Schedule

How can museums grapple with the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, climate crisis, global migration, all while staying connected physically – and increasingly, digitally – with their local communities? Some of the answers lie in posthumanism. In this presentation, Nina presents her work on ‘the posthuman museum’, where philosophy helps to interrogate and reshape the ways in which museums and galleries interact in ever-growing networks of local and global actors. Centring care relations between human, non-human, and eco-others, the posthuman museum heralds the newest age of museums practice and provides creative and conceptual resources to respond to ongoing crises.

Those of us under 30 have been born into a world shaped by climate change. We’re so accustomed to seeing overwhelming photos and statistics of melting icecaps, forest fires and heaving landfills, that it could be argued that we’re becoming desensitised to the very real emergency in front of us. This presentation will explore methods of interpreting the climate crisis for a young audience that are positive, inspiring and action-led. Using examples from my time working as an Assistant Curator at Young V&A, Trish explores contemporary collecting, accessible interpretation, co-creation and meaningful programming about the climate crisis with young people aged 16 and under.

Museums are coming up against dwindling storage space for ever growing collections, while many artefacts are finding themselves in the skip as a result of not finding a home in a museum in the first place. In response to the archaeological archive’s crisis, Recycle Archaeology aims to provide an alternative to archaeological disposals, connecting artefacts with community-led creative projects for artistic and educational reuse in order to keep objects out of landfill. This initiative brings together museums, communities and artists to develop new creative reuses for discarded artefacts, engaging the public with heritage in ways outside of established collections policies.

Aquatic animals, plants and organisms living freely in and behind ‘aquarium-like’ glass display cases create splashes of excitement in museums; but is it an ethical curatorial choice? Dive into the ‘fishy’ underwater world of ocean exploitation in museums to explore how both living and non-living marine life can swim away from shore. This coastal adventure will bring to the surface the negative environmental impact and hypo-critical result of this curatorial choice.

In a world where our newsfeeds are constantly inundated with counts of dying species and burning forests, more museums are now taking a stand against climate change. Science and natural history museums have obvious assets to engage on the topic. However, if, like myself, your passions and work lie with old paintings, you may have noticed that Fine Art museums and art galleries tend to shine by their absence in the discussion. How can historical art collections help us save the world? Join me in analysing examples from three different art museums and discover the hidden powers of your collections.

Sharing on the importance of documenting Black Women in history within museums, through images, videos, presentations, school trips for young people, to ensure underrepresented groups are represented within museums consistently and programmes are being consistently implemented within museums about different cultures for all people to participate in.

With our traditions and heritage being endangered, what are the responsibilities that Southern African museums have towards ensuring that future generations have a legacy to fall back on?

Caught at the intersection between the decolonisation movements in both schools and heritage, museum learning teams are uniquely positioned to address the colonial nature of science that is often ignored. By appreciating the modern context of science as an evolving discipline, one that understands the influences of society on science and moves away from a strictly white, WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Developed) view of the discipline is necessary if museums are to remain relevant and helpful to the communities we serve. Where schools are bound by an apathetic and outdated curriculum, museums have the freedom and expertise to explore the diversity of science- but how do we do it?

It is not always thought about where certain artefacts come from, how they were acquired or whether they should be returned to their countries of origin, but, for museums to be ethical, these questions must be asked.

Artist Residencies are of ever-growing importance in the art ecosystem. We have seen through recent collaborations with the V&A, Tate and National Gallery that Museums are seeing this importance and implementing it across their programming. In this talk, Mollie discusses the role Artist Residencies play in the modern museum.

Museums are places of learning for everyone. As museum professionals, we are always working to make museums more accessible, but that can be a daunting task. Katerina will share her experiences making the Connecticut Historical Society more accessible. This process began with little prior knowledge about neurodiverse audiences and has resulted in the creation of sensory bags, a social narrative, and several sensory-friendly program initiatives. Museum professionals will leave the workshop with a foundation on which to build, practical steps to take, and a list of resources to help their museum become more accessible to neurodiverse audiences.

How can museums stay relevant for the next generation of audiences, for whom contents on the internet is just as valuable as the real-world experience? As part of the response to the pandemic, museums have been actively developing online resources accessed and used by classroom teachers, parents, and young people, but what makes some resources more popular than the others? This presentation will evaluate online contents developed by museums around the Asian-pacific and discuss how young museum workers of diverse backgrounds are the key for museum to attract a new generation of audiences and stay relevant in multi-cultural societies.

Today, museums cannot rely on famous names on white walls to serve the next generation of audiences. It is not enough to get people through the doors. In this presentation, I will discuss different ways that museums can create digital experiences to draw people into the galleries. I will argue that visitors want to enter museums and have an experience. But how can museums create these experiences for visitors? I will explore this question with an emphasis on the use of technology. I will discuss ways technology can be used to create a social learning experience for museum visitors.

What happens when a museum goes from exclusively digital back to its normal way of physical, wanting to do both? A museum is fighting towards the normal reality of the way everything was before the pandemic, but still want to keep all the new digital experiences that developed during said pandemic. Is it possible? If so, how? Young museum professional and digital native Elin Eriksson tell the story of how Nationalmuseum, Sweden´s museum of art and design, both struggle and succeeds trying to balance digital and physical museum experiences.

Museums are becoming ever more visitor-centric, experience-driven, and multimodal, especially in light of the pandemic. In this talk, the author shares his insights from his first-hand visiting experiences of more than a dozen museums and cultural venues throughout the U.S. over the last year. He attempts to distill an informal set of design principles and methodologies that make those experiences effective and affective. Outside the immediate museum world, the author would also highlight some of the other burgeoning players in the experience economy landscape that museums could learn from to push the creative boundaries of engagement.

Continually, the museum has struggled to attract and retain the interest of the next generation of visitors and donors – so where do we begin? Where dealing with an increasingly conscious demographic, there is a need for transformation in the museum. We can begin to explore the various intersections of identity as well as barriers to entry among our younger generations by employing an intersectional lens of analysis in order to cultivate a space that rejects the traditional in favour of conscious practises reflective of the multifaceted nature of current society and which acknowledge a wider range of histories and perspectives.

How do museum experiences need to evolve to better serve the next generation of audiences? Museums need to embrace diversity and inclusion, provide more digital and interactive experiences, and disseminate knowledge through social media to better serve the next generation of audiences. In addition to paying attention to ethics and preserving artefacts, museums need to evolve and establish a presence where their target audiences are active in.

Let’s talk about why front of house (FOH) workers need to be front of mind for every museum. These folks are the first and sometimes the only face of a museum that visitors engage with, yet they are often thought of last by most of the people they work with. Whether you are FOH yourself, you hold a top leadership spot, or you fall somewhere in between, this session is for you. Learn some of the intersectional reasons why it’s critical to stop overlooking these roles and become empowered to fully engage all staff with supporting and appreciating FOH workers.

This presentation invites you slow down and imagine how museum experiences can evolve to be more inclusive and beneficial for community wellbeing. With a brief introduction to the philosophy of ‘slow design’ this presentation will discuss a ‘slow’ approach to designing museum experiences and provide examples of how this is being put into practice as part of research into making museums more inclusive for blind and low vision visitors.

Museums are often stuck within their historic concept with traditional displays and standard layouts. With a new era of millennials and gen Z participatory ages now looking to the cultural and heritage industries to be part of their weekend itinerary, how can museums evolve to attract these new younger audiences into their venues and meet their needs and expectations in a society full of social media and digital experiences.