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Nobel Center Talk #6. Diversity. 7 March 2024 . Nobel Center Talk # 6 The sixth Nobel Center Talk was organised at the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm. Employees, board members and committee member...
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Nobel Center Talk #6. Diversity. 7 March 2024 . Nobel Center Talk # 6 The sixth Nobel Center Talk was organised at the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm. Employees, board members and committee members from the prize-awarding institutions were invited. Around 70 people participated during the afternoon. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . Diversity Nobel Center Talk #6 focused on the topic of diversity and how we as an institution can include and express a diversity of voices. How do we find a tonality and create an open-minded atmosphere where visitors feel safe and included whilst maybe also experiencing being intellectually challenged and maybe even triggered? How do we create a sense of belonging and community for everyone? . Speakers during the event Welcome by Anna Sjöström Douagi, Acting CEO, The Nobel Foundation and Rani Kasapi, Head of Content and Learning, The National Museums of World Culture. • Gus Casely-Hayford, Director V&A East • Esme Ward, Director Manchester Museum • Jacob Thorek Jensen, Curator, Danish Museum of Science and Technology • Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian (digital) • Alison Eardley, Senior Lecturer, University of Westminster, London • Charl Landvreugd, Head of Research & Curatorial Practice, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam • Birgit Bosold, Member Board of Directors, Schwules Museum, Berlin Moderators: Clara Åhlvik, Director of Exhibitions, Nobel Prize Museum and Michael Barrett, Curator Africa, The National Museums of World Culture. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN Session 1: How institutions approach diversity and inclusion . The contagious compulsion of making Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of V&A East in London spoke of the importance of connecting with the community surrounding your museum. With 100 000 teenagers in the area, he himself visited all the schools to speak to the students about their needs and expectations. Key when connecting with communities is to focus on culture – the one thing that combines all communities – and the fundamental human drive to make and create. He encouraged us to co-create with our future visitors and gave the following advice for a future Nobel Center: “Find the balance between the confidence, knowledge and expertise that is required to tell these stories, and humility.” PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . “In this time of global recovery, we need to embrace museums as necessary places of solace, reflection and spas of the soul. Spaces where you might enjoy the most glorious manifestations of that fundamental human drive to make, to create, to build, to be.” GUS CASELY-HAYFORD, DIRECTOR OF V&A EAST REFLECTS ON THE ROLE OF MUSEUMS AFTER THE PANDEMIC AND IN TIMES OF RECOVERY . To recognize harm and encourage healing Esme Ward, Director of Manchester Museum, gave us the picture of a museum which today is mirroring a city built by immigrants, with 200 languages spoken. By opening up, being more generous and collaborative the museum has doubled its number of visitors to 900 000 per year. An important moment during their transformation was when they welcomed everyone, regardless of faith, to break the fast during Ramandan. She pointed out that if we really want to engender a deeper sense of emotional and communal engagement, belonging and ownership for everyone we got to create the conditions that enable and encourage that. She also highlighted that visitors want emotional connection and that actions such as repatriation of museum objects recognizes harm and encourages healing. She encouraged us to focus on relationships and prioritize to become an empathy machine. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . “This is about opening up to new relationships, people and perspectives. It’s about telling new stories, more complex stories and working together to become a museum of city, region and its peoples’ needs.” ESME WARD, DIRECTOR OF MANCHESTER MUSEUM . Become a space for critical thinking Jacob Thorek Jensen, Curator at the Danish Museum of Science and Technology spoke of the museum of the future as a space for public knowledge production and science in the making – an open house with maker spaces where you can experience with your hands not only your head. With half of the Danish population not visiting any museums last year he also pointed out that museums simply have an obligation to be ambitious and make themselves relevant to visitors. He gave examples of how they had rethought the stories they tell to become more inclusive and how they strived to be a space for critical thinking to get people out of their echo chambers. