Friday, April 30, 2010

Introduction

MUSEUMS AND THE PLACE OF THE MUSE: Stories and Cultural Tensions

This paper was presented by Ray Norman at a Museums Australia conference in Hobart, April 2009. It aims to tease out some of the tensions to be found in contemporary museums and current museum practice. It discusses and touches upon:
Introducing the Wundekammer and Kunstkammer to the 21st C and the World Wide Web
Identifying museums’ Communities of Ownership & Interest – their Cognitive Owners
The question of whose stories they hold and who might have the authority to access and tell them
How museums might build ‘Social Capital’ in their communities and ways they might develop meaningful and ongoing interfaces with their audiences
Museums as ‘Ideas Factories’ in a 21st C context
The issue of authenticity, purity and truths relevant to 'cognitive ownership' in a 21st C context

CONTENTS: Click on a heading
CONTEXT
INTRODUCING THE WUNDERKAMMER & KUNSTKAMMER TO THE 21ST C & THE WORLD WIDE WEB
CULTURAL PROPERTY AND LAYERS OF OWNERSHIP
IDENTIFYING A MUSEUM’S COMMUNITIES OF OWNERSHIP & INTEREST – Their Cognitive Owners