Museums and Cultural Heritage: Museums

Among Others: Blackness at MoMA by Darby English (Editor); Charlotte Barat (Editor); Mabel Wilson (Text by) Among Others: Blackness at MoMA begins with an essay that provides a rigorous and in-depth analysis of MoMA's history regarding racial issues. It also calls for further developments, leaving space for other scholars to draw on particular moments of that history. It takes an integrated approach to the study of racial blackness and its representation: the book stresses inclusion and, as such, the plate section, rather than isolating black artists, features works by non-black artists dealing with race and race- related subjects. As a collection book, the volume provides scholars and curators with information about the Museum's holdings, at times disclosing works that have been little documented or exhibited. The numerous and high-quality illustrations will appeal to anyone interested in art made by black artists, or in modern art in general.

The Art Lover's Guide to Japanese Museums by Sophie Richard An indispensable guide to Japan's most fascinating museums and galleries The Art Lover's Guide to Japanese Museums is a personal introduction to more than 100 of Japan's most distinctive and inspiring museums. In-depth information is given about each venue, including about its creation, collection, and highlights. Organized geographically, the book begins with numerous art institutions in and around Tokyo, and proceeds to Kyoto; museums in the western and eastern parts of the nation; Shikoku and the Inland Sea; Kyushu; and Hokkaido and Okinawa. Among the buildings and collections featured are the Nezu Museum, the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, Nagi MOCA, the Hiroshige Museum, the George Nakashima Memorial Museum, and the Hokkaido Historical Village. From magnificent traditional arts to fascinating artist's houses, from sleek contemporary museums to quirky galleries, these museums house some of the world's greatest artworks and are a reflection of Japan's extraordinary culture both past and present.]]>

The Art Museum from Boullee to Bilbao by Andrew McClellan Art museums have emerged in recent decades as the most vibrant and popular of all cultural institutions. Though art museums have never been more popular, their direction and values are now being contested as never before#151;both in the media and in the art world itself. This engaging thematic history of the art museum from its inception in the eighteenth century to the present offers an essential framework for understanding contemporary debates as they have evolved in Europe and the United States. From the visionary museums of Boullée in the eighteenth century to the new Guggenheim in Bilbao and beyond, it explores key aspects of museum theory and practice: ideals and mission; architecture; collecting, classification, and display; the public; commercialism; and restitution and repatriation. The only single volume to give a comprehensive account of the issues critical to museums, the book also highlights the challenges they will face in the future.

The Art Museum in Modern Times by Charles Saumarez Smith The National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy all saw either radical architectural interventions or rethinks of their mission under Charles Saumarez Smith's leadership, making him uniquely qualified to explore the ways in which art museums have changed over the past century and examine where they might be headed in the future. For this book, Saumarez Smith has undertaken an odyssey to art museums across the globe. From Tate Modern in London to the Benesse House Museum on the Japanese island of Naoshima; from the Getty Center in Los Angeles to the Museum of New and Old Art, a ferry-ride from Hobart in Tasmania; from the Pompidou Centre in Paris to the West Bund Museum in Shanghai - he has visited them all, casting an acute eye on the way the experience of art is shaped by the buildings that house it and the organizing principles by which it is displayed. Where the public once visited museums to be educated in art history, he argues, they are now more likely to be in search of a private, aesthetic experience. Museum displays that were automatically didactic, chronological and either national or Western in viewpoint are now thematic and global. While museums used to be invariably in city centres, they may now be in remote locations, destinations of cultural pilgrimage. And where architects once created neutral spaces in which to display art, they now build spectacular architectural landmarks, stamping an identity on run-down neighbourhoods and sparking regeneration through cultural tourism.

Begin with the Past: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture by Mabel O. Wilson; Lonnie G. Bunch III (Foreword by) The Building of the National Museum of African American History and Culture traces the making of this unparalleled museum. Founding director Lonnie G. Bunch III described it as "ten years in the making, and 100 years in the making," and Mabel O. Wilson explores that effort in her narrative. As she discovers, initial calls for a permanent place to collect, study, and present African American history and culture in the early twentieth century never got off the ground. In the late 1990s, the notion began to gain momentum from increasing public interest and Congressional support. In 2003 the museum was officially established. Yet the work of the museum was only just beginning. Wilson takes an in-depth look at the selection of the director, site, and architects in the years that followed. Rising on the National Mall next to the Washington Monument, the museum is a tiered bronze beacon inviting us to understand our past and embrace our future. Wilson explores how the "four pillars" of the museum's mission shaped its powerful structure, and she teases out the rich cultural symbols and homages layered into the design of the building and its surrounding landscape. This book is an important inside look at the making of a monument.

