Definition Of Museum Research Articles

Sustainable development and museum professions: a preliminary study in emerging trends and transformations

Over the past decade, the issue of sustainable development has initiated a new “revolution”, challenging the management and internal operations of all institutions and professions, even the most traditional ones, such as museums. This change is not only a response to external circumstances but also a reflection of the aspirations of internal actors. What are the new emerging trends desired by museum professionals? This preliminary study explores evolving trends in museum professionalism based on insights gathered during the 26th ICOM (International Council of Museums) General Conference in Prague (2022). It analyses 20 non-directive interviews conducted as part of participant observation. Focusing on the five heritage expertise areas identified by CHARTER Alliance – “planning and management”, “outreach and communication”, “preservation and safeguarding”, “crafts and traditional knowledge”, and “general knowledge” – the findings suggest a transformative shift towards greater audience connection, community involvement, and experimental approaches. Moreover, professionals also express an interest for sustainable museum practices. The study underscores a broader ambition to equip museum professionals with adaptive skills, emphasizing the significance of long-term viability, ethical practices, and community engagement. Thus, the recent new museum definition (2022) by ICOM in Prague and its latest actions reinforces these transformative features, emphasizing the sector’s pivotal role in shaping the future of heritage and museums towards more sustainable practices.

The discussion on today’s museum

This article aims to address the current situation of museums, focusing specifically on how they perceive themselves, which is closely related to the very definition of museum. In this sense, it has been observed that museology has experienced difficulties in carrying out this redefinition. This has led to protracted efforts to conceptualise and adopt the term in the global context of ICOM. This analysis has taken us from the failed proposal of 2019 to the latest one, approved in August 2022. This highlights the close relationship between the terminology used and very relevant modern concepts, such as sustainability, social inclusion, community, among others. These concerns are clearly reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Are contemporary art museums non-profit institutions? Axioms, paradoxes, and contradictions on the economic role of museums

ABSTRACT The museum’s practices, spaces, and goals have evolved significantly in recent decades. Therefore, ICOM created in 2017 a working group commissioned to revise the former definition, established since 1974. In all the proposals one fundamental and unquestioned concept appear: their non-profit dimension. This article tries to analyze some of the contradictions shown by the museum definition and its proposals, focusing mainly on the inconsistencies when contrasted to the economic side of the institutions, more accused in the new generation of urban contemporary art museums. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the previous works that have related contemporary art museum governance and management as actively immersed in a harsh free-market cultural economy related to profit-making initiatives. Assuming that museums have an undeniable variety of roles, the main aim of this paper is to clarify if contemporary art museums can still be defined in those general terms used by ICOM.

NORMATIVE AND LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OFADOPTING A NEW ICOM MUSEUM DEFINITION

During the 26th ICOM General Conference in Praguein 2022 a new museum definition was adopted. However,debates on it are much older, and while reaching merely theprevious 25th ICOM General Conference held in Kyoto in 2019 letus recall that it was there that an aborted attempt at introducingthe new museum definition, much differing from the currentone, took place. It is the normative and legal consequencesof the adoption of the new ICOM museum definition that arethe subject of the paper. It is possible for the normative ICOMoutput to be implemented in the domestic legal regulations.Interpretations and observations related to the questionare contained in the paper, however they finally lead to theconclusion that the literal wording of the museum definition assuch is not of major importance. As for the tendency, this showsthe extension of the name’s range although not conductedentirely spontaneously and freely.

Assessing the working practices and the inclusive programs to students with disabilities in the Egyptian museums: challenges and possibilities for facilitating learning and promoting inclusion

Following the implementation of 2018’s laws on the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Egypt, students with disabilities (SWDs) have both legal and moral rights to meaningful learning opportunities and inclusive education. Despite that, SWDs still have very limited education resources which limit their career aspirations and quality of life. In this respect, education whether as part of formal education or lifelong learning is central to the museum’s mission. Museums, as part of non-formal education, are being acknowledged for their educative powers and investments in the development of quality formal, non-formal, and informal learning experiences. Further, phrases such as “inclusivity,” “accessibility,” and “diversity” were notably included in the newly approved museum definition by ICOM (2022) emphasizing museums’ obligations to embrace societal issues and shape a cultural attitude concerning disability rights, diversity, and equality together with overcoming exclusionary educational practices. The study seeks to investigate the existing resources and inclusive practices in Egyptian museums to achieve non-formal education for SWDs. Qualitative research approaches have been employed to answer a specific question: How can Egyptian museums work within their governing systems to support the learning of SWDs beyond their formal education system? The study aims to assess the potential of Egyptian museums in facilitating learning for SWDs. Further, it examines the capability of Egyptian museums in contributing to informal and non-formal learning for SWDs and striving for inclusive education inspired by the social model of disability that fosters inclusive educational programs and adopts a human rights-based approach. The results revealed that Egyptian museums contributed to the learning of SWDs, yet small-scale programs and individual efforts, but they are already engaged in active inclusive practices that address the learning of SWDs. The study suggests that they need to be acknowledged and supported by the government as state instruments and direct actors in advancing inclusive education and implementing appropriate pedagogies in favor of SWDs.