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . Panel discussion: Re-thinking to become relevant The discussion revolved around questions about how to be relevant to visitors. That we really need to grapple with the needs of the visitors and open up our processes so that they are actively shaping the museum. We need to find the narrative that prioritize the audiences we want to talk to. The fact that we are in the role of service needs to be demonstrated by constantly consulting the audience. On the topic of gender-neutral toilets, it was pointed out that it is important for all visitors to feel comfortable, and that one size will not fit all. Another take away was that it is important to build a sense of collective endeavor also among the staff. That we need to involve everyone in a dialogue about our values to make the whole museum live by them, not only the curators. . Managing diversity at the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian joined the event digitally for an interview where he pointed out that history is the glue that holds nations together and gives us nuances, complexity and debate. To give people a clear understanding of their past has been particularly important for the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington DC – to help people remember, not what they want, but what they need to remember. This will help us find healing and understanding. As the topic of race is often a blind spot in Sweden Secretary Bunch was asked how we can work with diversity in a broader sense. To this he answered that there are central stories that shapes us all and that we should focus on those rather than mirror different groups. We can also cover diversity of class and religion. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . “How do we matter? How are we of value today? How are we a reservoir that people can dip into? How are we a place that says we are a part of helping people understand who they are or helping them have aspirations on who they can become?” LONNIE G. BUNCH III, SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN, ON THE GREATER GOOD THAT A FUTURE NOBEL CENTER CAN PERFORM Session 2: Ways of seeing: Thinking through the inclusive museum . The normative group is not the majority Alison Eardley, Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster, London focused on questions like who do we design museums for? She indicated that we cannot design for the normative group as it does not exist. All humans are many different things. She also asked if vision is necessary for a museum experience and pointed out that vision, according to science, is not a superior sense. A visitor, who on average spends 20 minutes in a museum and 2 seconds reading about an object, can be very much helped to focus by an audio guide. Her answer to the question if a museum visit should be about the truth was simply that there is not one truth! As museums we need to embrace different perspectives. We should not assume that the museum knows, and the audience does not. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . Who make us who we are? Charl Landvreugd, Head of Research & Curatorial Practice at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam stated that the take on race is different in Europe compared with USA. We talk less about race in Europe, and unlike African Americans, we cannot separate ourselves from the society we grew up in because then we need to separate ourselves from our own families. This is the case for many second-generation immigrants. He stated that this is one of the reasons we should talk about culture instead of race, as culture is introduced by everyone in a society. To untie ourselves from the narrative about hierarchy and race we must try to understand “the other”. Charl encouraged us to reflect upon the Swedish context in which many young people with parents from other countries needs to define their culture and who they are. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . “First, we need to understand who we are and then for whom we are working. It is a difficult question, but it needs to be answered.” CHARL LANDVREUGD, HEAD OF RESEARCH & CURATORIAL PRACTICE AT STEDELIJK MUSEUM MADE THE POINT THAT WE NEED TO DEFINE OUR TARGET GROUPS . Inreach instead of outreach Birgit Bosold, Member of the Board of Directors of the Schwules Museum, Berlin gave us the story of an institution founded as an anti-museum in 1985 to challenge the systematic exclusion of queer history and culture. The effect of moving from a rundown building to a professional, modern building in the center of Berlin was highlighted as very important in the transformation and perception of the museum. The question about why it is important to allow for a diversity of needs, experiences and identities was answered by the simple statement that it is just about democracy. And that museums have to go beyond mere representation by becoming a space for action, participation and intervention. Inreach instead of outreach is key. PHOTO: CLÉMENT MORIN . Panel discussion: A museum for everyone? The discussion focused a lot on the question of whether to address everyone or be more specific about target groups. Alison Eardly pointed out that as long as exhibitions are not tailored for the majority, they will not have impact on society and social change. Charl Landvreugd argued against and implied that we cannot be for everyone, it’s impossible. We should recognize that we are middle-class institutions with higher-class aspirations. We need to make a choice and be honest about who we are and whom we are working for. One reflection on this was that the more specific you are in your activities – the more universal value it has for everyone else to recognize themselves in it. . Closing remarks In her closing remark Anna Sjöström Douagi summed up some of the key takaways we need to bring with us on our road to Nobel Center. She highlighted the importance of humility and that we need to listen and focus on building relationships with the community surrounding us. We need to encourage making and knowledge production and we need to rethink spaces and formats to be relevant. And we need to reflect upon who we are and whom we are for. . “A great museum recognizes that it is shaped by the community it wants to serve. Understand what people need and listen to what people want.” LONNIE G. BUNCH III, SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN, OFFERING ADVICE FOR A FUTURE NOBEL CENTER
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