A museum is a cultural institution that acquires, conserves, researches, preserves, displays and communicates tangible and intangible heritage in service of society. It is a public institution open to the general public, which operates ethically and transparently, with active participation by communities. It offers a wide variety of experiences that contribute to knowledge creation, sharing and enjoyment.
Museums are not all equal. Some operate as a charity, with no profit and paying no taxes, and all of their money goes back into the organization itself. Others are private, with the profits going to the owners of the museum and its shareholders. And still more are for-profit, operating with the goal of making money from the museum experience and its artifacts. While each type of museum has its merits, it is important to remember that the purpose of a museum is to share its treasures with the public, and all museums are about the objects they hold and the stories they have to tell.
For those of us in the museum world, it is no secret that museums are all about inspiration. Visitors come to museums looking for that one moment where they are awestruck by a work of art or are moved by the power of a story. These moments are what bring people back to museums, and they are why many of us choose a career in this field.
But the definition of what a museum is and how we should inspire is not set in stone. The definition of a museum changes with the times, and it is important to reflect on this evolution as we look at new challenges and opportunities.
Icom, the International Council of Museums, recently adopted a new definition for museums after a long and hard-fought process. The new definition, which was voted in today at an extraordinary General Assembly in Prague, includes for the first time phrases like inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability, and includes the concept of decolonisation and repatriation (the return of cultural objects to their place of origin).
As part of this reformulation project, ICOM Define, the standing committee of Icom responsible for the museum definition, has invited all National Committees, International Committees, Regional Alliances and Affiliated Organisations to take part in consultations with their constituents on the museum definition. During these consultations, they will have the opportunity to discuss important considerations in relation to this definition that were raised in the previous iterations and to consider how these can be incorporated into the final version of the definition that will be voted on at the 2020 Icom Conference in Kyoto.
The consultations will be announced in the next few weeks, and ICOM Define invites all members to participate. In preparation for the consultations, the committee has created a space where they can find all the documents related to the museum definition reformulation project and the documentation of the activities that have been undertaken so far. They are encouraged to review all of these documents, including the proposals for the museum definition, before submitting their responses.