Let's Create Beautiful Futures Together
A report from MuseumNext LIVE in London + a reminder about the upcoming Summer Institute
Hey Changemakers,
After five years of virtual-only programming, the MuseumNext international conference came together in person last week in the global capital of London. The conference was sold out, with hundreds of museum professionals from all over the world gathering together to think, share, ask big questions, and build relationships that transcend national boundaries (which felt a bit revolutionary in and of itself at a time when national boundaries feel like they are becoming more rigid and less permeable).
To be honest, I have always loved being a part of MuseumNext conferences, and I’ve had the privilege and honor to attend and speak at five of them (including the one last week), beginning back in 2016 when I spoke about the urgency of empathy and social impact in museums one week after that year’s particularly divisive presidential election in the United States.
It’s 8 years later, and the world might be even more politically and socially polarized, but the future of museums has never felt as bright, bold, and beautiful as it does right now. For me, this year’s MuseumNext conference was all about creating beautiful futures right here and now. There were so many speakers that shared their incredible work making museums a hub of imagination, community participation, inclusion, and social action.
While not all museums are boldly going down this path, I loved seeing so, so many creative leaders across our field who are dedicated to moving past outdated and limiting narratives and creating a beautiful future right now. After all, as I shared during my own talk this year, “the best way to predict the future it to create it.”
Here are some highlights from presentations I was able to attend this year:
Artist Aram Han Sifuentes shared their ongoing work with the Protest Banner Lending Library, challenging museums to support socially engaged art and move past their fear of controversy, trust communities, work against polarization and dehumanization, and uphold practices of care and generosity. And I am SO grateful that I was able to attend Aram’s protest banner making workshop during MuseumNext, which was a fantastic experience!
Veronica Reyes Carrrillo and Ulrich Schenk from the Museum of Communication in Bern, Switzerland, shared some powerful examples of how museums can let go, bring in the knowledge of their audiences, and be transparent about the complexities of meaning and knowledge through dynamic curating practices. Their “Words Matter” initiative aims to visualize changes in language in museums, open up a discussion about problematic phrases, and commit to making their museum’s language multifaceted, inclusive, and non-discriminatory.
The best presentation of the conference, for me, was from Sonia Mutaganzwa and Fouzia Sadala of the Fotomuseum in Antwerp, Belgium. Their work is focused on building long-lasting relationships with diverse communities based in core values of being curious, driven, intuitive, and having integrity. Their museum is working on both internal and external practices, having each learn from the other. And I loved hearing about their community dinners (YAS!).
Aditi Anand, Artistic Director at the Migration Museum in London, shared about their work at their current location in an old H&M store space in a shopping mall, and how this space has been transformational when it comes to building a unique and powerful relationships with local communities. Anand also talked about their co-curation strategies, and how the Migration Museum is really made up of people and stories (which is always so great to hear!).
I so enjoyed Aline Van Nereaux from S.M.A.K. sharing about a youth-curated exhibition project, and the process of learning how to look at art like young people. There is so much imagination and creativity we can all gain from involving youth in museum co-creation and co-production. More of this please!
Finally, I must mention the talk by artist Dina Jezdic on decolonial museum practice, which not only invited us to rethink our orientating perspectives (almost entirely based in our colonial mindset) but also focused on decoloniality and the colonial matrix of power. Really powerful presentation!
My own talk, which wrapped up Day 2 of the conference, was entitled “Visions of a Different Future” — I’ll write more about that in a separate post. For this presentation, I worked to map out some of my ideas about the future(s) of museums, and what could be some guiding principles to help us dream big and start creating a bold, beautiful future today (including practicing imagination, embracing an abundance mindset, expanding community participation, and rebuilding our relationship with nature).
As I listened to these presentations and more, I truly felt that bold, beautiful future happening right here and now. It inspired me to keep thinking more and more about how we can empower more museums and museum professionals to lead this transformation, fight for this future, and begin making this change happen now. I did lead a change workshop at MuseumNext this year entitled “From Vision to Action” (see below if you’re interested), and I was able to share a set of practical strategies for change with more than 30 museum & cultural professionals from across the globe. So I know that many people left with the tools to do this work, keep the fire burning, and build that future for museums starting today.
And, thanks to Aram Han Sifuentes’ workshop, I literally left MuseumNext London with a protest banner that reads: “Let’s Create Beautiful Futures Together”
A beautiful future for museums is possible, not through top-down change, but emerging from the collective imagination and actions of people like I’ve mentioned above. And it’s up to us all to radically imagine alternatives, and take the steps needed right now to begin creating them.
“From Vision to Action” Summer Institute starts in July — Early registration discount ends on June 28
If you’re passionate about change and are looking to build your changemaker strategies, I’m offering my Summer Institute next month. It’s called “From Vision to Action: 2024 Summer Changemakers Institute”, and it is a 4-part online workshop where where you will learn about human-centered strategies that can effectively drive forward meaningful change, come up with a vision statement for yourself rooted in a set of core values, and you’ll leave the Institute with a specific and strategic plan of action for implementation. You can make change happen!
During this series of four interactive, discussion-based online workshops (held on Zoom), we are going to:
Learn about the latest research on relational thinking, radical empathy, and collective action
Explore practical tools to put these ideas into action in your work
Identify key changes you can make in your own organization and work practice, and ways to address common barriers to change
Grow your support network to catalyze collective action
Develop a vision statement and create a detailed plan for implementation
This year’s Summer Institute also has an early registration discount (use the code: EARLYBIRD) if you register by June 28.
I’m really excited to bring together an incredible group for this first-ever Summer Institute with the theme From Vision to Action.
If you are thinking about joining but have scheduling conflicts, or if you have any other questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me at murawski27@gmail.com!