ISS 25 (1995).pdf - The International Council of Museums

For museums this would mean -among others- exceeding the "ivory tower" mentality and
the assumption that the expertise of museum scholars and professionals is the only
parameter to define what should be included in museums, or what the audiences should
know; it would also demand the sharing of "power" with segments of a larger civic whole.
Museums, indeed, have shown an increasing concern over their publics'expectations and
needs 3 , being convinced that they cannot survive without public attention. Educational
activities, often tailored to the publics' requirements, have been a paramount expression
of this attitude of extending democratically the arm towards the surrounding
consti tuencies.
Presently, however, various segments of the public go further: they demand to affirm their
point of view in the basic museum activities, raise questions about the treatment of topics
worked out by museums, require that the exhibitions reflect contemporary issues and
present- day realities, among which the articulation of identity holds a key position.
It seems that the mosaic of communities which constitute a museums' public, seeks to
influence and - to an extent- to control the way museums act or analyze and represent
facts 4 .
Obviously it is the changes in the society outside the museums that provide the material
for such requests and feed the battle for equal opportunity in the cultural field .
Forcommunities it seems that this kind of stuggle is fundamental for their existence and
acknowledgment by the museum of their opinions contributes to the process of according
social space to them.
At the same time, this very fact demonstrates the museuums' hierarchical position among
other social institutions and apparatuses which provide the contexts within which people
work out essential intellectual elements of living like beliefs, ideas and values.
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