The 2020 column
What do the public want from museums?
The research that the Museums Association (MA) has just published into public attitudes about the purpose of museums is fascinating (see this month's news analysis).
We commissioned it – thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Museums Galleries Scotland and Cymal: Museums Archives Libraries Wales – to inform the discussions about Museums 2020.
It shows people firmly believe museums are for everyone and that they are places to learn. People want to be given information that will stimulate them to think for themselves and to have discussions with their friends and family.
They don’t think museums should push any particular lines too explicitly. This means people are uncomfortable with the proposals in the Museums 2020 discussion paper that museums should stimulate public debate.
People were also uncomfortable with the suggestion that museums should tackle politically controversial subjects – although they are happier with museums addressing morally important subjects, such as slavery, climate change and the Holocaust.
People see museums as a place to spend quality time with people they know but they were puzzled by the idea that museums might be a public or civic space. They didn’t recognise museums as places where the community comes together.
People felt strongly that museums should be accessible for everyone, including the most vulnerable, but didn’t agree with the Museums 2020 line that they should actively reach out to try to improve the lives of vulnerable people.
BritainThinks, which undertook the research, says that the public have a clear perception of the essential purposes of museums and suggests that any additional objectives must relate to them and not undermine them.
This matches the views of many of the museum-sector responses – which you can read in a report we’ve recently published on the MA website.
Maurice Davies is the head of policy and communication at the Museums Association
We commissioned it – thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Museums Galleries Scotland and Cymal: Museums Archives Libraries Wales – to inform the discussions about Museums 2020.
It shows people firmly believe museums are for everyone and that they are places to learn. People want to be given information that will stimulate them to think for themselves and to have discussions with their friends and family.
They don’t think museums should push any particular lines too explicitly. This means people are uncomfortable with the proposals in the Museums 2020 discussion paper that museums should stimulate public debate.
People were also uncomfortable with the suggestion that museums should tackle politically controversial subjects – although they are happier with museums addressing morally important subjects, such as slavery, climate change and the Holocaust.
People see museums as a place to spend quality time with people they know but they were puzzled by the idea that museums might be a public or civic space. They didn’t recognise museums as places where the community comes together.
People felt strongly that museums should be accessible for everyone, including the most vulnerable, but didn’t agree with the Museums 2020 line that they should actively reach out to try to improve the lives of vulnerable people.
BritainThinks, which undertook the research, says that the public have a clear perception of the essential purposes of museums and suggests that any additional objectives must relate to them and not undermine them.
This matches the views of many of the museum-sector responses – which you can read in a report we’ve recently published on the MA website.
Maurice Davies is the head of policy and communication at the Museums Association