What Is a Museum?

What makes a museum, a museum in the 21st century? This is a transformative moment in the history of museums. Traditionally, the museums have been defined by the functions of collecting, preserving, documenting, researching, exhibiting and in other ways, communicating and interpreting evidence of human culture and history for the benefit of everyone. But what is the future of museums in a fast-changing world of economic uncertainty, social disruption, health challenges and climate change? Can museums reflect the accountability and transparency under which they are expected to acquire and use their material, financial, social, and intellectual resources? What Is a Museum? Perspectives from National and International Museum Leaders shares perspectives from dedicated professionals investigating how museums can meet their ethical, political, social, cultural, and environmental responsibilities in the years to come. In a series of essays, well-known leaders in the museum sector and related fields contribute to our understanding of the current and future challenges facing museums around the world. ICOM-US Co-Chair and Secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie G. Bunch III, summarizes the issues and provides guidance for the future of museums. Questions explored include: -What lessons have we learned from the needs of the communities we claim to serve and how can we better adapt to shift our priorities in a faster and more efficient way? -How can museums not only chronicle the past, but depict the present and become touchstones for the future of their communities? -In a world aimed towards political correctness, how do we address collections resulting from power and colonization? This book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in why museums matter today, what their future holds, and how to change them
About the Author: Kate Quinn has been working and teaching in the museum field for close to two decades. As Director of Exhibitions and Special Programs at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, she directed more than 100 special exhibitions and gallery projects, most with an international focus. In 2020 she was appointed the Executive Director of the Michener Art Museum. She is a Master Lecturer in the Museum Studies program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and is Co-Chair of the Programming Committee for the United States National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-US). Alejandra Peña Gutiérrez has been working for 30 years as a visual arts and museum professional. Her career started in Mexico City where she worked at various museums before she became director of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes. She was General Deputy Director of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico; Director of the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico. In 2021 she was appointed Director of the Weisman Art Museum of the University of Minnesota. Peña Gutiérrez is Co-Chair of the Programming Committee for ICOM-US, she is also a member of the Risk Management Standing Committee of ICOM General Created in 1946, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) is a non-governmental organization maintaining formal relations with UNESCO and having a consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. ICOM also partners with entities such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, Interpol, and the World Customs Organization in order to carry out its international public service missions, which include fighting illicit traffic in cultural goods and promoting risk management and emergency preparedness to protect world cultural heritage in the event of natural or man-made disasters.