Curator: The Museum Journal最新文献

How do contemporary art curators relate to the challenges of curating sustainably? In this article, I share my personal experiences with curating in a sustainable framework in the 2-year exhibition project HABITAT (2022–2023) at Agder Art Centre in Kristiansand, Norway. Through “the curatorial” as a practice-led method, I explore my efforts to challenge artists to engage in sustainable production, to limit CO₂-emissions, and to navigate difficult, ironic, or revealing tensions in the process. I argue that this personal and practice-led research approach can illuminate the nuanced dilemmas that sustainability introduces into curatorial work. Focusing on three key “balancing acts”—between locality and globality, between artistic freedom and sustainable production, and between curatorial care and curatorial organization—I contend that these dilemmas are not merely circumstantial but structural, and that they reveal contradictions deeply embedded in the systems of contemporary art.

In response to the digital shift sweeping the cultural landscape, museums and galleries have embraced technological advances. This study explores users' encounters with virtual art tours, with a particular focus on the Pera Museum's “From Istanbul to Byzantium” virtual tour. Twenty graduate students and alumni from New Media programs, chosen for their expertise in digital platforms, provided written responses regarding their experiences. Thematic analysis was employed to identify the benefits and limitations of virtual art engagement. Participants highlighted the freedom and accessibility offered by digital platforms but also pointed to significant technical shortcomings, including inadequate image resolution, cumbersome navigation, and lack of immersive features. Enhancing user engagement in virtual art tours requires a multifaceted approach that addresses both technological and experiential aspects. In this regard, recommendations include improving visual quality, incorporating interactive elements, and designing more socially engaging environments to enrich virtual museum experiences.

What paradigm shifts have occurred in museum visitor studies in mainland China, and how do these shifts influence the future development of the field? To explore this, we examine the origin and development of visitor studies by reviewing relevant literature published before 2022. The analysis identifies four distinct periods of development: the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, the late 1990s to 2008, 2008 to 2018, and 2018 to the present. A significant turning point occurred with the implementation of the Free Opening Policy in 2008, which shifted the focus of museums from “how to attract visitors” to “how to improve visitor experience.” While this shift accelerated the growth of visitor studies, it also revealed tensions between the existing research paradigms and emerging values, leading to recent critiques and reflections on the theory and methodology of visitor studies in mainland China. These paradigm shifts provide critical insights into the field's trajectory and highlight key areas for future research and innovation.

Music museums are essential for preserving and sharing musical heritage. This article investigates whether these museums are using modern teaching and learning strategies with new technology. By studying 27 European music museums through website reviews, questionnaires, and on-site observations, the research shows that most museums rely on traditional exhibitions. A lack of diversity in the presented sound heritage, especially oral musical heritage, and limitations in educational aspects were noted. However, many museums use interactive modules to engage visitors. Overall, music museums tend to maintain a traditional approach, highlighting the need for updated sound technology and an interdisciplinary method to manage musical heritage. Adapting to cultural evolution and leveraging educational opportunities are crucial for these museums to remain relevant in a constantly changing society. Critical museology could be the key to achieving this adaptation.

While museums often offer educational activities to schools, there is a specific range of age that has not been explored enough from 0 to 3 years old. This means that schools for children under the age of 3 do not have many opportunities to go to the museum, despite the benefits of the museum's experiences for children's development. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between museums and schools for children under 3 to understand the opportunities and challenges of the connections between museum and school professionals. Twenty-seven interviews were carried out with museum and school professionals in Catalonia to understand both perspectives. Results show that there are different and important keys to take into account: to strengthen the communication between school and museum professionals; to consider the logistic and economic aspects; to adapt the museums' activities to the needs of the youngest public; to examine the interest for a larger offer for children between 0 and 3 years old; and to evaluate the benefits derived from these educational activities.

In the run up to the Imperial War Museum's exhibition “Northern Ireland: Living with the Troubles,” the museum released five videos on YouTube relating to the conflict in Northern Ireland and the exhibition. Based on a collaboration between the producer of the films, Sheen and researcher, Baark, this article delves into the questions, approaches, and challenges that arose in production. Given the subject matter, the article focuses on how “contested narratives,” the curatorial lodestar proposed by the curator of the exhibition, impacted the video production. Within this project, decolonial frameworks were foundational to our analysis of how the films complimented the exhibition, engaged with the history of Northern Ireland, drew on multivocality, and reached online audiences. While the article describes the project and its processes, it also seeks to propose filmmaking in museums as an important tool for creating decolonial opportunities and afterlives of exhibitions.