|
In a world in which bridges between cultures are more often blown apart than built, museums hold an intriguing potentiality for bridge building. Elaine Heumann Gurian noted that museums can play “an enhanced role in the building of community and our collective civic life” [2]. The community or civic life of the museum is intimately linked to collective spaces within the museum environment, therefore our use(s) of space(s) within museums takes on significance. These days museums are more than an exhibit space with perhaps a shop and cafe, today you’ll find informal and formal meeting space, cinemas, wi-fi hotspots, performances, creche, theatre, viewable conservation studios, there may be cocktail parties, fairs, dances, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and a whole lot more besides, it would be true to say that “without necessarily intending to, museums have become mixed-use environments” [3]. One theoretical point of coalescence for investigating spacial use within the contemporary museum is that of the so-called ‘third place’, influenced by the sociologist William H. Whyte [4] who researched the use of public space in Manhattan, and the writings of Ray Oldenburg [5] who discusses the significance of spaces for communities and civic life. The mixed-use museum environment is an important example of such a ‘third place’:
“Neither work nor home, the third place is a neutral community space, where people come together voluntarily and informally in ways that level social inequities and promote community engagement and social connection.” [6] Corporations were quick to realize the importance of selling a “third place experience” [7], and museums have unsurprisingly not been far behind. The IMLS document the ‘Future of Museums’ emphasizes the third place as a social tool: “Not just a third place, but a third force if you will” [8]. As the conservation profession increasingly enters the public realm the act of conservation gains in public comprehension, both tangibly (as an activity) and intangibly (as a symbolic metaphor), this coupled with increasing possibilities for communication may allow conservators to develop their own roles within third place scenarios. Pye and Sully challenged conservators to "evaluate their relevance to 21st century situations" [9] and in so doing developed a socially conscious conservation combined with bench work. Such a vision of socially responsible conservation could perhaps start by drawing on the idea that “conservators provide a paradigm [...] for a wider social ethos of care” [10 ], such ideas could provide very significant bridge building tools within the museum as a third place. Whether or not conservation embraces ideas such as the ‘third place’ is ultimately unimportant, what is however significant is that conservation is increasingly a public endeavor and as such it’s necessary to consider how the profession interacts within the museum space(s) and with the wider community/ies. Notes [1] Marcos, Subcomandante Insurgente, Paths of Dignity: Indigenous Rights, Memory and Cultural Heritage, accessed March 12, 2001, URL: http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/mexico/ezln/2001/march/marcos_paths_mar12.html [2] Elaine Heumann Gurian, "Function Follows Form: How mixed-used spaces in museums build community", (2001), in Elaine Heumann Gurian, Civilizing the Museum: The Collected Writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian, Routledge, London and New York, 2006, p. 99 [3] p. 103, ibid. [4] William H. Whyte, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, The Conservation Foundation, 1980 [5] Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community, Da Capo Press, 1999 [6] Erica Pastore, The Future of Museums and Libraries: A Discussion Guide (IMLS-2009-RES-02), Institute of Museum and Library Services, Washington DC., 2009, p. 9, URL [pdf]: http://www.imls.gov/pdf/DiscussionGuide.pdf [7] Rafe Needleman, Starbucks: Stay as long as you want, cnet news, August 15, 2009,
[9] Elizabeth Pye and Dean Sully, "Evolving challenges, developing skills", The Conservator, Volume 30, 2007, p.29.
[10] Samuel Jones and John Holden, It’s A Material World: Caring for the public realm, Demos, London, 2008, p. 16,
About the author
Daniel Cull
Assistant Conservator
The Musical Instrument Museum
Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com
Contact: daniel.cull@themim.org
Daniel Cull is a Conservator, Wikipedian, Social Networker, and Blogger from the West Country of the British Isles. Trained at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, where he received a BSc in Archaeology, MA in Principles of conservation, and an MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums. He was later awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. He currently works as an ethnographic musical instrument conservator at the Musical Instrument Museum,in Arizona.
Download Issue 14 Download this article
Permanent link to this resource: http://www.e-conservationline.com/content/view/896 |
||||
