Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

One of the most formidable barriers to inclusion is from within the museum itself. This paper looks at the process of delivering an innovative theatre project at the Georgian House, Edinburgh. ‘Enlightenment House: A Play in Five Rooms’ was commissioned by the National Trust for Scotland for an eighteenth century property in the centre of Edinburgh’s New Town which, despite the city’s success in attracting visitors from around the world, had low visitor numbers. However, the museum has a large and loyal group of local volunteers. The aim of Enlightenment House was to widen the demographic of visitors and to try out a different model of visitor engagement, but in a very conservative social environment. The project encountered some resistance from internal and external stakeholder and this paper examines what can be learned from leading cultural change in traditionally change-resistant organisations. In doing so it will articulate an aspect of the scope of the conference, the ‘blurring of roles, between the person in command and the person consenting, between producers and consumers of knowledge, and between creators and readers of culture.’ It explores three conference sub-themes, competing cultures, voluntarism and professionalism, and competing pleasures (‘entertainment’ and ‘edutainment’) with practical lessons on trying out challenging new projects.