Beyond the New Normal: Forging Ahead with New Models

It has now been more than half a year since our routines, our lives, our realities were drastically altered by a global pandemic. The novelty of the situation, and our immediate, emotional responses, have waned. As individuals, and particularly as leaders of community-serving institutions, we are faced with the daunting question of how to adapt for the long term. How do we overcome the disruption and make these changed circumstances sustainable?

As the Director of a museum, I especially miss seeing groups of school children exploring our galleries. Collaborators and colleagues from around the world who would normally join us in Abu Dhabi to celebrate the opening of an exhibition, or to lead a panel discussion in our auditorium, have at once never felt so connected and yet so physically far away. A lingering uncertainty of what the future holds can be paralysing. This trepidation, combined with witnessing tragic events befall dear friends and colleagues at institutions like the Sursock and The National Museum in Beirut, and now a second wave of lockdowns for partner institutions in Europe, can leave one feeling small. We have no choice but to forge ahead into the unknown, but how we go about doing this and who we uplift along the way will define not just our personal journeys but also the paths forward for museums and institutions around the world.

The objects I am surrounded by every day are humbling reminders of the great expanse of time that precedes our own. The changes we make at Louvre Abu Dhabi are for the long term; building relationships and foundations that last. When I think about where strength comes from – in our professional lives, as an institution, and in leadership – there is something of the philosopher and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu there. He defines power not just in economic terms, but in terms of empowerment through the goodwill we receive from others, and how the social and intellectual ties we seek and strengthen come to define our standing among our peers. He also describes how our habits, our bodies, our rote responses—our habitus—are dictated by the structures of our environment. These are dispositions, and what we are seeking to do as a “mindful museum” is to change the traditional disposition of the museum.

The presence of structures that create bias and condition our daily thoughts and movements have nourished sociological schools of thought throughout the Western world. We in the culture sector need to identify where our biases lie, where the often invisible structures of comfort and habit reside. Abu Dhabi, as a place that is constantly embracing new shapes of the future and new opportunities for experimentation, and accelerating these with openness, rather than importing old models, is an ideal place to explore necessary shifts for transformation. In these difficult times, open dialogue is crucial in fostering understanding among peoples and cultures. Culture embodies all our beliefs. Arts and culture institutions have a supporting role in furthering these calls for cooperation; they can be the bridge, the open door, the spaces to garner greater understanding and, ultimately, peace.

This week (16-18 November) we have co-convened a global, virtual symposium with our neighbors and friends at New York University Abu Dhabi, called Reframing Museums. The symposium brings museum directors, academics, leading curators, and industry experts together to address the urgent challenges facing museums around the world today. Museums have a vital role to play in our societies. They provide education, a new lens on the world, and mutual understanding —all of which are imperative in this moment. So many of these important institutions face serious threats, and even permanent closure. It is crucial that we collectively question, debate, and reimagine the art museum of the future. Our dispositions, individually and institutionally, must be questioned as well.

Our strength as an institution will be defined by how we are serving our audiences differently, in a manner that meets the current, difficult reality. For instance, we launched a webinar this month on Art for Health & Wellbeing, where our education department led discussions with leaders in art therapy on how best to utilise the space of the museum and its collection in a healing way, capitalising on the restorative powers of art and artefacts. A museum is a living depository of curiosity and wonder, whose objects first capture our attentions through their beauty and, if we are of an open mind, create empathy. We find ourselves in histories and geographies far from our own. I believe we need to engage in empathetic viewing now more than ever. The connectedness we feel through empathy is the necessary foil to the distance and isolation we are undertaking as responsible citizens. 

Our doors are open, and we cannot wait to welcome our neighbours back through them. We look forward to serving all visitors in this new way – through mind and body – offering programming that speaks to what we need most, now: the space and time to be mindful, for ourselves, for each other, together.

Registration for Reframing Museums is full but you can watch all sessions on YouTube several hours after they have been scheduled here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUx_x8ALpnlZh7d9w8SZJqg