Inspiration from the Museum Next Live London
The program manager of the Digital Museum of Learning, Daniela Lozza, attended the MuseumNext Live conference in London on June 2024. The conference is considered Europe's major event focusing on the future of museums. In this article, Daniela shares her insights and key takeaways from the conference.
Be honest when co-curating with kids
I participated in a workshop led by Anna Posłuszna from the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, Poland. It’s a pioneering museum that co-curates exhibitions with teachers and children. The key insight from this workshop was the importance of involving children in the curatorial process from an early stage and being honest about their role. For instance, if children are told they can design the exhibition, and they want a dinosaur, then a dinosaur they should have!
Be courageous and give up control
Aline Van Nereaux from the S.M.A.K (Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art) in Gent delivered an inspiring talk on how the museum entrusted the curation of an exhibition to children and teenagers. The approach was both playful, with a maze and gymnastic mats placed in front of the artwork, and thoughtful. For example, teenagers aged 14-16 selected artworks related to their self-image, while older teenagers chose artworks that mirrored their struggle to find their place in society and deal with social media and addiction. Co-curating exhibitions with children can be challenging, but the rewards of giving up control as a curator are immense.
Engage with the local communities
The Migration Museum in Lewisham has become a cultural hotspot amidst the hustle and bustle of a shopping center. Aditi Anand and her team have curated incredibly vibrant exhibitions that tell engaging stories and resonate deeply with the local immigrant community.
Be open to the ideas and interpretations of the visitors
Artist Aram Han Sifuentes shared her experiences from her protest banner-making workshops, highlighting how museums can support socially engaged art. I particularly liked her Protest Banner Lending Library and a project where citizens create “Nonggi” banners that carry cultural meaning. With the immigrant community, she started sewing the US citizenship test, to help immigrants learn for the test through active sewing.
All speakers emphasized the importance of keeping an open mind when co-creating content with the community. It’s important that people can connect and interact with the artworks and artifacts in their unique ways and come up with their own ideas and interpretations.
The Museum of Communication in Bern showcases how they invite people to contribute to the exhibition’s content , for example, when words or information used in the exhibitions are outdated. They emphasize that participation does not have to be big; it can just be very simple and short.
Museum of Communication
Ensure access to a wide range of cultural heritage
In a session dedicated to AI for GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums), participants discussed how AI can assist museums and libraries in contributing to global knowledge about diverse cultures. As more GLAM institutions digitize their collections, Nora McGregor from the British Library stressed the importance of utilizing this technology to digitize a wide array of resources. These include handwritten Arabic manuscripts and heritage materials from Africa and South America. The knowledge AI can unlock is only as rich and diverse as the sources it draws from.
Conclusion and outlook
The conference was a vibrant hub for networking and idea exchange on how to engage with diverse audiences. It was an inspiring and insightful experience that we're thrilled to bring back to our work at the Digital Museum of Learning. For example, as we explore the co-curation of our exhibitions with educators and children.
