Social Inquiry
Turning 'Occupants' into Participants : São Paulo's Museums and People in Houseless Conditions
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Inês Costa
São Paulo (Brazil) faces an increasing number of people in houseless conditions. Institutions like Pinacoteca or the New Museum of Portuguese Language have been developing initiatives to engage with these individuals. What motivates these actions? What are their possibilities, limitations, and consequences? How can these initiatives help to rethink museum roles and international norms? This paper offers a comparative reading concerning two projects: the Extramural Educational Action (2008-), organized by Pinacoteca de São Paulo; and “From/To”, implemented in the 2000s by the New Museum of Portuguese Language. The originality of this research lies in the discussion of rights-led activities that involve ‘vulnerable’ participants, thanks to the conduction of qualitative interviews with museum representatives. This paper aims to understand the effects and possible reach of these initiatives. Ultimately, this research can be a starting point for rethinking and designing similar activities.
I See What You're Saying: Broadening Participation Through Co-created Inclusive Digital Museum Audio
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Audrey Bennett, Nicholas La Marca, Caitlin Dyche
For generations, large swaths of the population have been excluded from experiencing exhibitions at art museums. Those who are sighted have the privilege of visiting museums and engaging with the artwork exhibited within its spaces, including reading contextual information about each piece on the placards positioned nearby. Museums have assumed that it is acceptable to make sight compulsory to engage with art and that sight alone is sufficient. However, those who are blind and partially blind have been mostly marginalized from these cultural experiences though they have a legal right to access and experience them. In recent years, audio description has emerged to facilitate blind and partially blind museum visitors' experiencing artwork through oral descriptions of them. However, these audio descriptions are typically created solely by museum professionals, with or without input from visitors, particularly those who are blind and partially blind. In this paper, we argue that audio descriptions that are co-created with visitors who are blind, partially blind, and sighted are more inclusive and broaden participation cross-culturally. We base this argument on evidence gathered from recent workshops on the inclusive, co-creation of audio description conducted at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. in 2022 and at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art in 2023.
Engaging Gallery Publics with Difficult Knowledge: Using Play-Centred Participatory Art to Support Social Justice Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Natasha S. Reid, Caroline Boileau
As public pedagogical sites, art museums and galleries are regularly being called upon to engage publics in social justice issues. To activate the dialogic potential of these locations, contemporary artists often work with provocative open-ended questions that deal with social concerns, alongside participatory methods. Such practices can disrupt the traditionally oppressive barriers between art institutions and diverse publics, contributing to the development of safer spaces for engaging with difficult issues. We introduce an exhibition of participatory artwork that engaged visitors in concepts associated with consent culture and the prevention of sexualized violence. I co-developed and co-facilitated this exhibition with a multidisciplinary contemporary artist (Caroline Boileau). We investigated how participatory artistic practices can help situate galleries as dynamic community learning sites for working with difficult knowledge, such as addressing and preventing sexualized violence. Over a 3-week period, we occupied the gallery on a full-time basis, engaging with visitors and supporting their experiences. Using playful participatory artistic approaches, the artworks encouraged collaboration, dialogue, and boundary development. Through observations, interviews with visitors, analysis of visitors’ artistic contributions, and our personal reflections, a series of themes and practical suggestions for museums, educators, curators, and artists interested in working with difficult knowledge in gallery spaces emerged. We introduce methods for incorporating serious play, self-care, and community learning into work associated with difficult knowledge in museums, using strategies associated with participatory art as starting points.
The Social Role of Children's Museums: Co-Design Experiences
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Caterina Lazzarin
The social impact of museums and their social role are part of an ongoing debate within contemporary museology. Considering museums from a social perspective represents a significant paradigm shift. Museums of the future can really become social spaces, anything but neutral, where democracy can be practiced, starting from museum collections to address important contemporary issues. The integration of the 17 SDGs into the museums missions is an evolving process and must be supported by the different museums departments. The question is therefore how to transform cultural institutions into social actors, followed by their audiences. The topic is that of museum relevance. An effective strategy to enhance museums relevance is through active participation, a particularly interesting tool when dealing with young audiences. This PhD project –on and with children at the same time- is based on co-design experiences with children (aged between 7 and 12 years old) conducted at two children’s museums in Europe. The chosen museums -in the broad panorama of children's museums- stand out for their strong commitment to contemporary issues and their social engagement, clear from their exhibitions and educational approach. Can children museums increase their relevance in children’s lives? Can they maximize their potential contribution to build a more open and aware society, through museum education and participation? Can co-design involve and engage children in the 17 SDGs? These are the main questions of this qualitative research, which focuses on children’s museums and their audiences.