A Companion to Museum Studies by Sharon Macdonald (Editor) A Companion to Museum Studies captures the multidisciplinary approach to the study of the development, roles, and significance of museums in contemporary society. Collects first-rate original essays by leading figures from a range of disciplines and theoretical stances, including anthropology, art history, history, literature, sociology, cultural studies, and museum studies Examines the complexity of the museum from cultural, political, curatorial, historical and representational perspectives Covers traditional subjects, such as space, display, buildings, objects and collecting, and more contemporary challenges such as visiting, commerce, community and experimental exhibition forms

Curating Art Now by Lilian Cameron Curating Art Now is a timely reflection on the practice of curating and the role of the art curator during a period of rapid change. Curating has a pivotal position in the art world: it is embedded in the identity and expertise of the museum and plays an ever-increasing role in the commercial art sector too. Current curatorial practice encompasses a wide range of activities, from the care of collections in museums to the presentation of large-scale contemporary biennials, and from collaboration with artists to presentations of work on digital platforms. Curating has grown substantially in the last decades, and in the early 2020s is undergoing a significant period of transition as it grapples with some fundamental questions. How diverse and inclusive is curating as a profession, and how does that inform the art and artists who come to prominence? How possible is it to conduct exploratory and inclusive curatorial work in the challenging economic climate of the early 2020s? What is the extent of a curator's autonomy within the various institutions and structures in which they work, and what power dynamics are at work between artists and curators? Finally, how might digital art and exhibition-making give way to hybrid forms of practice, and even challenge the face of traditional curating?

Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in Museums by Johnnetta Betsch Cole (Editor); Laura L. Lott (Editor) Diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in all aspects of museums' structure and programming are top issues in the field today - and in the overall arts/culture sector. Much has been written, from various perspectives, over several decades. Yet, a lack of diversity remains and exclusive practices and inequities persist in all types of museums. This edited collection of the most important essays, speeches, and reports on these topics seeks to facilitate a much-needed intergenerational dialogue that builds on lessons from the past, broadens thinking about the many different facets of this complex work, and ignites inspiration for continuing to correct inequities across museums of all types, sizes, and locations. In this book compiled and edited by Dr. Johnnetta Betch Cole and Laura Lott, thought leaders in the museum field present their research, analysis and work to answer some of the most challenge questions facing the museum field. Why do these problems persist? How can a new generation of museum leaders champion change to better represent the communities that museums strive to serve and engage? What can we learn from those who have been observing, experiencing, and writing about these issues?

Exhibiting Blackness: African Americans and the American art museum by Bridget R. Cooks In 1927, the Chicago Art Institute presented the first major museum exhibition of art by African Americans. Designed to demonstrate the artists' abilities and to promote racial equality, the exhibition also revealed the art world's anxieties about the participation of African Americans in the exclusive venue of art museums - places where blacks had historically been barred from visiting let alone exhibiting. Since then, America's major art museums have served as crucial locations for African Americans to protest against their exclusion and attest to their contributions in the visual arts. Art historian Bridget R. Cooks analyzes the curatorial strategies, challenges, and critical receptions of the most significant museum exhibitions of African American art. Cooks exposes the issues involved in exhibiting cultural difference that continue to challenge art history, historiography, and American museum exhibition practices. By further examining the unequal and often contested relationship between African American artists, curators, and visitors, she provides insight into the complex role of art museums and their accountability to the cultures they represent.

The First Modern Museums of Art: The Birth of an Institution in 18th- and Early- 19th-Century Europe by Carole Paul (Editor) In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the first modern, public museums of art--civic, state, or national--appeared throughout Europe, setting a standard for the nature of such institutions that has made its influence felt to the present day. Although the emergence of these museums was an international development, their shared history has not been systematically explored until now. Taking up that project, this volume includes chapters on fifteen of the earliest and still major examples, from the Capitoline Museum in Rome, opened in 1734, to the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, opened in 1836. These essays consider a number of issues, such as the nature, display, and growth of the museums' collections and the role of the institutions in educating the public The accounts of the individual museums give a comprehensive overview, providing a basis for understanding how the collective emergence of public art museums is indicative of the cultural, social, and political shifts that mark the transformation from the early-modern to the modern world.

