Museums as a Community Gathering Place by Sara

Museums as a Community Gathering Place by Sara - July 2017 Scholarship Essay

Are museums purveyors of a predetermined message that the curator wants to convey? Or should they function as a place of safety and social cohesion, existing to serve their public's needs? Who has the power, the visitor or the museum? Who should have the power? All of these questions serve to address the attempted revolution taking place in the museum field right now, the battle of old museology versus new museology. Instead of a focus on form, or objects, should museums focus on concepts? These are the questions and ideas that I will talk about in my TED Talk.
If more people are aware of the possibilities of collaboration in how certain groups are presented in exhibits, then museums can better serve the entire community, not just the vocal minority that is aware of the impact they can have. Visitors bring their own agenda and perceptions to the museum, and their satisfaction with their experience is determined by how well the museum can confirm their identity. If the public is aware of how they can fashion museums to suit their needs simply by exercising their power, this can help usher in a new age. Instead of an anonymous impersonal voice, museums can express the truth of uncertainty that exists in everything to do with humanity. All in all, my TED Talk is about the purpose of museums, and how communitities can exercise their power by shaping them into an institution that benefits them.