Thirteenth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

“The very fact that museums are valued as places that can represent and influence communities, as important to public life and as providing opportunity for community action, suggests they are places of relevance and impact” (Crooke, 2015). This paper expands on the concept of museums as centers and communicators of resilience presented by the authors at the previous Annual Conference of the Inclusive Museum. We extend last year’s concept of resilience to environmental challenges by now exploring the idea of museums as centers and communicators of cultural and socio-economic resilience, specifically in urban settings. We begin this expanded concept of resilience by examining the ideas in Anderson’s cosmopolitan canopy, Levitt’s global museum assemblages and Fullilove’s root shock. We will discuss museums as repositories of cultural, social and historical knowledge and gathering places to communicate and exchange this knowledge. Museums are centers for this exchange and communication not merely through the objects on display, but also through the interaction of visitors, museum professionals, community stake holders, and cultural advocates. The authors will present these concepts and illustrate through specific urban museum examples such as The Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa.