Museum Forward and The Adaptive Way to Embrace Changes

Whenever I told people that I want to pursue a degree in Cultural Anthropology, people asked, “what do you want to do with it?” I had no clue. I just love the different cultures, different viewpoints, then eventually translated to arts and museums. I started to wonder how these preservation sites work, the curation and the marketing process. So, when a social media post about Museum Forward, the first international best practice forum on museums and heritage, appeared on my timeline, I signed up.

I attended the Museum Forward 2-day public conference which is an eye-opening matter when it comes to museums. Held at BJ Habibie Building, BRIN (National Research and Innovation Agency), the forum brings together museum and heritage practitioners from all over the world, every session presents an interesting subject. What do I bring home from spending two days among these experts?

Museums used to be pictured as a place to preserve artifacts or history for the future generation, and this is where the problem lies. You’ll see museums usually preserve something by limiting interaction with the objects, while they should have made it accessible. Things like traditional music instruments are more meaningful when it’s played, compared to being displayed in a museum. So, museums nowadays have to go beyond preservation, by becoming a cultural hub to conserve what we have for the future.

Some museums, like the Louvre at Abu Dhabi, are moving away from encyclopedic approach to narrative viewpoint. Manuel Rabaté, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, France-UAE, shared that to do this, we must “question what stories can we share with the visitors.” Encourage cultural dialogues by taking in global conversations, and make sure to find the best practices to be implemented. Don’t be afraid to learn from children's museums as they know what they are doing and who their target audiences are.

Then the questions are there: how do you create a new narrative?

Sharmini Pereira, Chief Curator Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art Sri Lanka, Colombo, shared what it means to have a modern and contemporary art museum in Sri Lanka, which is known more for its conflicts. She included artworks, programs and conversations to include everyone on different sides of the conflicts. Her narratives go around the conflict itself, with culture and history as the connecting elements.

A different approach came from Victor Cageao, General Coordinator of Conservation, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Showing the transformations at the museum, where originally, “Europe has the tendency to accumulate collections,” to the current simplistic look with best or curated items on display. Sculptures and paintings which used to be placed in separate rooms are now put together to create a dialogue. “It’s often said that the museum has improved a lot because it has changed little,” he said.

And no, “creating a new narrative doesn’t mean losing its identity,” he assured. One can incorporate other voices. For example, instead of displaying items only from a certain period, a museum may put together similar arts from different periods and places. A room where golden masks from around the world are seen side by side, may bring new narratives on masks and how they are connected to or very different from one another. Another way is to deepen the creative process, as in introducing the artists not just as part of the artworks displayed but as a person.

When day one is about best practices and perspectives, day two highlights collaborative approaches to museums and cultural heritage. What kind of collaborative approach? Indonesia Bertutur brings performances to museums, while Indonesian Heritage Society gathers up the communities for collaboration. M+, Hong Kong hosts experiences to encourage the younger generation to play an active role in protecting, developing and utilizing the cultural heritage.

Collaborative approach is also crucial in building the museum’s brand, which is a public perception of the museum. Some rules to brand-related:

• You can’t satisfy everybody, so focus on differentiating yourself instead. How? You only get one idea; if you add “and,” the effectiveness evaporates. Narrow down the focus.
• Add more human interaction because it deepens the belonging.
• Pay attention to your museum’s communication through different channels like architecture, lighting and atmosphere, art arrangements or label and interpretation.

So, it was a fruitful session, on interesting topics. While I’m simply just a museum enthusiast, most insights are actually applicable in my industry of non-profit organization. How to do branding and what we should shout in our messages. The sessions got me to reflect on how I did my campaigns and developed my programs. Something to keep for 2025.