Thirteenth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Recently an increasing number of heritage institutions around the world have developed practices that could be called participatory for trying to involve users and different stakeholders in their activities. Their main goal is to strengthen the relationship between the museum and its visitors, to respond to the needs of the local community, to enrich the quality of their content and become more relevant to a new and more diverse audience. Contemporary cultural policies especially advocate for greater inclusion and the empowerment of young people and the basic idea is that their social exclusion can be reduced by increasing self-confidence and skills through continuous cultural participation. The goal of this work was to investigate the opportunities and challenges of involving young people in participatory heritage projects within museums and to show how such activities have a transformative value for them and serve their growth and emancipation. It explored an action research project of creating an exhibition with a group of young people in a local museum in Zaprešić, Croatia and evaluated its social impacts. Within the implemented project, young participants designed and created an exhibition on local heritage through various workshops in collaboration with experts which focused on acquiring new knowledge and skills. The whole process, as well as the exhibition set, were successful and highly valued by young people, their friends and family and the whole community. The results indicate that the participatory process itself is just as important as the end product.