Engaging communities in museum exhibition development can range from incendiary to exemplary - what a great topic for discussion Sarah. An excellent book that touches directly on this is Displays of Power, by Steven Dubin. He tells stories of major exhibition controversies that erupted between museums and communities. Naturally, defining community is at the core of this question and will be for any presentation on the subject.
The examples in Dubin's book are the obvious ones but he really examines the intricacies of the debates, which were quite vitriolic. They include the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Harlem on My Mind", "Gaelic Gotham" at the Museum of the City of New York" (well after I was a curator there) (whew) and the infamous Enola Gay fiasco at the Air and Space museum.
I should add that I rate Dubin's book as one of the top ten anyone who is interested in museum studies must read. The most recent edition includes "Sensation" which was so assaulted by certain communities (religiouis, politcal, ethical, aesthetic) at the Brooklyn Museum.
Regards,
Steve
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Steven Miller
Executive Director
Boscobel House and Gardens
Garrison NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-09-2017 03:13 PM
From: Demetri Broxton
Subject: Call for AAM panel participants
I don't have a specific person to refer you to, but you should definitely include someone from the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle. They do the best job at including community in all their exhibition planning.
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Demetri Broxton
Director of Education
Museum of the African Diaspora
San Francisco CA
Original Message:
Sent: 08-09-2017 11:58 AM
From: Sarah Magnatta
Subject: Call for AAM panel participants
Museums and Community Conversations
I am looking for co-presenters for a panel discussion regarding the practice of community involvement in exhibition planning. How can museums effectively begin a conversation with community partners in order to "educate, engage, and elevate" visitors? How does a team determine which community members have stake in a certain exhibition or collection? How does the team include these community members, and at what point in the process? How does the team navigate differences between the community members' views or desires for the exhibition and those of the curatorial and education team, if opposed? Proposals discussing specific recent exhibitions or projects-successful or unsuccessful-are particularly welcomed.
Please e-mail me at smagnatta@denverartmuseum.org by August 25 with your ideas.
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Sarah Magnatta, PhD
Interpretive Specialist, Asian Art
Denver Art Museum
Denver CO
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