Museum Definition and Functions

Ethical Communication

Conveying information and ideas in a morally responsible and transparent manner.

Gilded age

Cultural darwinism and laissez faire principle, urban cities and wealth. Prefer the useful to be beautiful and the beutiful to be useful. Politics came before art development

Museum Couriers

Curators, registrars, and collections managers responsible for research, collection processing, record-keeping, and preservation.

What were the major critical reflections of the author regarding the exhibit at the NMAI (Washington DC)?

Decolonizing museum, galleries offer a complicated presentation of indigenous philosophy, history, and include more thematic and storytelling than object-based, fell short of plans. Shied away from telling hard truths. Combined indigenous understanding of history with postmodernist.

Community Participation

Engaging and involving the local community in the museum's activities and decision-making processes.

Collection manager

Everything that is done to safeguard a musealized object from the ten agents of deterioration, prolong its useful life in the collection, and make the object and its associated information available to its users

What was the difference in exhibition planning between the G.G. Heye Center and NMAI (Washington DC when applying the new Native multi-vocality?

Heye center was individuals planning it but the NMAI was more inclusive and collaborative. Heye tribal individuals featured, NMAI presented native communities.

Modern classification system and museum divisions

Historic objects, natural history materials, applied arts and crafts, fine arts

Research

Securing the cultural, historical, or scientific meaning of a collection through scholarly study and interpretation.

NAGPRA

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a federal law enacted in 1990 to protect Native American cultural and biological remains.

Inner Museum

The administrative and collection-focused aspects of a museum, including management, curation, research, and preservation.

Historical Origins

The ancient Alexandrian Museum, medieval church influence, cabinets of curiosity, Enlightenment, golden, and gilded age

Systems Thinking

The approach of considering how different systems within a museum interact and influence each other.

Cultural Nationalism

The belief that cultural heritage is integral to a nation's identity, giving states the role of primary caregivers for their own heritage. UNESCO 1970

Cultural Internationalism

The belief that the location of cultural objects should be decided based on the interests of science and education, for the benefit of humankind. 1954 HAGUE

Temple vs Forum

The debate over whether museums should be seen as sacred spaces for battles (forum) or spaces for dialogue and rest (temple). Cannot be both, own administration and governing body for either

Communication

Transmitting ideas and concepts to the public through research, interpretation, and conservation efforts.

Museum as public spaces US vs EU

US public by function, EU public by governance

Enlightenment period

When systems and scientific methods were being appied to understand both human culture and nature. Modern museum was formed

Major hot button issues

sex, religion, race, patriotism, academic theories, interpretations of history

Keene model major components

systems, external influences, inputs, outputs and people

Preservation

Activities that prevent damage and extend the life expectancy of collections, ensuring their future study and longevity.

Museology

The study of museums and anything related to museums, including research, interpretation, and documentation. Values education in another academic discipline, specific to museum

Governance

The system of rules, practices, and processes by which a museum is directed and controlled.

Public Museum by Governance

A museum that is legally owned by the people of the area in which it is located, often at the state or federal level and financed by taxes.

Museum

A not-for-profit, permanent institution that researches, collects, conserves, interprets, and exhibits heritage.

Public Museum by Function

A private enterprise with non-profit status. Trustees commitment to the museum

Curator

A researcher, highly specialied subject expert, or someone who cares for a collection

First public museum

1683 Ashmolean museum of art and archaeology

Louvre museum

1793 represents the epitome of a public museum of its time, first great national museum of art

Discourse Community

A community that shares common values and allows different subdivisions to connect through a common focus.

Susan Keene's Model

A model that views a museum as a system for building and maintaining a meaningful physical resource and transmitting ideas to the public.

Modern concept of museum

Alexandrian museum 3rd century BCE

Harlem on My Mind

An exhibition that faced controversy and criticism from the Black community and artists for its depiction of Harlem from an outside perspective.

Enola Gay

An exhibition that sparked controversy for its uneven depiction of the war and inclusion of more Japanese damage than American.

Metanarrative

An overarching representation of institutional and ideological forms of knowledge that control narratives of the past. Can be misleading and harmful. Deconstructed by being corrected

1st classification system of items

Cabinets of curiousities. Artificialia, naturalia, exotica, animalia, scientifica, mirabilia, miracula, antquitas

Keene's ideology

Museum is not an island, but exists within a complex web of societal expectations, past traditions, and interwoven levels of meaning.

Registrar

Museum workers who processed accessions and handled other collection related record keeping. Works with collections and collection-related records. Responsible for risk management of the collection

Clean hands approach

Museums protecting their reputation by not acquiring suspicious or unprovenanced items

Open Systems

Museums that interact with and are influenced by their external environment, as opposed to closed systems.

Problems with old definition

Needed to be contextualized, historicized, decolonized, and denaturalized

Major Functions of Museums

Preservation, communication, and research of cultural, historical, and scientific meaning.

Triad of regulatory imperatives

Principles to regulate the acquisition and international movement of unprovenanced antiquities. Preservation (care), quest for knowledge (research), and access (location or medium)

Fostering Diversity

Promoting inclusivity and representation of different cultures, perspectives, and experiences.

Basic Functions

The fundamental activities of a museum: research, collection, conservation, interpretation, and exhibition.

Museum Studies

The interdisciplinary study of museums, including theory and practice.

Museum Ecosystem

The internal and external environments and powers that influence a museum's operations and functions.

Why Native American exhibit in the article called the new Native museological practice "a revolutionary museum practice" essay

The new practice de-centers western authoritative knowledge and places indigenous voices and perspectives at the center. They allowed native peoples to create the exhibitions and pick the items and included texts on why native peoples chose those pieces. Created an exhibition that allowed natives to tell their stories through their own art. • Inclusive collaboration

Museography

The practical aspects of museology, including the description, conservation, and exhibition of museum contents. Values training and education

Decolonization

The process of expanding perspectives portrayed by institutions beyond those of the dominant cultural group, promoting attitude and narrative change for representation

Percentage of Museums Public by Governance

The proportion of museums that are publicly owned and governed: 20% in the US, 45% in the UK, and 89% in France.

Outer Museum

The public-facing aspects of a museum, including exhibits, education programs, public events, and web presence.

Internal system

composed of the inner and outer museum. collection, management, preservation, research, administration, and curation

External system

composed of the local and global environments that in turn affect the museum's internal system. Community, organization, local economy, global economy

Golden age

impressive development of royal and state museums that were modeled after the Louvre