A museum putting on an exhibition about sex sounds like a cheap attempt to titillate audiences and generate some easy publicity.
But the Royal Cornwall Museum won an award last month for its Revealing Collections exhibition and its related sex education pack, Talking Sex, which has been used in schools throughout Devon and Cornwall.
The project used the collections to work with young people, highlighting topics such as sexually transmitted infections, internet pornography and contraception. But should museums be bothering with this type of work? Surely it’s up to other organisations to sort out society’s problems.
At a time when the number of families living in poverty is increasing, and the number of young people without a hope of a job or training is on the up, some museums are thinking about how they can address inequality and injustice.
Glasgow Museums has led the way in this field with its work to raise awareness of issues such as domestic violence, homophobia and sectarianism. National Museums Liverpool has carried out ground-breaking work getting young people to volunteer, so that they can pick up skills and improve their chances of employment.
And Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) has announced its commitment to working with the Welsh Assembly on its priority to tackle child poverty. No organisation operates in a vacuum, separate from the rest of society.
Many other publicly funded organisations such as hospitals and schools take their wider responsibilities to society seriously. So should museums and galleries.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
The call for session proposals for the Museums Association conference, which takes place in Edinburgh on 8-9 November, is now open.
Click here to find out more
But the Royal Cornwall Museum won an award last month for its Revealing Collections exhibition and its related sex education pack, Talking Sex, which has been used in schools throughout Devon and Cornwall.
The project used the collections to work with young people, highlighting topics such as sexually transmitted infections, internet pornography and contraception. But should museums be bothering with this type of work? Surely it’s up to other organisations to sort out society’s problems.
At a time when the number of families living in poverty is increasing, and the number of young people without a hope of a job or training is on the up, some museums are thinking about how they can address inequality and injustice.
Glasgow Museums has led the way in this field with its work to raise awareness of issues such as domestic violence, homophobia and sectarianism. National Museums Liverpool has carried out ground-breaking work getting young people to volunteer, so that they can pick up skills and improve their chances of employment.
And Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) has announced its commitment to working with the Welsh Assembly on its priority to tackle child poverty. No organisation operates in a vacuum, separate from the rest of society.
Many other publicly funded organisations such as hospitals and schools take their wider responsibilities to society seriously. So should museums and galleries.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
The call for session proposals for the Museums Association conference, which takes place in Edinburgh on 8-9 November, is now open.
Click here to find out more