Most of us think we know what a museum is: a great big building where we can see art or other cultural or natural artifacts, preserved for posterity. Some might even have visited one. But many people don’t fully understand the complex work that museums do and what a museum is all about.
Museums are not just for the few: They are democratising, inclusive and polyphonic spaces for critical dialogue about the past and future, open to all, for the enjoyment and education of the public. They hold collections in trust for society, safeguard diverse memories for future generations, and contribute to human dignity and social justice, global equality and planetary sustainability.
In their quest to educate the general public about culture and history, museums are not only collecting objects for preservation but also interpreting them. Using a variety of research methods and scholarly traditions, curators strive to explain the objects in their care in ways that are meaningful to their audiences. But interpreting is more than a mere task, it’s a form of advocacy. As museums continue to evolve, they must challenge their positions and seek out new perspectives and voices in order to stay relevant.
Founded to showcase the treasures of European high culture, museums were born out of the Wunderkammern — or Cabinets of Curiosities — which royal courts and wealthy aristocrats created in the late Middle Ages. The Louvre, established as a museum in 1793 during the Revolutionary epoch, was a pioneer in establishing a public repository for art and allowing access to previously private collections.
Museums have since become a staple in many societies around the world. Some of the most visited include the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC and the Louvre in Paris, France. But some people still think that museums are for the few, and are boring or irrelevant. And yet, the best museum exhibits can change the minds of even the most skeptical naysayers by challenging the visitors to look at things in different ways.
While there are many definitions of a museum, the major professional organizations from around the world all share some common themes, such as the notion that museums should be open to the general public and should serve as educational and entertainment venues for the general population. As the international community of museum professionals works together to foster a definition of a museum, it is important to consider how it will affect their practice and their communities.
The old ICOM definition, for instance, said that a museum “collects, preserves, researches, communicates, and displays the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment.” The new draft says that a museum is an institution “that holds in trust for all of society the artefacts of our collective past and that, through democratic, transparent, participatory processes, researches, collects, preserves, interprets, communicates, and exhibits them for education, study, enjoyment, and inspiration”. The final definition will be voted on by the ICOM Executive Board later this year.