Museum – Politics – Management

Recent criticism towards cultural institutions more generally, and towards museums more specifically, is directed at the museums’ distinct mandate to conduct and disseminate research. Criticism is directed to decolonization of archives and collections, exhibition practices, as well as to the museums’ infrastructures. Yet, what does it actually mean to “decolonize” an archive or a collection? What implication does this have on the exhibition development and interpretive strategies, public programming and audience engagement activities? How should well-established hierarchical structures within museums be changed to be more diverse and accessible?
Most recently, questions of open access, open data, and “the digital museum” have become a prime concern in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the necessity of museums to cope with their role in times of emergencies. One can thus go on to ask: What options are there for developing entirely new museums? What new or revised (cultural) policies and regulations do such transformations require? These questions also allow for a renewed look at the question of memory: How can museums serve a diverse future collective memory? Finally, what are the implications for present and potential users of museums?

Questions and aspects this issue deals with include, but are not limited to

• museums and decolonization practices
• museums and decolonization of knowledge production
• digital archives / collections / museums
• (new) cultural policies for museums
• (new) cultural management approaches for museums
• human resource management of museums
• development of entirely new museums
• the role of museums in emergencies
• museums and collective memory
• emerging paradigms for exhibition development and interpretive strategies
• the role of new potential users of museums