“Museums: What’s New?” at Penn Club NY
“Museums: What’s Next?” at Penn Club NY.
The discussion was moderated by the Director of Penn Museum Julian Siggers together with the CEO of LaPlaca Cohen 'Strategic and Creative Solutions for the Cultural World' Arthur Cohen, the President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society Louise Mirrer, and Peter Reed, Senior Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs at the Museum of Modern Art.
The main question was what is next for museums. The words “new”, “engaging” and “unexpected” were used a lot in the conversation about about what modern visitors’ experience should be. I remember using those words a lot in my own thesis and then trying to avoid them, find more detailed meanings and definitions of those words. “New, engaging and unexpected” seems to be already happening NOW. “What is actually next for museums?”- I kept thinking.
Speaking of technology use in museums, it was stated that all the digital technology has to have a purpose, it has to be used to reach a certain goal. Younger visitors including kids perceive the information better through digital resources. No wonder why! It is so integrated into their daily lives, it seems very natural for them to use it. Museums try very hard to convey information for broad audiences. Loise Mirrer stated: “When you think of a museum as of an educational institution, which it is…”, and here I intentionally do not continue the citation. I know that education is a big part of museums’ mission. However, when I heard that quote, it resonated negatively. Maybe it is “educational” that sounds dated and conservative? Maybe the future of museums is without educational aspect? The panelists also mentioned topics which museum professionals also think a lot about: shifting of authorities and community curation. Well, if the authorship is shifting maybe there will not be education in the way we are used to think of it now.
The panelists also talked about museum-going as a social experience. Enjoyable visit + learning something. Someone said that a big component of a museum experience is chat, and that museum is a convener of conversation. My first thought: “Pursuing the same components of social engagement and chat, how is our Meanwhile different from everything else?” And this question we have yet to answer in more detail for ourselves.
MoMA has an interesting exhibition developing approach, where it tells unheard stories through well-known facts or names. For example, there is Gauguin’s exhibition. Why Gauguin again? Through well-known names MoMA development staff integrates other important and interesting story lines into the narrative. It reminded me of Meanwhile’s search for how to present the story of William Henry Ireland and his forgeries of Shakespeare. We thought of starting with what forgeries are, then told the story of W.H. Ireland. Maybe it is good to start with Shakespeare and integrate William’s story in there? This approach we thought of after our last prototype.
