One response to this thread insisted on the primacy of objects, "Are you an
objects person?" he or she was asked and continued to ask of museum staff.
 (Well, I am, but that's beside the point).  How can you possibly be an
'objects' person without being a 'visitor', or at least a 'people' person?
 Who (with the exception of natural history specimen) made the objects in
the first place?  Who is studying, classifying, conserving, displaying them?
 Martians?  For whom is the stewardship?

The whole point, surely, of a museum is that we preserve, conserve, display,
explain, enhance, contextualise objects FOR PEOPLE.  We recognize the work
of people of the past, we communicate with people of the present, we
preserve for people of the future.  Moreover we museum professionals are
also people (well, some of us are, I know a few I've got my doubts about) -
and also the most constant of visitors.  We are not supposed to sit on our
hoards like dragons!  (and if we don't get through to our visitors NOW, we
won't even be there to hand on the results of our 'stewardship' to the
future).

Heleanor Feltham
Powerhouse Museum