Early in December last year, the British Museums Association issued an exciting research brief. They want to find out what the public think of the present and potential purposes of museums, and their roles in society.I am really looking forward to this research report, which is due at the end of March. Crucially, the research … Continue reading What is the purpose of museums?
Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions
Last week I attended an excellent workshop on ‘Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions’. Co-production is a central theme in museums at the moment, and participants were encouraged to bring their own experiences of co-production to the workshop for discussion. I came away with a few good points to ponder, which you might find interesting as … Continue reading Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions
World Heritage For Tomorrow
Yesterday I attended ICOMOS-UK’s World Heritage for Tomorrow conference that marked the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. For me, the most interesting theme that ran through the presentations and discussions was the apparent tension between tangible and intangible heritage, and how to deal with it within a system that is concerned with designation. … Continue reading World Heritage For Tomorrow
Selling Experiences?
I recently read about someone saying that heritage managers and interpreters were ‘selling’ experiences. I’ve already written in a recent blog post how ‘experience’ seems to have been a popular concept for a while now. In fact, even I was raving when the National Trust first changed all interpretation and visitor related job titles, along … Continue reading Selling Experiences?
Evaluation and Impact Studies: A note from a conference in Germany
I spent the last weekend at the annual conference of the German Bundesverband fuer Museumspaedagogik. It focussed on measuring the impact of interpretation, a subject that is even newer in Germany than it is in the UK. There were a few things that I found interesting, and which I’d like to share here: Cultural … Continue reading Evaluation and Impact Studies: A note from a conference in Germany
Us and Them at Hughenden Manor
A couple of weekends ago, I visited Hughenden Manor, managed by the National Trust. I joined a guided tour on World War II, when the house had served as a base for map makers. The tour guide, a lovely and otherwise very welcoming lady, kept using ‘we’ as she spoke about Hughenden’s history during the … Continue reading Us and Them at Hughenden Manor
News programmes, not feature films, Or: Should we ditch permanent exhibitions?
I was quite intrigued by the lead article in the current edition of the Museums Journal [1]. In essence, the article asks whether we should move away from permanent exhibitions, using the number of visitors, and of repeat visits in particular, as the yardstick by which to measure value for money when it comes to … Continue reading News programmes, not feature films, Or: Should we ditch permanent exhibitions?
A Truly Democratic Model for Interpretation
Last week, I had a meeting with our Interpretation Stakeholder Group. We discussed the interpretive vision for a project to relocate and redevelop one of our museums. And what an interesting discussion it was! As always, the most inspiring comments came from people who aren’t interpreters. The first thing that struck me was just how … Continue reading A Truly Democratic Model for Interpretation
Involving stakeholders in interpretation, Or: policy aspiration and practice challenges
Next week sees the For Them and By Them: Involving Stakeholders and Communities in Interpretation conference take place, which I initiated. I am no longer able to be at the conference myself, so I thought I’d share here what I was going to talk about there [1]. It is really quite astonishing to see just … Continue reading Involving stakeholders in interpretation, Or: policy aspiration and practice challenges
A View from the Outside: The Arts Council’s Review of Museum Research
I have recently read the Arts Council England ‘Review of Research and Literature on Museums and Libraries’, compiled in September last year just before the Arts Council took over the responsibilities of the now-disbanded Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The review was part of an endeavour to ‘understand the needs and priorities of the sectors’ … Continue reading A View from the Outside: The Arts Council’s Review of Museum Research
Nicole Deufel's Blog 