The impact of topology on museum experiences of visitors – Museums of Prizren

AbstractIn the recent trends of re-formatting the concept and definition of museums, the number of reached visitors is closely related to their interest in the collection and curatorial program and the quality of the museum buildings' physical spaces. Numerous studies have recently discussed the effect of spatial layout and topology in determining the pattern of visitors' movement, influencing their ‘path of cultural and educational experience.’ This research deals with the five current museums of Prizren in Kosovo. Direct observations and comparative analysis aim to provide factual data to assist museum managers, curators, and designers improve museum design solutions regarding space layout.

African museums and their participation in the debates on the ICOM new museum definition

ABSTRACT From 2017 to 2022, ICOM worked on changing the 2007 definition of a museum to make it accord the challenges and responsibilities of the twenty-first century. To make the process transparent and participatory, ICOM invited all interested stakeholders to submit their vision of a museum. By April 2019, out of 269 new museum definitions proposed, Africa, with only 17 definitions, remained the least active region in the discussion of the reinterpretation and reconceptualisation of a museum. Additional consultations initiated in 2020 after the postponed vote in Kyoto got over a 60% rate of responses from the continent. To understand African participation and contribution properly, the article analyses how a museum as an institution has come into historical being, how it has been legitimised over time, and whether or not the newly approved definition in Prague, 2022, is truly transformative and representative for Africa.

Exploring omnivores and univores in art museums

This research note makes an original contribution to tourism research by reporting qualitative findings on the experiences and motivations of various art museum visitors using the omnivore-univore and push-pull frameworks. The study sample includes current visitors to two main art museums in Genoa, Italy. 400 face-to-face interviews are conducted to gather data on the definition of museums. The grounded theory approach is used to explore the experiences and motivations of art museum visitors by referring to their definitions. For this purpose, 347 useable definitions are reviewed to identify push and pull motivations by using NVivo 11. Findings suggest that Cultural Omnivores are more likely than Art Museum Univores to describe a museum using push factors involving various intrinsic experiences. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Контуры новой музейной этики в теоретической и практической музеологии

Currently, museology experts are involved with an intensive discussion aimed at the revision of the principles of museum ethics. To a significant extent, this discussion is related to the revision of the Museums’ Code of Ethics, which is moderated by the ICOM Standing Committee on Ethics. The suggestion could be made that the declared criteria and methods of working on the provisions of the Code of Ethics are associated with the new Museum definition introduced to ICOM statute in 2022. The ethical components of the new Museum definition are related to the changing values and key issues of modern culture. Attempts to revise museum ethics are also defined by the change in the current mission of a museum. The issue under discussion is the relationship between professional and institutional museum ethics. Substitution of the classical ethical paradigm of the museum with the concept of new museum ethics became an essential factor. The connection between the concept of the new museum ethics and museum activism is obvious. Criteria for radical transparency of museum collections and social responsibility to communities are becoming increasingly influential in practical and theoretical museology.

Decolonial thinking and african legacies in museums in Portugal

The article deals with the permanence in most museums in Portugal, of an ideology that expressed the colonial relationship of the past and which, in essence, remains in force in Portuguese society. This ideology in its current form, which was constructed after the Berlin Conference (1895) by a not very large group of academics, military and political elites, who, in particular during the Estado Novo period, saw their visions of the colonial relationship enshrined in the colonial policy of António Salazar and Marcelo Caetano. The examples given on the different approaches to the nature of the colonial relationship in the 20th century clearly show that the thinking of late 19th and 20th century ideologues, including the times of the last liberation war, evolved from unfettered pragmatism to giving gives rise to an ideology that seeks to present a colonial relationship based on mutual respect, affection, human solidarity, in short, on "Christian communion". The dominant ideology continues to justify colonization, war (colonial or liberation), forced labor, the distinction between the principles of a more advanced culture and superior morality. All in the name of an imagined colonial relationship respectful of human rights. The article analyzes some manifestations of this ideology at the Museu da Guerra Colonial in Famalicão that, in a way, can illustrate how, under the cover of an allegedly “neutral” discourse, the values of coloniality are maintained. The article draws attention to the need to take into account recent UNESCO documents or the new definition of Museum approved by ICOM in 2022, which could greatly help museums to act more in accordance with Human Rights Keywords: Museums, coloniality, colonial ideology

