Key points
Set out below is a summary in the form of bullet points of strategies to advance work in this area. Underpinning these observations is an assumption that cultural diversity presents a challenge and requires fresh ways of thinking about collections.
There is a wealth of experience available to draw on as previously mentioned, and this should help make us feel more confident about tackling these issues in a thoughtful, open-minded way. I have re-framed some of the original material in order to make it applicable across the broad spectrum of work labelled ‘culturally diverse’. (18)
Museum’s context
- Establish benchmark data regarding which communities are under-represented amongst visitors and volunteers
- Establish goals to measure improvement
- Regularly review results of visitor surveys
- Think of this work as ongoing and developing incrementally: it is not a question of one-off projects or special occasions that always need extra funding
Outreach
- Develop networks and partnerships with community-based organisations, recognising and respecting expertise within them
- Community-based advisory panels to assist educators and curators in the development and implementation of ideas
- Develop a clearer sense of the different ways in which community-based organisations work
Behind the scenes of the museum
- Ensure all staff understand why changes are being made and make use of their knowledge and expertise
- Develop a strategy and a plan for reviewing labelling and captions, maps, guides to the collections and displays etc
- Look at ways of developing ways of focusing in depth on specific parts of a collection to raise the profile of cultural diversity
- Work with consultative groups to understand more clearly needs of under-served groups in terms of exhibitions and displays
- Build and utilise a roster of advisers
- Work at bringing in a more diverse staff and board of governors, as well as volunteers
In the museum
- Make sure all staff – including security personnel – realise that they are responsible for presenting a warm welcome
- Show visitors’ trails and guides that highlight themes and issues of interest in permanent and/or temporary collections and ensure all staff are aware of these
- Develop and implement a programme of cross-cultural events related to the objects in the collection where possible, and to the issues raised by the objects
Conclusion
As has been suggested in this essay and elsewhere, the role of museums appears to be changing rapidly, although education and what we now call access or participation is not historically an alien concept in the museum world by any means.
However, the advent of a new century presented us with an opportunity to speculate about and plan for the museum of the new millennium. In this vision of the present/future organisation I see a welcome move from thinking of the museum as a temple to seeing it as a forum, and a space where, as Darryl McIntyre puts it, staff and resources can act as ‘facilitators to support communities, to define, record and preserve their heritage for themselves.’ (19)
The benefits of this kind of engagement with visitors potentially would be wide-ranging. Of particular importance in the context of this essay is the change of perception in relation to collections that could follow as a result. Elisa Veini and Renée Kistemaker ask us to,
'…imagine the museum as a meeting place that can make a difference in people’s lives. Visitors would not just see themselves reflected through the eyes of others…Nor would they find themselves trapped by viewing something they could not understand…The ‘possible museum’ would enable true interaction without the need for constant self-reference. Instead, there would be engagement with the other, a true dialogue.' (20)
Changing the ways in which collections are shared with the public without a long term overall strategy for change and development will not have the sustained impact required. The question of attitude and general approach of an institution is just as important as the captioning of a display or the explanation of a collection. Veini and Kistemaker put it thus:
'It makes a big difference if the museum sees itself as a gatekeeper of heritage, or if it welcomes a culturally diverse public. It also makes a great difference if a museum maintains a monopoly on interpreting objects and defining collections, or alternatively, if it consults a wide range of specializations and experiences, and if it welcomes multiple visions and interpretations.' (21)
This is similar to James Clifford’s vision of museums as ‘contact zones’. (22) An integral function of this model would be to generate new interpretative frameworks that encourage greater access, participation and a holistic historical record of our pasts and our present. It would also enable us to work towards a more integrative model of diversity rather than the current model with its tendency to reify difference and put people into discrete categories without interaction or overlap.
Thinking about diversity as an opportunity rather than a threat can lead to refreshing new approaches and re-visiting professional practices that have become habitual.
The crucial aim of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce with a wide range of experiences and perspectives, skills and knowledge is vital to the success or otherwise of how we manage diversity, and has to be supported by strategies and structures that enable staff to contribute to the organisation to their full potential.
The whole culture of the organisation has to reflect this throughout its operations. There is no point in having wonderful, stimulating exhibitions, for example, if a security guard challenges people in a hostile manner for sitting chatting in the reception area.
This essay has aimed to provide a stimulus for debate about what has been achieved so far, and how much more work is necessary before we can claim to be truly effective communicators of histories across the breadth of society.
Significant progress has been made with regard to recognising that cultural diversity is not some fad or fashion. It is not feasible to try and sit it out until the phenomenon has passed. It has been a characteristic of this country for thousands of years and will continue to be so.
See essay pages: