Museums: a mood check
#thefutureofthemuseumdialogues
As we reach the end of July, museums have started one-by-one to reopen. In April and May I wrote articles expressing an urgent need to reopen museums and grappling with the technical difficulties of getting institutions ready for visitors. All along the way I have been speaking with museum directors around the world. And I notice that the mood is steadily shifting. What are the underpinnings of the mood of the museum field today?
First, the idea of an open museum with distancing is no longer abstract. It turns out, it’s a manageable issue, all things considered, and here as elsewhere people are demonstrating a core human trait: adaptability. Second, concern about operational feasibility is being eclipsed by worry about financial sustainability — a third of American museums (smaller ones to be sure) are threatened for their survival. There is almost no way to make the numbers work as long as we remain in this mode, and even after “normalcy” returns the international blockbuster model is severely compromised. Third, the allure of digital has faded; the tsunami of online content predictably subsided once institutions got back to the regular order of presenting physical objects to living beings. Fourth, distanced museum visits are casting a harsh light on the limitations of the old model — joyful visitors to Mona Lisa in the Louvre are reminded of the peaceful contemplative experience of seeing art in a major museum without the suffocating presence of selfie-taking throngs. Fifth, and wholly unexpected during the initial lockdown, the greatest reckoning in the museum field is now about race and social justice, with implications far more profound and long-lasting than Covid.
And finally, what endures is a sense that, quite apart from the logistical adaptations now required, the time has come to rethink the essence of the museum enterprise. Why are we here? Whom do we serve? How must we adapt? A new chapter has begun.
Writer, Curator, Art Historian, Theorist, Editor, Educator
4 年Those are (not new) questions that some of us have been asking of museums for many decades- in my case, since the late 1980s in a variety of public ways. A very important book was published in 1972, entitled ‘Museums in Crisis,’ edited by Brian O’Doherty. It contains a number of essays that remain relevant for our current multiple crises era. Ultimately, of course, it must be the epidemiologists and virologists who will provide the leadership in terms of how to safely reopen museums during a pandemic... and if it is even possible depending upon the contextual factors of a given context (nation/city/site).
Advising Founders / CEOs | Organisational Futures | Venture Capital | Ethics | Co-Founder WiReD Magazine | Executive in Residence IMD Business School
4 年Looking forward to the answers to those last three questions. In the next article perhaps András?
Producer
4 年András Szántó Museums are irrelevant during a global pandemic. Keep them closed to decrease transmission. Museum staff/curators can instead focus to support the change of the leadership in the US, tap into the humanity of the moment and be leaders who activate and designate their public (outdoor) spaces as "sanctuaries" for political demonstrations (with masks and 6 ft a part).
Director of Operations at CMOM ? NYC Arts & Culture Leader ? Founder of aspiring better human?? ? Former Head of Visitor Experience at The Metropolitan Museum of Art ? LinkedIn Enthusiast
4 年András Szántó your final point is absolutely spot on and one that is long overdue: “Fifth, and wholly unexpected during the initial lockdown, the greatest reckoning in the museum field is now about race and social justice, with implications far more profound and long-lasting than Covid”. I am personally committed to helping this reckoning take place in every way possible.