Gender, Sexuality and Museums: A Routledge Reader by Amy K. Levin (Editor) Gender, Sexuality and Museums provides the only repository of key articles, new essays and case studies for the important area of gender and sexuality in museums. It is the first reader to focus on LGBT issues and museums, and the first reader in nearly 15 years to collect articles which focus on women and museums. The book is organised into three thematic parts, each with its own introduction. Sections focus on women in museum work, applications of feminist and LGBT theories to museum exhibitions, exhibitions and collections pertaining to women and individuals who are LGBT. The case studies provide different perspectives to key topics, such as memorials and memorializing; modernism and museums; and natural history collections. The collection concludes with a bibliographic essay evaluating scholarship to date on gender and sexuality in museums.

Grasping the World: The Idea of the Museum by Donald Preziosi (Editor); Claire Farago (Editor) This volume recognizes that there is much more to museums than the documenting, monumentalizing, or theme-parking of identity, history and heritage. This anthology aims to plot a critical, historical and ethical understanding of their origins and history. A radical selection of key texts introduces the reader to the intense investigation of the modern European idea of the museum that has taken place over the last fifty years. Texts first published in journals and books are brought together in one volume with specially commissioned pieces by leading administrators, curators and art historians. The selections are organized by key themes that map the evolution of the debate and introduced by Donald Preziosi and Claire Farago, two considerable critics, who write with the edge and enthusiasm of art historians who have spent their lives working with museums.

Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience by John H. Falk Understanding the visitor experience provides essential insights into how museums can affect people's lives. Personal drives, group identity, decision-making and meaning-making strategies, memory, and leisure preferences, all enter into the visitor experience, which extends far beyond the walls of the institution both in time and space. Drawing upon a career in studying museum visitors, renowned researcher John Falk attempts to create a predictive model of visitor experience, one that can help museum professionals better meet those visitors' needs. He identifies five key types of visitors who attend museums and then defines the internal processes that drive them there over and over again. Through an understanding of how museums shape and reflect their personal and group identity, Falk is able to show not only how museums can increase their attendance and revenue, but also their meaningfulness to their constituents.

The Imperial Museums of Meiji Japan: Architecture and the Art of the Nation by Alice Y. Tseng It was not until Japan's opening to the West during the Meiji period (1868-1912) that terms for "art" (bijutsu) and "art museum" (bijutsukan) were coined. The Imperial Museums of Meiji Japan documents Japan's unification of national art and cultural resources to forge a modern identity influenced by European museum and exhibition culture. Japan's Imperial Museums were conceived of as national self-representations, and their creation epitomized the Meiji bureaucracy's mission to engage in the international standards and practices of the late nineteenth century. The architecture of the museums, by incorporating Western design elements and construction methods, effectively safeguarded and set off the nation's unique art historical lineage. Western paradigms and expertise, coupled with Japanese resolve and ingenuity, steered the course of the museums' development. Expeditions by high-ranking Japanese officials to Europe and the United States to explore the burgeoning world of art preservation and exhibition, and throughout Japan to inventory important cultural treasures, led to the establishment of the Imperial Museums in the successive imperial cities of Nara, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Over the course of nearly four decades, the English architect Josiah Conder, known as "the father of modern Japanese architecture," and his student Katayama Tokuma, who became the preeminent state architect, designed four main museum buildings to house the national art collection. These buildings articulated the museums' unified mission to preserve and showcase a millennium-long chronology of Japanese art, while reinforcing the distinctive historical and cultural character of their respective cities.

Inventing the Louvre: Art, Politics, and the Origins of the Modern Museum in Eighteenth-Century Paris by Andrew McClellan Founded in the final years of the Enlightenment, the Louvre--with the greatest collection of Old Master paintings and antique sculpture assembled under one roof--became the model for all state art museums subsequently established. Andrew McClellan chronicles the formation of this great museum from its origins in the French royal picture collections to its apotheosis during the Revolution and Napoleonic Empire. More than a narrative history, McClellan's account explores the ideological underpinnings, pedagogic aims, and aesthetic criteria of the Louvre. Drawing on new archival materials, McClellan also illuminates the art world of eighteenth-century Paris.

