Books
A stimulating book on the complexities of the museum sector, says Henry McGhie
If ever there was a time for some high-quality thinking on the core purpose of museums, their values and ethics, it is now. We are told by the media that we are in uncharted territory: a “post-truth” world of mistrust and divisions where the only certainty is uncertainty.
How can museums position themselves in this world and what responsibilities do they have to their communities, society and the environment?
Museums Without Borders draws on Robert Janes’s extensive experience as a museum professional and the critical eye that he has directed on the changes that the sector has gone through.
The book consists of writings on challenges in the sector. The “Borders” in the title were inspired by Médecins Sans Frontières and are not just references to national or cultural borders. Janes writes that borders are “simultaneously ‘about limitation and restraint, but also offer the possibility of discovery, change and transcendence’ (quoting Peacock 2015)”.
Borders permeate the book in an exploration of the “ability of museums to assist in the creation of a caring and more conscious future for themselves and their communities. This can only be done through authentic engagement with contemporary issues and aspirations.”
The book is divided into four parts. In the first, Janes discusses his 39-year museum career, which began as the director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Here, in a place far from a heavily codified museum sector, he found there was a freedom to do things differently at a time when indigenous communities were seeking political recognition and self-determination.
There is thoughtful discussion on the use and manufacture of objects in partnership with local communities as a means of connecting indigenous people to their own cultural practices.
Part two focuses on Janes’s experiences of organisational change, contrasting the motivated small staff of Yellowknife with the large demoralised staff of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where he arrived in 1989 when the finances were in dire straits. We learn of Janes’s strategy to secure the museum’s future. He and his staff looked at some of the holy cows of museums: the devotion to collections and team structures, and where innovation resided in the organisation. There is useful material here for those interested in diversifying income streams. Janes’s reflections are incredibly honest, packed with thoughts on what did and didn’t work, with present-day relevance.
The third section explores social responsibility in the context of museums’ work regarding societal and environmental issues and how their truest purpose is as an agent of positive change rather than maintaining the status quo and preservation for preservation’s sake.
Part four explores the long-term purpose of museums and I found this section confusing, as some chapters could easily have been in other sections. Janes returns to debunking the marketplace approach to museum operation explored in part three. He connects museums’ tacit silence on environmental and social issues with its application of marketplace ideology, but gives little evidence to support this argument.
I would have preferred more information on the context in which chapters were originally written, in terms of what Janes hoped to achieve and the extent to which he was successful.
I was also left wanting more personal commentary on what are essentially publications directed towards the museum profession. Some of the tone veers towards lecturing and the majority of the book is directed towards what museums should do, rather than how they might go about it, or collaborate with visitors to create public value and discourse. This perpetuates a model of museums as presenters and audiences as beneficiaries. That said, this is a stimulating book, packed with great reading material and quotations.
If we are sleepwalking towards a darker future, the role of museums is surely to promote a world that is fair and tolerant for those who use them and those who don’t.
We could move beyond thinking of museums filled with things or people to institutions filled with purpose, truly embracing the difference that cultural experiences can make to individuals and the wider world.
This book should be read by all those who believe in the social purpose of museums and, perhaps more importantly, by those still in need of convincing.
Henry McGhie is the head of collections and the curator of zoology at Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester
How can museums position themselves in this world and what responsibilities do they have to their communities, society and the environment?
Museums Without Borders draws on Robert Janes’s extensive experience as a museum professional and the critical eye that he has directed on the changes that the sector has gone through.
The book consists of writings on challenges in the sector. The “Borders” in the title were inspired by Médecins Sans Frontières and are not just references to national or cultural borders. Janes writes that borders are “simultaneously ‘about limitation and restraint, but also offer the possibility of discovery, change and transcendence’ (quoting Peacock 2015)”.
Borders permeate the book in an exploration of the “ability of museums to assist in the creation of a caring and more conscious future for themselves and their communities. This can only be done through authentic engagement with contemporary issues and aspirations.”
The book is divided into four parts. In the first, Janes discusses his 39-year museum career, which began as the director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Here, in a place far from a heavily codified museum sector, he found there was a freedom to do things differently at a time when indigenous communities were seeking political recognition and self-determination.
There is thoughtful discussion on the use and manufacture of objects in partnership with local communities as a means of connecting indigenous people to their own cultural practices.
Part two focuses on Janes’s experiences of organisational change, contrasting the motivated small staff of Yellowknife with the large demoralised staff of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where he arrived in 1989 when the finances were in dire straits. We learn of Janes’s strategy to secure the museum’s future. He and his staff looked at some of the holy cows of museums: the devotion to collections and team structures, and where innovation resided in the organisation. There is useful material here for those interested in diversifying income streams. Janes’s reflections are incredibly honest, packed with thoughts on what did and didn’t work, with present-day relevance.
The third section explores social responsibility in the context of museums’ work regarding societal and environmental issues and how their truest purpose is as an agent of positive change rather than maintaining the status quo and preservation for preservation’s sake.
Part four explores the long-term purpose of museums and I found this section confusing, as some chapters could easily have been in other sections. Janes returns to debunking the marketplace approach to museum operation explored in part three. He connects museums’ tacit silence on environmental and social issues with its application of marketplace ideology, but gives little evidence to support this argument.
I would have preferred more information on the context in which chapters were originally written, in terms of what Janes hoped to achieve and the extent to which he was successful.
I was also left wanting more personal commentary on what are essentially publications directed towards the museum profession. Some of the tone veers towards lecturing and the majority of the book is directed towards what museums should do, rather than how they might go about it, or collaborate with visitors to create public value and discourse. This perpetuates a model of museums as presenters and audiences as beneficiaries. That said, this is a stimulating book, packed with great reading material and quotations.
If we are sleepwalking towards a darker future, the role of museums is surely to promote a world that is fair and tolerant for those who use them and those who don’t.
We could move beyond thinking of museums filled with things or people to institutions filled with purpose, truly embracing the difference that cultural experiences can make to individuals and the wider world.
This book should be read by all those who believe in the social purpose of museums and, perhaps more importantly, by those still in need of convincing.
Henry McGhie is the head of collections and the curator of zoology at Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester