The museum as a space of social care

The Aftermaths of Participation

“…Museums impose a 'shared identity' on a group of people (Waterton and Smith 2010, 10) and, in doing so, they differentiate between the 'own ' and 'other' culture (Van Zeijden and Elpers 2018). This process is key to the participatory, or community engagement work of museums; a practice that has more recently been discussed as a way to make the museum more relevant to different audiences and participants (Morse 2021;Nielsen 2015;Simon 2013;Kreps 2008).…”

“…Participatory practices become relevant, and potentially more sustainable, if they provide positive outcomes for participants and museums alike (Weil 2007), following a "logic of care" (Morse 2021). Sustainability in practice refers to social impact and continuous social learning (Naguib 2013;Colvin 2018), creating a network (Graham 2017) and anchoring an event or debate in the museum through collections and exhibitions (Macdonald 2013).…”

“…Sustainability in practice refers to social impact and continuous social learning (Naguib 2013;Colvin 2018), creating a network (Graham 2017) and anchoring an event or debate in the museum through collections and exhibitions (Macdonald 2013). Relevant and sustainable participatory work should be ethical and consider the needs and interests of the participants (Morse 2021;Marstine 2011). These aspects are especially important, because sustainability might entail both positive outcomes and negative consequences (Koch and Lutz 2017).…”

Didattica e apprendimento nei musei nell’era della pandemia di COVID-19

“…Questo modo di intendere le cose, secondo cui gli oggetti patrimoniali rappresentano i possenti bastioni di uno spazio antropico caratterizzato dal dominio culturale, estende la responsabilità attribuita ai musei e agli istituti culturali ed impone che essi siano coinvolti non solamente nei processi di collezione, conservazione e valorizzazione del patrimonio ma anche in azioni di empowerment per la creazione di relazioni e opportunità da offrire ai visitatori in termini di crescita personale (cfr. Morse, 2020;Del Gobbo et al, 2018;Nardi, 2011;Nuzzaci, 2012). I musei, i parchi archeologici e i complessi monumentali, funzionando come istituzioni di riferimento per le comunità, rappresentano nella loro eterogeneità tipologica quella che è possibile definire l'armatura culturale del nostro territorio-spazio-paesaggio.…”

Public museums in a time of crisis: The case of museum asset transfer

“…This has to do with the likelihood that the majority of scholars in the field of museum studies will be more familiar with the community engagement literature than with the specific changes in museum management discussed in this article. In this literature, there is a tendency to regard the greatest level of relinquishing power with the most valuable forms of participation (Morse 2019). In Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation (1969), a commonly cited typology of forms of community engagement, 'citizen control' and 'delegated power' are placed at the top of ladder, implying these are the most favoured forms of participation in what is presented as a hierarchical model.…”