Museum Professionals – What Is a Museum?

Museums have been established for a vast array of purposes: to serve as recreation facilities or scholarly venues; to promote civic pride or nationalistic endeavour; and even to convey overtly ideological concepts. Yet despite their enormous diversity, museums are bound by the shared purpose of preserving and interpreting some material aspect of their society’s cultural consciousness.

Museum professionals are the people who manage, direct, support, and develop these institutions. They are responsible for the research, care, and display of objects spanning all fields of human knowledge. These objects are displayed in exhibitions, which are designed to make them accessible and understandable to the general public across all ages and backgrounds. This is facilitated by the careful curation of artifacts and the use of interpretive materials, including labels, multimedia presentations, and guided tours.

However, the very nature of a museum is constantly changing and evolving. For example, many museums are working toward their goal of being more inclusive and representative of the world’s cultures. They are doing this by changing their definition of what a museum is, not only in terms of the objects they acquire and exhibit but also in how they engage with communities.

While this new definition has caused controversy, it is a good step forward for museums and its visitors. It shifts away from the idea that museums are institutions that “acquire” artifacts, a notion that is rooted in colonialism and power relations. The word “acquire” itself comes from the Latin verb musni, which means to take as one’s own or to gain control of something. Instead, the new definition states that museums “collect.” This is more reflective of the way most museum practices already work: museums acquire through gifts and loans, but they also collect by researching and identifying important artifacts from the world around them.

Furthermore, the new definition emphasizes that museums hold their collections in trust for all of humanity. As such, museums should be able to access these artifacts for research and study without the need for permission from those who own them. In addition, museums should be able to respond to requests for restitution and repatriation.

Having strong interpersonal skills is critical for many museum roles, especially those focused on education or community engagement. This is because these roles often require interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, and the ability to build relationships is crucial. Additionally, excellent organizational skills are important for those in museum roles that deal with tracking large numbers of objects and their associated data and information. Finally, creativity is a key attribute for those in museum roles that require generating engaging and innovative exhibitions and programs.