Crimes and Museums, but no Fiction: Portuguese Judiciary Police Museum’s Projects for the Protection of Cultural Heritage 1996-2022

Abstract This article presents three interdisciplinary and community-serving museum projects carried out by the Portuguese Judiciary Police Museum (Museu de Polícia Judiciária – MPJ), two of which are based on original ideas and unprecedented procedures. All three of them are ‘out of the walls’ crime prevention projects for the protection of Portuguese cultural heritage. The first project (starting in 1996) was dedicated to museums, the second (2003) to religious art in places of worship, and the third (2007) to the Portuguese unique and identitary Tile Heritage. The common genesis of the three projects is rooted on the one hand in two competencies of the Portuguese Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária, PJ) - crime prevention and crimes linked to cultural heritage – and on the other hand in museum concepts emerged in the last fifty years in museum studies - e. g. Declaration of Santiago do Chile 1972, ICOM Round Table; ‘Siena Charter’ ICOM Italy 2014; new museum definition ICOM Prag 2022. The three interdisciplinary projects – based on important partnerships from different academic areas and society sectors – are described in this article in terms of motives, implemented actions and results, and a final summary evaluation. Notwithstanding the severe financial conditions – all three projects had extremely small or even nonexistent budgets - and many not always surmountable obstacles, all three projects presented measurable positive results, and two of them received important national or international awards and were ‘exported’ to Brazil as models.

WITHDRAW FORWARD, PLEASE! ON PARTICIPATION POLICY IN ICOM’S WORKS ON THE ‘PRAGUE MUSEUM DEFINITION’

ICOM’s decision to revise the museum definition valid as of 2007 was accounted for with the need to adjust the existing statutory phrasing to meet the challenges museums face in the 21st century. Having adjourned the vote on the new definition at the Extraordinary General Assembly in Kyoto in 2019, the organisation suffered a leadership crisis. In late 2020, in order to reform the management, a new methodology of working on the definition was introduced. Its foundation was to be sought in participatory policy, namely redistribution of authority. Interestingly, this approach was facilitated by the application of remote communication forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In harmony with the adopted time schedule the extensive and multi-stage process was to climax with the vote on the adoption/ rejection of the new museum definition during the subsequent Extraordinary General Assembly in Prague on 24 August 2022. As a result of the participation in consultations of 126 out of the 178 eligible Committees, the ‘Prague museum definition’ was phrased as a compromise between the 2007 statutory definition valid until then and the ‘Kyoto definition’. On the essential issues, i.e., answering the question: ‘what is a museum?’, it actually retained the earlier regulation: a museum is a not-for-profit permanent institution. This yielded the question about the purposefulness of the works conducted in 2020–2022, based on the new participation paradigm, which the present paper attempts to answer.

MUSEUM AS A HEALTH AND WELLBEING FACILITATOR IN PANDEMIC ERA: A PERSPECTIVE FROM MUSEUM COMMUNICATION

During the pandemic, museums in the world began to move to expand their role in social interaction. Referring to the proposed new museum definition from ICOM which is still being discussed, museums are expected to contribute to the health and well-being sector. Currently, all museums in the world are changing the way they work by using technology and carrying out all activities remotely by utilizing various applications to stay connected with their visitors. What about the condition of museums in Indonesia? how museums in Indonesia carry out their role as direct actors of social development beyond their educational role? Are museums in Indonesia more proactive in improving society lives with special consideration for marginalized groups, like a senior adult, disabled person, special need, people with dementia, schizophrenia, or people with mental health? How museums in Indonesia use technology to communicate with their users? Researchers use qualitative studies and virtual ethnographic methods to explore museums that use social media. The results of the study show that most of the museums in Indonesia are not aware of their role to contribute to the quality of urban life, especially during the pandemic. And museum communication skills in the pandemic era must be expanded through the use of the internet while still paying attention to the ethics and limitations that apply to each type of collection owned.

The Plunder of Maqdala: Ethical Concerns Around Belongings and Ancestral Remains in Museums

During the colonial period, museums did not just passively benefit from the plunder of human remains and culturally sacred items. When Britain sent a punitive military expedition to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in 1863, it was accompanied by Richard Holmes, a staff member of the British Museum, whose purchase of loot from the expeditionary force institutionalised the plunder of cultural heritage. His inclusion in the expeditionary force was carefully planned, though the belongings he took — mainly manuscripts, religious items and emblems of power belonging to the Ethiopian royal family — were not the intended focus of his participation. Whilst the UK’s 2004 Human Tissue Act had a beneficial impact on the treatment of human remains in museums, objects belonging to colonised people are often still positioned as artworks or artefacts, evidencing ignorance of the deep personal and spiritual links that connect them back to their communities of origin. This article draws on our professional experience of curation and research in museums and libraries, as well as the impact of ICOM’s new Museum Definition on our practice. Joint research on the Maqdala expedition led us to question assumptions about the legacy of empire in museums and to scrutinise unexpected connections in the history of museum collections. This article addresses the problematic relationship between collecting and imperial power, the false dichotomy between ‘artefacts’ (belongings) and ‘human remains’ (ancestors) and the need to decolonise collections through further research and the recognition of ongoing cultural and physical violence.

