Cultural Dynamics: Museums and Democracy in Motion

文化动态：博物馆与运动中的民主

• 批准号: AH/X002101/1
• 负责人: Susannah Eckersley
• 金额: $ 36.25万
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX002101%2F1
• 关键词: Cultural; Dynamics; Museums; Democracy; Motion

How do museums (re)present values and narratives of democracy? How are museums and memory sites changing as ideas of democracy change? Museums are in a moment of change - the idea of what a museum is, who it is for and why it does what it does needs to be considered more carefully, as the institution repositions itself within contemporary social and cultural dynamics of democracy. Museums internationally are undergoing a process of renegotiation and repositioning - sparked from within and in response to external factors - which is reflected in the development of a new ICOM definition for museums. Many now position themselves as socially-important actors addressing contemporary political topics, relating to inclusion and exclusion, representation and recognition. From the 19th century, the UK and Germany have similar national museum histories, yet very different political trajectories. The contemporary museum landscape allows for international cross-fertilisation of ideas, concepts and practices, yet the idea of 'the museum' in the UK and Germany differs markedly.The project's premise is that while museums and notions of democracy in the two countries are different, they are changing as a result of a dynamic process of global interrelations and contrasting reactions. In other words, the developments in each country respond to similar globally-circulating issues, to shared transnational histories and humanistic values, yet they do so in different ways. Rather than focussing on a historical perspective and analysis, our project is innovative in taking a contemporary critical museological perspective to address this phenomenon. It aims to analyse how, and to understand why, these interconnected processes produce results that are often quite different, despite using the same terminology, emerging from 'universal' ideas and within the same form of institutional setting. Examining the idea of 'the museum' in each country, through case studies which address, represent or respond to issues of democracy, our project highlights such contrasts, while simultaneously allowing for critical analysis of the differences, similarities and changes.Our project involves researchers from the UK and Germany undertaking transnational research on and in museums in both countries using qualitative methods and taking a case study approach. This will include institutional analyses, exhibition and display analyses, semi-structured interviews, visitor research, participant observation, focus groups and questionnaires to collect and analyse data, and workshops with museum professionals to discuss preliminary findings, to strategize and co-produce sector-specific training and a toolkit. Our results will be published in a co-edited project book, in academic journal articles and conference presentations, in public communication articles, a PhD thesis, bespoke museums sector training events and a co-produced online toolkit for museum professionals internationally.We aim to enrich the development of a new reflexive Museum Studies and museum practice - a field which has too often rested on the assumed 'universality' of dominant national understandings of museums rather than on the nuanced differentiation of museums from transnational, international or global perspectives, for diverse contemporary societies. Furthermore, in times of increasing populist and anti-democratic tendencies, the project intends to strengthen the capabilities of museums to act as dialogical democratic public spaces.

博物馆如何(重新)展示民主的价值观和叙事？随着民主观念的改变，博物馆和纪念馆正在发生怎样的变化？博物馆正处于一个变化的时刻--随着博物馆在当代民主社会和文化动态中的重新定位，需要更仔细地考虑博物馆是什么、为谁服务以及为什么要做这样的事情的想法。在国际上，博物馆正在经历重新谈判和重新定位的过程--这是由内部因素和外部因素引发的--这反映在国际博物馆协会为博物馆制定的新定义中。许多人现在将自己定位为处理与包容和排斥、代表性和承认有关的当代政治话题的社会重要行为者。从19世纪开始，英国和德国拥有相似的国家博物馆历史，但政治轨迹却截然不同。当代博物馆的景观允许思想、概念和实践在国际上进行交叉交流，但英国和德国的“博物馆”理念截然不同。该项目的前提是，尽管两国的博物馆和民主理念不同，但它们正在随着全球相互关系和反差反应的动态过程而发生变化。换句话说，每个国家的事态发展都是对类似的全球流通问题、共同的跨国历史和人文价值观做出反应，但它们以不同的方式做到这一点。我们的项目不是专注于历史的视角和分析，而是创新地采用当代批判性博物馆学的视角来解决这一现象。它的目的是分析这些相互关联的进程如何产生往往截然不同的结果，尽管这些进程使用相同的术语，产生于“普遍”思想和相同形式的体制环境。我们的项目通过解决、代表或回应民主问题的案例研究，考察了每个国家的“博物馆”概念，强调了这种反差，同时允许对差异、相似之处和变化进行批判性分析。我们的项目涉及来自英国和德国的研究人员，他们使用定性方法和案例研究方法对两国的博物馆和博物馆进行跨国研究。这将包括机构分析、展览和展示分析、半结构访谈、参观者研究、参与者观察、收集和分析数据的重点小组和问卷，以及与博物馆专业人员举办讲习班，讨论初步结果，制定战略并共同制作针对具体部门的培训和工具包。我们的成果将发表在共同编辑的项目书中、学术期刊文章和会议演示文稿、公共传播文章、博士论文、定制的博物馆部门培训活动以及为国际博物馆专业人员联合制作的在线工具包中。我们的目标是丰富新的自反式博物馆研究和博物馆实践的发展--该领域过于依赖于假定的对博物馆的主导国家理解的普遍性，而不是针对不同的当代社会，从跨国、国际或全球视角对博物馆的细微区分。此外，在民粹主义和反民主倾向日益高涨的情况下，该项目旨在加强博物馆作为对话民主公共空间的能力。