A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its communities that researches, collects, conserves, interprets, and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage and makes it available to all. Museums are open to the public, accessible and inclusive, and operate and communicate ethically and professionally.
In the 19th century, museums shifted from private collections of interesting items to public institutions focused on educating and entertaining. They also grew from local to international, and today museums are as likely to be in a city near you as they are in your hometown. The definition of a museum continues to evolve, and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) has voted to adopt a new definition for the first time in 50 years at its Extraordinary General Assembly in Prague today. The definition focuses on inclusion and sustainability and also pushes museums to consider diverse perspectives in their collections, expositions and community engagement.
The word museum comes from the Greek mouseion, referring to an institution where philosophers would discuss ideas. It was later used in Latin as museion, describing a place to view and admire an art collection. The modern term was coined in 1753 when the British Museum Act established that only the objects collected and held by the institution could be considered a museum. Museums have been founded for a variety of purposes, including recreation, as educational resources, to promote civic pride and nationalistic endeavour, to transmit overtly ideological concepts, and to preserve or display particular aspects of human history.
Museums house vast collections of art, natural history, and other cultural heritage. Only a small fraction of these is on display at any one time, and the majority are kept in secure storage facilities around the world. These objects don’t just sit around and gather dust, though, as researchers across the globe work with them to learn more about painters or the posture of an ancient Egyptian. Museums have a huge impact on society, and they provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge and ideas to benefit all.
The field of museology, or museum studies, has a long and respected, if confused, history. The terms museography and museum studies are often used interchangeably, and there is a tendency to apply the term museology to the study of museums themselves rather than their collections or exhibitions. The discipline is complex and multidisciplinary, involving the fields of anthropology, art history, archaeology, cultural and natural heritage, ethics, law, philosophy, and political science.
The ICOM Define committee, whose members represent 126 of ICOM’s national committees, spent over an 18-month period speaking with museums around the world to develop its new definition. The methodology is available for ICOM members to consult, along with all previous definition proposals, in the ICOM Define space. Those who wish to comment are encouraged to do so by March 31, 2022. The definition will be adopted by ICOM at its next ordinary general assembly in 2025.