DEMOMUSEUMS
Designing an approach to democratizing representation in museums using citizens’ assemblies.
Collaboration with Safia Coombs, Frederika Phibbs, and Prof. Nina Wiesehomeier.
Feb 2024-Present.
CONTEXT
This project is a potential proposal on the
implementation of citizen assemblies in museums to democratize processes of curation and give the population a voice and a role in how their culture is represented in museums.
Citizens assemblies are meetings of randomly selected individuals from the general population who are taught about and tasked with deliberating on specific societal issues to issue informed recommendations that are more representative of the general public’s stances and positions. This project particularly focuses on Spanish museums that have faced criticism regarding the representation of historical or artistic narratives, and using them as a hypothetical case, such as the Museo de America. Due to the length of the paper, the introductions of all sections are included below, with the final version available here. Currently developing an abridged version proposal to the Spanish Ministry of Culture.
INTRODUCTION
It has been commended that ‘power is at the centre of archival work [given that]: it is the power to retain, the power to discard, the power to partially shape what is remembered and how (Finigan, 2020).’ It has also been stated that politics is a struggle between competing groups ‘manoeuvring to assert rival interests (Boswell, 2020).’ A simplification of these observations would equate archival work to political activity, thereby positioning museums as quintessentially political institutions.
If indeed museums are political spaces, then they should be held to the same democratic standards of transparency, public engagement and representation that are demanded of other political institutions. A more equitable distribution of power, achievable through the democratisation of museums stands to eliminate many issues prevalent within museums today. Such issues revolve around the difficulty in representing minority cultures and heritages, manifesting in the propagation of restrictive, historical narratives, distortions of cultural nuances owing to misunderstandings, ambiguities surrounding authorship and tendencies towards passive spectatorship and sensationalism.
Section 1 of this paper will first develop these theoretical challenges, taking a critical perspective of current practices of curation. Having established this, we will then advance the argument that museums are inherently political spaces and explicate the democratic standards that museums should seek to uphold. There will then be consideration of the existing institutional resistance to change.
Section 2 aims to discuss a particular approach to the democratisation of museums, advocating for the implementation of deliberative democracy through the use of citizens' assemblies. The section begins by describing what citizens' assemblies are and how they typically function. A case study will be presented to illustrate a successful instance of the implementation of citizens' assemblies in the museum context. Building on this example, this paper will then propose guidelines for the further democratisation of museums, using the Museo de America as a case study for these recommendations.
S1: CURRENT PRACTICES
Museums serve a dual purpose, their instrumental function is to preserve human history, while their intrinsic value is the legacies they represent as a source of education for posterity (Snyder, 2023). Such monumental functions are matched with proportionately significant responsibilities. For history to be preserved, there is a responsibility on museums not only to conserve the condition of the artefact, but also to represent them authentically, refraining from harm by means of an imposition of hegemonic narratives. To educate, museums bear the responsibility of historical accuracy, a mandate that demands inclusion of narratives told by authentic voices. This is necessary in order to cultivate a wider cultural understanding amongst the public, an essential step to uprooting the entrenched hegemonic power imbalances, which manifested historically through the dominant colonial history narratives that were used to suppress cultural heritage and culture of minority groups. A change in attitude towards the non-inclusive nature of cultural representation is essential in order to stimulate dialogue and discussion about the existence of vestiges of colonial structures and institutions. This section will address the existing issues that museums face, the politicised nature of museum work and history, and some potential explanations for some existing resistance to change from the point of view of museums.
CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION
In simple words: “People are not being represented how the people want to be represented, and artists are not being represented how artists want to be represented”. In more complex terms, the crisis of representation involves a gap in understanding of identity, culture and their manifestations between two sets of people: the artists and the people whom they represent through their works, and curators and the artist(s) whom they represent through their exhibitions.
DEMOCRATISATION OF MUSEUMS AS POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
It has been commended that ‘power is at the centre of archival work [given that]: it is the power to retain, the power to discard, the power to partially shape what is remembered and how (Finigan, 2020).’ It has also been stated that politics is a struggle between competing groups ‘manoeuvring to assert rival interests (Boswell, 2020).’ A simplification of these statements would equate archival work to political activity and museums to political institutions. If museums are indeed political spaces, then they should be held to the same democratic standards of transparency, public engagement and representation that are demanded of other political institutions.
This section of the paper seeks to establish museums as political arenas by delving into the nature of archival work and its social and political implications. Having established this, this paper also seeks to present a case for the democratization of museums since such measures are imperative to advance their legitimacy and relevance within a contemporary society.
THE MUSEUM, A CONFLICT OF TRADITION AND PROGRESS
The institution of the museum is founded upon the observation of culture. Although largely influenced by cultural context it is orchestrated from an anthropological lens in order to inform the uninformed. Its permanence as an independent actor in our politically regimented society provokes high resistance to change. This resistance is evident within existing structures and academic frameworks. The inflexible nature of museum curation renders the experience a slave to tradition; however, is also what provides its importance as an educational institution. There are established divisions that deter museums from fulfilling their potential to unite socio-political society through a shared identity and national pride. In order to ensure a successful transition to a place of greater cultural relevance, the process of curation must become equitable and therefore in line with the liberal political agenda of our modernised society.
S2: CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES
The implementation of citizens' assemblies within the context of museums will help foster collaboration and dialogue between the general public, experts on museums and culture, and museum administration and curatorial team. We propose the creation of two assemblies to tackle the two main aspects of museum operations (collections and exhibitions), and will use the Museo de America, a state museum dedicated to Spain’s history in the Americas during the Spanish Empire era, to explain the structure of these assemblies and some of the logistics behind it.
DEMOCRACY IN THE FORM OF CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES
Deliberative democracy achieved through citizens' assemblies represents a single form of democracy’s ‘various interpretations’ (Vrydagh, 2023, p.1). citizens' assemblies are understood to be ‘participatory institutions’ where a representative body of lay citizens convenes to “deliberate over a public issue so as to exert a public influence (Vrydagh, 2023, p.3)”.
citizens' assemblies have a rich history of precedent yet within contemporary political discourse, they have attracted renewed interest in the numerous challenges that beset modern democracies. Thus, in their process of democratisation, through the direct implementation of citizens' assemblies, museums stand to circumvent the challenges of traditional representative democracies. In a citizens' assembly, there are typically three key phases; learning, where participants are educated on the subject matter by experts, stakeholders and advocates, discussion and conclusion (McKee & Pannell, 2024). There are also thought to be three core principles underpinning CAs, which are deliberation, inclusion and public influence (Vrydagh, 2023, p. 4).
GERMANY, A CASE STUDY FOR SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRATIZATION
While doing research on how to comprehensively address every critical issue and structural component within our citizens' assembly we discovered a program run by DemocracyNext, a non-profit institution dedicated to preserving democratic institutions and values in a global political system currently at high risk from authoritarianism. The use of citizens assemblies in this area ensures innovative museum governance which supports deliberation and participation with diverse and broadly represented groups of people. The successful conduct of a citizens assembly at the Kunsthalle in Bonn in addition to one being held at the SKD in Dresden sets a precedent for the integration of history and politics the experience gained allows for experimentation in the area, as such the utilisation of this formative case study allows us to reframe its potential in other national settings (Gesellschafts-Forum, 2024). In that effect, enabling an efficient, truly democratic deliberative process which can be applied in Spanish museums.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE...
Here are some previous projects involving citizen assemblies, including applications in museums:
Assembling an Assembly Guide
Citizens' assemblies aim to make German museums more democratic
Anticuado o colonialista, cómo actualizar el Museo de América de Madrid | Cultura | EL PAÍS