The Louvre: The History, The Collections, The Architecture by Bautier G. Bresc Every year, more than 10 million visitors from around the world visit the Louvre's 68,000 square metres of gallery space containing more than 35,000 works of art. The Louvre is widely considered the most innovative of the world's pre-eminent museums. This book explores the eight centuries of fascinating history surrounding the museum, which began in the Middle Ages as a fortress, then becoming a royal residence which continued to enlarge, expand, and develop over the centuries with the most brilliant architects and painters being called to work on this architectural masterpiece. In 1793, the Louvre confirmed its role as a "temple of the arts" when it was made the first national museum open to the public. From then on, its collections continued to grow from its roots in the old royal collection with acquisitions, archaeological discoveries, donations, and bequests. Centuries of growth, evolution, and transformation culminated in the 1980s with the "Grand Louvre" project symbolised by I.M. Pei's world-famous and critically acclaimed modernist pyramid.

Making Representations: Museums in the Post-Colonial Era by Moira G. Simpson Responses to controversial exhibitions in recent years have demonstrated the dissatisfaction felt by many indigenous peoples and ethnic groups at the ways in which the western museum traditionally represented their cultures and excluded them from the process of interpretation and display. Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, and other indigenous peoples are now demanding that human remains, sacred objects and other items of cultural property be removed from display and repatriated. Drawing upon the experiences of museum staff and communities across the globe, 'Making Representations' examines the development of new forms of museological practice. The author also examines the growth of museums, cultural centres and Aboriginal Keeping Places being established by indigenous and immigrant communities as they take control of the interpretive process and challenge the traditional role of the museum.

Museums, Ethics and Cultural Heritage by ICOM (Editor) This volume provides an unparalleled exploration of ethics and museum practice, considering the controversies and debates which surround key issues such as provenance, ownership, cultural identity, environmental sustainability and social engagement. Using a variety of case studies which reflect the internal realities and daily activities of museums as they address these issues, from exhibition content and museum research to education, accountability and new technologies, Museums, Ethics and Cultural Heritage enables a greater understanding of the role of museums as complex and multifaceted institutions of cultural production, identity-formation and heritage preservation. Benefitting from ICOM's unique position in the museum world, this collection brings a global range of academics and professionals together to examine museums ethics from multiple perspectives. Providing a more complete picture of the diverse activities now carried out by museums, Museums, Ethics and Cultural Heritage will appeal to practitioners, academics and students alike.

Museums 101 by Mark Walhimer An A-Z, one-stop, comprehensive book on museums. In Museums 101, Mark Walhimer covers: - Essential Background, such as what is a museum, a quick history of museums, and 10 steps to starting a museum - Operational Basics, such as branding, marketing, strategic planning, governance, accessibility, and day-to-day operations - What goes on behind the scenes in a museum, ranging from finances to fundraising to art handling, exhibit management, and research - The Visitor Experience, planning a museum, designing exhibits for visitors, programming, and exhibit evaluation. Features include a community outreach checklist, a fundraising checklist, a questionnaire for people considering starting a new museum, and an exhaustive, well-organized list of online resources for museum operations. Valuable appendixes include a museum toolbox full of useful forms, checklists, and worksheets, and a glossary of essential museum-related terms. Museums 101 also features a companion website. The website features: links to essential online resources in the museum world, downloadable sample documents, a glossary, a bibliography of sources for further reading, and photographs of more than 75 museums of all types.

Museums in Motion by Juilee Decker This book explores the histories and functions of museums while also looking at the current standing of museums and their ongoing efforts toward relevance, resiliency, and future-proofing. Museums in Motion demonstrates the very premise that museums have been in motion all along, as they have shifted from their rather simple form of a treasury, storehouse, and tomb to something much more complex by deeply considering where museums have come from, where they are today, and where they are going.

Negotiating Race and Rights in the Museum by Katy Bunning Negotiating Race and Rights in the Museum traces the evolution of pervasive racial ideas, and 'post-race' allusions, over more than a century of museum thinking and practice. Drawing on the illuminating history of the Smithsonian Institution, this book offers an account of how museums have addressed and renegotiated wider calls for inclusion, 'self-definition', and racial justice, in ways that continually re-centre and legitimise the White frame. Charting the emergence of 'post-race' ideas in museums, Bunning demonstrates how and why 'culturally specific' approaches have been met with suspicion and derision by powerful museum stakeholders against the backdrop of a changing United States of America, just as they have offered crucial vehicles for sectoral change. This study of the evolution of racial ideas in response to Black empowerment highlights deeply entrenched forms of White supremacy that remain operative within the international museum sector today, and serves to reinforce the urgent calls for the active disruption of racist ideas and the redesign of institutions. Negotiating Race and Rights in the Museum will appeal to those working in the international fields of museum and heritage studies, cultural studies, and American studies, and all who are interested in the production of racial ideas and White supremacy in the museum.

