I started writing about museums a decade ago at a time when deeper discussions about the purpose of our cultural institutions were becoming more commonplace.
This has gained momentum over the years with many more diverse voices allowed to be heard. International changes have been immense. Indigenous voices have become bolder.
Thanks in part to amendments and changes to legislation starting in the 1990s in the US with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, through to the 2005 Human Tissue Act in the UK, which enabled museums to deaccession human remains if lineage could be proved.
These changes have allowed for more democratic relationships between originator of artefacts and the current "owners". In Britain, too, museums have become more open to including and discussing hidden histories.
The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (BECM) in Bristol had a most difficult birth at the turn of the decade and then did a u-turn on its celebratory focus for a more balanced interpretation (Museums Journal January 2001, p54 and December 2002, p22).
But within seven years, the museum has shut its doors - not because of a poor product but a financial climate that is particularly oppressing independents outside London. It may not be a complete demise of the BECM as it has promised it will return as a museum of tolerance.
The subject of the European slave trade in Africa was given lip service by some, with the government dragging its heels over its response to the 2007 anniversary of its abolition.
Talks started back in 2004, but reviewing what was delivered in the year, you wouldn't have guessed. Of course, Liverpool's opening of its International Slavery Museum was a highlight.
But a special mention has to go to the Emory Douglas exhibition on the Black Panther Party at Urbis in Manchester. What a stunning, groundbreaking and brave undertaking this was. It took my breath away.
And the next ten years? Museums need to become more risk-taking, representative and be even more outward looking.
