibition Travellers’
This may have been due to missed opportunity,
Journey with the NMI,with friends, photographed at the
to active or accidental exclusion, or to an absence
exhibition launch in front of a model barrel top wagon on
of provision of experiences that were relevant to
display in the Museum grounds as part of the exhibition.
their identities and connected with their daily
Credit: Keith Heneghan
lives. Assuming that the case for the participatory museum experience is made, let’s examine some
If, as museum professionals, we want to encourage
broad principles that might help us get there.
people to protect and cherish heritage, if we
Figure 2 below encapsulates some thoughts on the
want to build recognition of the value of material
first steps that can be taken on the journey to
heritage for reflecting on our past, and if we want
a more participatory museum experience. These
to use this learning in envisioning Ireland’s future,
stem from the key points around governance
we need to be sure that we are engaging audiences
and the need to build relationships in cultural
on a very broad basis. Not everyone is practised
institutions made earlier in this article; and should
in the appreciation of arts and culture, or is
provide some hopefully helpful prompts for
comfortable within museums and galleries, either
further thought and discussion.
as institutions in which to work or as buildings.
BIAS FOR ACTION: JUST DO IT, STRUCTURES WILL NEVER BE PERFECT, SUPPORT YOUR TALENT
First steps for becoming
BUILD CAPACITY, CHANGE POLICY: PARTICIPATIVE PROGRAMMING NEEDS PEOPLE AND POLICY
a participatory museum.
INVOLVE THE OBJECTS: THEY CAN BEAR WITNESS, THEY CAN BE PLATFORMS, MULTIPLE INTERPRETATIONS
(Lynn Scarff, 2019).
FOSTER COLLABORATION: INTERNALLY FIRST, ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED HIERARCHIES AND SILOS GENUINE: NOT BECAUSE IT’S TRENDY, OR BOX TICKING EXERCISE BUT BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE IN IT BRING EVERYONE: CURATORS, ATTENDANTS, OPERATIONS TEAM CAN’T JUST BE IN EDUCATION TEAM DESIGN FOR PARTICIPATION: FROM CHAIRS IN EXHIBITS, TO FEEDBACK LOOPS, TO OPEN CALLS INCREASE RISK APPETITE: IT IS GOING TO GO WRONG, ACCEPT THAT MAKE SPACE FOR EVALUATION UNDERTAND IT TAKES ENERGY AND TIME: BE IN IT FOR THE LONG RUN, SEEK SUSTAINABILITY POWER: SHARE IT, DON’T NEED TO LET GO COMPLETELY - NEED TO TACKLE THE GOVERNANCE, ADVISORY ROLES CHANGE INDICATORS: NEW WAYS TO MEASURE SUCCESS, NOT VISITOR NOS. ONLY BUT LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT
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