Arriving at the Current Museum Definition: A Global Task and a Decentralising Exercise

Arriving at the Current Museum Definition: A Global Task and a Decentralising Exercise

The International Council of Museums and the Controversy about a New Museum Definition – A Conversation with Lauran Bonilla-Merchav, Bruno Brulon Soares, Lonnie G. Bunch III, Bernice Murphy, and Michèle Rivet

Abstract In 2019, an Extraordinary General Assembly International Council of Museums (ICOM) met in Kyoto, Japan to vote on a new museum definition. Among other things, the controversial proposal described museums as “democratising, inclusive and polyphonic spaces for critical dialogue about the pasts and the futures” that should also aim “to contribute to human dignity and social justice, global equality and planetary wellbeing.” The motion to postpone the vote, which was supported by a large majority in Kyoto, caused a crisis in the most important international organization for museums and museum professionals. In the years since, ICOM Define led an elaborate consultation process resulting in a newly revised museum definition to be voted on at ICOM’s Extraordinary General Assembly in Prague in August 2022. In this conversation, several prominent members of ICOM who have been deeply involved in the debates about a new museum definition take a critical look at the consultation process before Kyoto, the reasons for postponing the vote, the work of ICOM Define, and also share their expectations for Prague.

Beyond "do not touch": the experience of a three-dimensional printed artifacts museum as an alternative to traditional museums for visitors who are blind and partially sighted.

Three-dimensional printing, or 3D printing, has been used toward the educational, cultural, and social participation of individuals who are blind and partially sighted (BPS) by providing sensory access by touch. This study describes an example of the use of 3D printing technology to make museums accessible to visitors who are BPS by creating a three-dimensional printed artifacts museum (3D-PAM) that exhibits 3D printed replicas of artifacts from famous museums around the world. Specifically, the aim of the study is to identify the definitions of museums and the general experiences of museum visits by people who are BPS, to have them visit a 3D-PAM, and to unravel their reactions to this experience and their future suggestions for 3D-PAM. Eleven individuals participated in this basic qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to uncover their understanding of the experience. Results show that people who are BPS have a negative perception of museums because they are often inaccessible to this group and that the 3D-PAM in our study offered a pleasant experience that contributed to accessibility. These results suggest further that 3D-PAMs, either as an alternative and separate museum type or integrated into existing museums, are highly important for people who are BPS.

The ICOM International museum definition from the perspective of the Czech Republic : results of a questionnaire survey among representatives of the museum community and other related disciplines

The significant interest of the Czech (or Czechoslovak) museum sphere in the form and continuous revision of the existing international museum definition was already evident during Jan Jelínek's tenure at the head of ICOM in the 1970s. The effort to get involved in international debates resonates with Czech museum workers, museologists, academics and students even now, especially in connection with the planned revision of the key concept at the Prague meeting of this most important professional museum organization. The attitudes towards the existing and the optimal form of the museum definition were also examined within a local Czech questionnaire survey, which was carried out by Brno museologists in the first half of 2021 in cooperation with the Czech Committee of ICOM and the Czech Association of Museums and Galleries. The paper presents the main outcomes of the research, including the key terms that the museum definition should contain according to representatives of (not only) the museum community.

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam at 125 Years – Editorial

“Museums are processes,” suggested the Brazilian ICOM delegation as part of their proposal for a new museum definition in 2019.[1] This might sound to some like the complete opposite of what, at least in Europe, museums seemingly represent: preservation and permanence. However, processes, in the sense of changes and shifts, have to increasingly define the dynamics of museums in the twenty-first century. The debate around the “new museum” or the “museum of the future” is not a phenomenon of this century, as Nora Sternfeld points out, but rather has again become a major concern.[2] Sternfeld quotes Alfred Lichtwark, who in 1904 argued “Solange die Museen nicht versteinern, werden sie sich wandeln müssen. (As long as museums do not petrify, they will have to change.)”[3] Lichtwark’s statement came at the height of European colonialism. Today “Western”[4] museums cannot plan their future without acknowledging their history of legitimizing racist and colonial violence.

The ICOM museum definition: ICOM Germany between functionaries, members, and activists

The ICOM museum definition: ICOM Germany between functionaries, members, and activists