Hello all! \u00a0I hope you all had an amazing time at the museum and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. \u00a0So, in make up, here are my thoughts on the following question:<\/p>\n
| Reflect on the Janes reading for Feb. 22. In articulating his vision of museum’s social responsibility, what does Janes reveal to be his belief about the function of museums. Do you agree? What do you consider to be the social function and social responsibility of museums in our current moment?<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n I think that Janes’ belief about the function of museums is apparent in his article’s very first line. \u00a0Just before defining the assumptions, he states, “To begin with, the use of the word museum is meant to be inclusive, and includes all types of museums, art galleries and science centres.” \u00a0He then goes on to talk about societal inclusion as well. \u00a0Not only do museums include all types of art and history and science, but they encompass an enormous range of human experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I definitely agree, but am also strongly reminded of the reading that we did early in the quarter. \u00a0“Visitors of Color” makes very open the experiences of minority groups in various types of museums. \u00a0As D’Lo said “I associate museums with whiteness, regardless of if I know that there are museums that are in existence to battle white dominant narratives. Yet, through my Amma’s eyes, I could appreciate these artists simply because of technique. The art still didn’t move me…And I would also like for the experience to equalize the ground where all sorts of artists are seen as valuable, and not just those from European backgrounds.” \u00a0And while this is directly about an art museum, it can apply to all sorts of museum types. \u00a0There is no way for “white narratives” or imperial ideology to embrace all of its visitors and that cuts off what I think is the point of museums. \u00a0Education and experiential learning don’t have to occur in a safe space–that doesn’t force you to open your thinking–but it CANNOT be done when someone is constantly reminded that they are perceived as an outsider or somehow too different to be included. \u00a0And while that may not be particularly well-articulated, I believe that inclusion needs to be a central ideology in museum construction.<\/p>\n Without recognizing that the old imperialist museum formations are now outdated and even harmful, unity and some kind of truth will remain elusive. \u00a0Thus, I will conclude in the same way as Janes: “What is essential is the need to keep reflection and dialogue alive, and to avoid stagnation, complacency and the tyranny of economic utility, and thereby address the endless stream of uncertainties, paradoxes and questions that beset any thoughtful museum. The essential task of all sound museum leadership and management is to ensure both individual and organisational mindfulness. It is only through heightened self-awareness, both organisationally and individually, that museums will be able to fulfil the lofty triad of preservation, truth and access (Weil 2004: 75).”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello all! \u00a0I hope you all had an amazing time at the museum and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh150w17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |