Museums are all about collecting and displaying objects, preserving and interpreting them for the public. People tend to think of museums as big buildings in which art, natural and manufactured artefacts are preserved for posterity. But there is much more to museums than that – as demonstrated by a recent working definition from the body responsible for overseeing them all: “A not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, that researches, collects, conserves, communicates and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage.”
Museum collections come from many sources. Some are donated. Others are purchased from private collectors. Many museums also own objects that are never displayed at all, stowed in vaults and only accessible to researchers. Museums can even buy or sell objects that are in their collections, a process known as deaccessioning. However, the act of buying or selling is not without its risks: removing an object from the collection changes the pattern of how the museum acquires and displays works of art. It also alters the balance of cultural and historic value.
Many museums are founded for a variety of reasons: to serve as recreational facilities, or to promote civic pride or nationalistic endeavour; to attract tourism; or even to transmit overtly ideological concepts. Despite the wide range of purposes, most museums are bound together by a shared mission: to preserve and interpret some aspect of a community’s cultural consciousness.
In order to ensure that they have the resources they need to achieve their goals, museums are managed by a board and a director. These individuals are guided by a set of policies that establish the standards and procedures for running the museum. These documents include an institutional plan, code of ethics and bylaws.
Whether museums are big or small, their role in society is crucial. They are places where the diversity of humanity is reflected and where the past is brought to life. Museums are also important places to address some of the challenges facing our world: the repercussions of colonialism; the need to make museums more welcoming to non-western audiences; and how to deal with objects that have dubious provenance.
The definition from ICOM Define, which is available for consultation in the Museum Definition space on Medium, is a step towards greater transparency and careful listening to all proposals for redefining the word “museum.” It is important for all museums to consider their own role in the broader context of this debate, particularly in relation to their communities.