Curator: The Museum Journal, Volume 67, Issue 2, Page 361-364, April 2024 ..read more

Abstract This study focuses on the diversity, equity, access, and inclusion (DEAI) practices of informal science institutions (ISI) that are part of a statewide grants program. Data were collected to understand how ISIs interpret and implement DEAI in thought and action in their efforts to create more welcoming spaces for members of communities that are often underrepresented or marginalized in informal learning spaces. Modeled after the Cultural Competence Learning Institute's (CCLI) Framework, survey data were collected to understand DEAI practices being used to create welcoming environments ..read more

Abstract Set in the tradition of museum ethnography, this article looks at museum participation through the lens of labor. Based primarily on interview material, it analyzes the lengthy—and laborious—participatory process behind the creation of “Berlin Global,” an exhibition at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, Germany. The authors explore three aspects of participation related to labor, as identified in their research: the different types of knowledge and experience that participants bring with them, the organization of the participatory work process, and the presentation of the participants' con ..read more

Abstract The use of digital museum objects has become an essential part of museums' communication and marketing strategies, research and teaching, and curatorial practices. This new visibility, amplified by the COVID-19 crisis, has not only revealed the possibilities of digital museum objects but has also underscored significant challenges, including the intricate relationship between digital museum objects and physical objects, the impact of digital museum objects on knowledge creation, and the online interaction with art and cultural heritage. Furthermore, it has drawn attention to the digit ..read more

Abstract This article analyses the structure and results of a report published in April 2022 by the Danish Ministry of Culture on the feasibility of “shedding light on the possibilities of strengthening museum communication of Denmark's colonial history.” This article seeks to expose the underlying assumptions accompanying the term “colonial history” in the report. It suggests that “decolonization” and “decoloniality” would be more appropriate frameworks for museum development, as evidenced by current scholarship as well as curatorial trends elsewhere in Europe. Ultimately, it imagines how dif ..read more

Curator: The Museum Journal, EarlyView ..read more

Abstract Amateur naturalists and natural history societies are abundant throughout the UK, and indeed throughout the globe, and have intimate relationships with the museum sector. Importantly, amateur naturalists and natural history societies often possess expertise in fields underserved by museums, such as taxonomy or the local history of natural history. The amateur naturalist, in the context of the museum, is simultaneously volunteer and expert and this dichotomy can lead to tension in the naturalist-museum professional relationship. The rise of mass-participation citizen science and digiti ..read more

Abstract Political scientists and historians often credit the intangible heritage of language for the development or manufacturing of national identities. By controlling language through printing and media, it is possible to impose a common identity representing a political, diplomatic, and economic unity. This paper aims to illuminate the often-unstated influences of urban and architectural language on the impact of cultural production, and to show how modernist syntax and vocabulary were hijacked into a colonial system through the control of the urban fabric, as an attempt to displace primar ..read more

Abstract One of MoHoA's main aims has been to advocate for positive and meaningful change in the reconceptualization of what might constitute modern heritage through policy and practice. Central to this endeavor is The Cape Town Document on Modern Heritage. Conceived in the spirit of the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994), which successfully achieved a similar paradigmatic shift in the global conceptualization and assessment of authenticity, The Cape Town Document seeks to achieve a similar global consensus on the reconceptualization of modern heritage. Relieved of its Eurocentric, homogenou ..read more

Abstract In this paper, we share and reflect on the co-development of an assessment tool for educators; an observation tool to identify evidence of learning and engagement in a museum and library makerspaces. Through a collaborative and iterative design process with educators, we co-developed, revised, and refined an observation tool to be used by maker educators, researchers, and evaluators. Through this process, we evolved roles that leveraged the strengths and perspectives of both the researchers and educators involved. We also discuss implications for co-design as an approach for professio ..read more