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From:
Pat Reynolds <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 8 Mar 1997 21:17:02 +0000
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Glad you warned me to put my seatbelt on ...

We can take this wider than Latinos (there are not many Mexicans et al
in Britain), wider than ethnic groupings (what applies to ethnic
groupings also applies to social class, gender, disability and so on).

I see this as a circle that needs breaking:
a person looks into a museum, and sees nothing of their life (this may
be because there is nothing of their life in the museum, or because it
isn't interpreted in this way).
this is repeated/emphasised by history books, history films, and so on.
So history seems not to be a career for them ... so they don't persue
it.  Maybe this is over-pesimistic... do more Black people work with
Natural Science collections (which might be assumed to be as relevant to
one person as the next although I've read critiques which suggest there
is inherant racism in science ...)?
The 'solution' to the 'problem' seems, to me, to be far more fundamental
than 'outreach', but rather a fundamental change in basic practices.

Ways we can break this (to add to those already suggested):
* more contemporary collecting, which in itself involves building links
with non-donating communities (if you haven't got it, you can't display
it).  The current issue of _Museums Journal_ has an interesting article
on contemporary art collecting in South Africa, which raises some very
interesting points.
* rethinking interpretation (I am particularly thinking of art galleries
and historic houses that don't point out their relationships to slavery,
and of the way the material culture of disability is presented, there's
more to be done here).
* moving to competency based qualifications (if you want someone to
document your collections, employ someone who has a qualification in
documentation, not just anyone with a first degree).

Sadly, most of this is 'do as I say, not as I do'.
--
Pat Reynolds
[log in to unmask]
Keeper of Social History, Buckinghamshire County Museum
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Prattchet)

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