Opinion Archives

Shaz Hussain on ‘diversity’ and changing the language we use in museums

‘If you really want to make a significant change, start with the language you use’, that was the quote Shaz Hussain, Collections Assistant at The...

Museums Calling Harry Potter and Convergence Culture

I choose to go straight to the point – What will matter now, more than ever before, is not the digital. What I think will matter much...

In Defense of the Physical Exhibition A plea to not “move” exhibitions online

Disclaimer: I am not arguing in defense of museums acting against CDC guidelines for social distancing and opening their doors to the public before health...

Serbia’s National Museum: Shrine to the Nation or Something More?

The Coronavirus outbreak has forced many cultural institutions to experiment with new, innovative, online solutions to continue to reach people. Many museums, including the Louvre,...

Post Covid Balancing Act: A Strategy Primer for Museums

When we reopen ours doors it will not be business as usual. This pandemic will impact our world in profound and lasting ways. Museums, by...

How Might Museums Look Different When They Reopen After Coronavirus?

Museums shut down during the Coronavirus lockdown are inching to towards reopening, with institutions across Europe and North America looking to welcome visitors again in...

Lockdown musings – Working in an international museum context

After a recent lockdown conversation with a friend of mine, she sent me this quote from Arundhati Roy: “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break...

How Can Museums Be Instruments of Hope to Coronavirus Locked Down Nations

Museums are the main institutions, which embody national identity and memories of peoples across the global village. However, just like other public spaces museums are...

Blockbuster Addiction

The Rembrandt year is over. About five years ago, the directors of four major Dutch museums first came together to prepare the 2019 celebration of...

Museums & Truth. The Truth is, there is More Than one Truth!

Today’s art museums and historic sites are more than places to preserve the art, artifacts and memories of the past. They are the new town...

How (Epic) Exhibitions Can Tell (Dramatic) Stories

ICOM’s proposal for a new definition of ‘museums’ has recently given rise to considerable debate. I am not concerned here with the question whether the...

Michael John Gorman on ‘play’ in museums

Can museums be considered a place to play? Michael Gorman tackles this question and more For many people the museum experience is one that can...

If kids are looking at their phones instead of our exhibits, it’s our fault – not theirs.

By now we all must have seen the photograph, showing a group of schoolchildren apparently ignoring Rembrandt’s artistic masterpiece – seemingly engrossed instead in Facebook...

Rethinking collection practice with Frances Lloyd-Baynes at Mia

Discussions and debates about traditional values of equity and inclusion have increased in recent years, and participants in these discussions include professional heritage institutions, journalists...