What Twin Cities Museums Learned from Multilingual Wall Labels

Exhibitions at Minneapolis museums in 2017–2019 show different approaches to using more than one language on their museum wall labels. The move is a reflection of the greater cultural diversity of the Twin Cities. Minnesota’s demographic data track languages spoken at home; that is different from identifying a person’s first language or their ability to read English. The decision by the cities’ museums to make their wall labels reflect this demographic change has been welcomed by some of the communities concerned.

Mia: translation shaped by communities

At the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), translation became part of the interpretation planning for several exhibitions. According to the gallery’s deputy director, Matthew Welch, the hope is that the change will send a message of greater inclusivity for visitors. Rather than assuming English is the native language of the institute’s attendees, the idea is that anyone who wants to know more about a work of art they are looking at will be able to gain information in a language they are more familiar with. “By translating something,” Juline Chevalier said, “you are opening it up to somebody else.”

Chevalier, then Mia’s head of interpretation and participatory experiences, described a more complex process for Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists in 2019. The team aimed to connect labels with the languages of the artworks’ makers. In her June 2019 account, she reported translations into about 25 languages, with work still under way. Some communities chose not to share their languages, and Mia respected those decisions. The museum stands on Dakota homelands and recognises its ongoing relationship with Native communities.

Walker: different choices for different exhibitions

Another of the big institutions in the Twin Cities is the Walker Art Center. The gallery presented Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950 from November 2017 to March 2018. Translation was an important part of that exhibition’s interpretation. Not only were wall label translations offered in Spanish and English for the exhibition but careful attention was given to the use of Cuban terms that are not widely spoken in the wider Spanish-speaking communities of the Americas. Reflecting on the exhibition, Nisa Mackie, then the Walker’s director of education and public programmes, reported a substantial rise in Latino visitors.

That said, not all shows have been given the same treatment. When the Mexican conceptual artist, Mario García Torres, had his first US survey exhibition at the Walker in 2018, for example, only English wall labels were used. Back in 2017, Nairy Baghramian, an Iranian visual artist, also featured in a solo exhibition at the gallery. The Berlin-based artist insisted that her show, ‘Déformation Professionnelle’, would feature no wall labels whatsoever. Instead, an interpretive booklet was produced for attendees to refer to.

What label studies can and cannot tell you

Although both institutions have undoubtedly put a great deal of effort into their wall labels to make them more accessible to visitors, both Chevalier and Mackie have acknowledged that their impact needs further assessment. Chevalier also discussed the language profile of visitors studied at one Mia exhibition. This came to light during a hit exhibition, ‘Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters’. The wall labels for this show were translated from English into Spanish and the gallery conducted its own study to see how many visitors actually spoke these languages. She reported that about five per cent of visitors in that study spoke Spanish and said she was pleased the museum had provided the translation.

Mackie also described a survey of a hundred Walker visitors. In the reported sample, fewer than half read the wall labels.

For a museum planning translated labels, start by asking which people the exhibition needs to welcome and who should help choose the languages. Budget for translation and review, then test each version at the size and location visitors will actually read it. The R.E.A.D. project offers a related approach to making museum labels more accessible. Ask whether people could find the text, understand it and feel addressed by it. Reading counts can inform those decisions, but they should sit alongside conversations with the communities the work is meant to serve.