Opinion
Seize the chance to boost health and wellbeing
How we view health is changing, and it is opening up possibilities for museums. Changes in health provision are creating more opportunities, and it is time for museums to seize the initiative. A body of evidence shows that museums can bring benefits to individual and community health and wellbeing. This is through their role as …
The arts sector must learn to think ‘diversity’
In the black cube of Hyson Green, inner city Nottingham, at New Art Exchange (NAE) we breathe, sweat and bleed the black bricks that symbolise our foundation to stimulate new perspectives on the value of diversity in art and society. As a building, NAE stands strong, representing solidity and a sense of purpose and longevity. …
Consult non-visitors as well as visitors
What do visitors really think about our museum, gallery or heritage site? It is one of the key questions that we need to answer to run a successful venue. Ahead of our Museums Association conference session, Perceptions and Prejudice: Separating Fact from Fiction, Christina Lister, a cultural sector PR and communications specialist, and I undertook …
Bosnia and Herzegovina needs our help
I have just become a witness to a story of exceptional museum resilience. This happened in October, when I was a keynote speaker at the Balkan Museum Network’s Balkan Museums Without Barriers conference in Sarajevo. The story unfolded in a museum at night. Many participants joined the tour of the National Museum of Bosnia and …