Public Properties: Museums in Imperial Japan by Noriko Aso In the late nineteenth century, Japan's new Meiji government established museums to showcase a national aesthetic heritage. Inspired by Western museums and expositions, these institutions were introduced by government officials hoping to spur industrialization and self-disciplined public behavior, and to cultivate an "imperial public" loyal to the emperor. Japan's network of museums expanded along with its colonies. By the mid-1930s, the Japanese museum system had established or absorbed institutions in Taiwan, Korea, Sakhalin, and Manchuria. Not surprising, colonial subjects' views of Japanese imperialism differed from those promulgated by the Japanese state. Meanwhile, in Japan, philanthropic and commercial museums were expanding, revising, and even questioning the state-sanctioned aesthetic canon. Public Properties describes how museums in Japan and its empire contributed to the reimagining of state and society during the imperial era, despite vigorous disagreements about what was to be displayed, how, and by whom it was to be seen.

Reinventing the Museum by Gail Anderson (Editor) Reinventing the Museum: The Evolving Conversation on the Paradigm Shift offers 44 seminal articles representing the changing perspectives about the role of museums in contemporary times. The book includes iconic pieces from the 20th century and presents the latest thinking of the past decade. The book begins with foundational writings that provide a thorough history of museum thought and theory. With this context established, Anderson presents articles that trace the emerging ideas in 21st-century museum studies on public engagement, frameworks, and leadership.

Under Discussion The Encyclopedic Museum by Donatien Grau (Editor) In almost thirty interviews, Donatien Grau probes some of the world's most prominent thinkers and preeminent arts leaders on the past, present, and future of the encyclopedic museum. Is there still a place for an institution dedicated to gathering, preserving, and showcasing all the world's cultures? What can they contribute when the Internet now seems to offer the greater encyclopedia? How important is it for us to have in-person access to objects from all over the world that can directly articulate something to us about humanity? The fresh ideas and nuances of new voices on the core principles important to museums in Dakar, Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai complement some of the world's arts leaders from European and American institutions--resulting in some revealing and unexpected answers. Every interviewee offers differing views, making for exciting, stimulating reading.

Whose Muse? by James Cuno (Editor, Contribution by); Philippe de Montebello (Contribution by); Glenn D. Lowry (Contribution by); Neil MacGregor (Contribution by); John Walsh (Contribution by); James N. Wood (Contribution by) During the economic boom of the 1990s, art museums expanded dramatically in size, scope, and ambition. They came to be seen as new civic centers: on the one hand as places of entertainment, leisure, and commerce, on the other as socially therapeutic institutions. But museums were also criticized for everything from elitism to looting or illegally exporting works from other countries, to exhibiting works offensive to the public taste. Whose Muse? brings together five directors of leading American and British art museums who together offer a forward-looking alternative to such prevailing views. While their approaches differ, certain themes recur: As museums have become increasingly complex and costly to manage, and as government support has waned, the temptation is great to follow policies driven not by a mission but by the market. However, the directors concur that public trust can be upheld only if museums continue to see their core mission as building collections that reflect a nation's artistic legacy and providing informed and unfettered access to them. The book, based on a lecture series of the same title held in 2000-2001 by the Harvard Program for Art Museum Directors, also includes an introduction by Cuno and a fascinating--and surprisingly frank--roundtable discussion among the participating directors. A rare collection of sustained reflections by prominent museum directors on the current state of affairs in their profession, this book is without equal. It will be read widely not only by museum professionals, trustees, critics, and scholars, but also by the art-loving public itself.

Why the Museum Matters by Daniel H. Weiss Art museums have played a vital role in our culture, drawing on Enlightenment ideals in shaping ideas, advancing learning, fostering community, and providing spaces of beauty and permanence. In this thoughtful and often personal volume, Daniel H. Weiss contemplates the idea of the universal art museum alongside broad considerations about the role of art in society and what defines a cultural experience. The future of art museums is far from secure, and Weiss reflects on many of the difficulties these institutions face, from their financial health to their collecting practices to the audiences they engage to ensuring freedom of expression on the part of artists and curators. Weiss' tone is one of optimism as he looks to a future where the museum will serve a greater public while continuing to be a steward of culture and a place of discovery, discourse, inspiration, and pleasure.