Centering Community
Transforming Museum Management: Using Evidence-based Systems Thinking for Change View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Yuha Jung
This study is a longitudinal ethnography of one art museum observed in three different times of 2011, 2015, and 2019, examining its changes and challenges attempting to transform from an organization that was considered elitist to a more inclusive and community-based institution. The museum implemented significant managerial changes in its management system transforming it from compartmentalized and hierarchical to collaborative and network-based. While there are many lessons and strategies that can be learned from this museum's efforts, the study concludes that there is a limitation when the culture and actors of the system (museum) do not change. Reflecting its board and staff and the culture of hiring like-minded people, over the eight-year-period, the visitor composition stayed the same being white, well-educated, and wealthy despite the museum's efforts to diversify its visitors. Changing managerial practices and simply offering diverse programs did not lead to serving more diverse people from the community. The structure, the culture, and the actors within the organization have to transform harmoniously in order to bring about a long-term and meaningful change. The study discusses what can lead to even further transformation where diverse groups of people can enjoy the museum and call it “their” space. This study theorizes the change process using open systems theory and suggests a model for a paradigm shift in museum practice that is truly inclusive and diverse.
A Sense of Art: A Digitally Immersive Museum Tour for Blind and Visually Impaired Users View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Carolina De Alba Garza
This project revolves around targeting an audience that is often neglected when it comes to museum experiences: blind and visually impaired people. It presents an idea that proposes the creation of an app that digitally recreates a museum visit experience in an interactive environment, enhancing the user's learning experience and engagement. Following the Stanford D. School’s 5 Stages of Design Thinking process, a thorough exploration and analysis was be executed in order to achieve a functional, intuitive and innovative product. This project aims to create an immersive and interactive museum experience for visually impaired and blind people by the use of voice overs and inclusive programming for navigation within the museum, sounds as part of artwork’s description and interactive, and haptics to digitally mimic the artworks’ textures through vibration patterns on mobile devices.
When Museums Become Religious: Heritage in Conflict at Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Mosque
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Stephanie Machabee
In July 2020, Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul, Turkey was transformed into a working mosque. Many celebrated while numerous others criticized the change of status. This paper examines the range of reactions to the conversion of Hagia Sophia, from anxieties about site preservation and the protection of Christian imagery, to accusations of disrespect for modern concepts of secularism and universal heritage, to celebrations by those who had long called to see Hagia Sophia function as a mosque again. What exactly was at stake in this change of status? This paper uses Hagia Sophia’s conversion as an opportunity to interrogate the different needs embodied in the “religious” and “heritage” uses of historic places. What does a museum space offer that a religious one cannot (and vice versa)? Using on-site observations and engaging with relevant scholarship on religion and museums, I identify and contrast the different possibilities and limitations presented by Hagia Sophia as a museum and as a mosque. In particular, I focus on how the notion of inclusiveness operates differently through these two types of spaces. The conflict over Hagia Sophia’s status and use, I contend, points to some of the unique management and preservation challenges presented by religious forms of cultural heritage. I conclude by identifying factors that should be considered when addressing such challenges.
