Professional Resources
Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in resources aimed at promoting social and environmental justice in the museum sector. This includes support from professional associations for staff, various awareness campaigns, and comprehensive guides on interpretation. Below, you will find a selection of these valuable resources.
Access Culture
Access Culture, evolving from GAM (Group for Access to Museums) in 2013, promotes comprehensive cultural access. Initially recognized for influential seminars and studies like ‘Museums and Senior People’, it now champions a creative, inclusive society. The focus is on access, inclusion, and cultural rights in the cultural sector, underpinned by values like independence and social justice.
Activist Museum Award
The Activist Museum Award, by the University of Leicester’s Research Centre for Museums and Galleries and initiated by Robert R. Janes, honors UK and international museum activism. It supports ethically-driven individuals or groups promoting political, social, and environmental change, inspired by Janes and Sandell’s “Museum Activism” (2019), to encourage and support such efforts in the UK.
Artists Resist
Artists Resisting Exploitation (ARE) is a coalition advocating for artists against exploitation by tech giants, especially in the era of generative AI. They offer a free subscription to support and lead social justice in arts, insisting on artist-led movements and rejecting funding from Big Tech to protect the future of the arts.
AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions
Founded in 2014, AWARE is a non-profit led by Camille Morineau, dedicated to elevating women’s artistic contributions. It features 19th and 20th-century women artists on its bilingual website, offering profiles and articles. The organization collaborates globally, holds symposia, and supports artists through awards and a Parisian Documentation Centre for feminist art.
Museums and Race
“Museums and Race” is a collective of U.S. museum professionals challenging systemic racism in the industry. They aim to diversify museum boards, staff, collections, and audiences, focusing on empathy, respect, and inclusion. The group promotes understanding of oppression, privilege, and intersectionality to foster equitable practices within museums.
Museums Are Not Neutral Campaign
Museums, as socially-engaged spaces, should actively address political and social issues, rejecting the myth of neutrality. The #MuseumsAreNotNeutral movement, initiated by Mike Murawski and La Tanya S. Autry, encourages action and advocacy for human rights. Participate by wearing campaign shirts, with profits supporting Seeding Sovereignty and Indigenous Impact Community Care.
Museums as Muck
Founded n 2018, “Museum as Muck” is a network of over 700 working-class museum professionals across the UK and Ireland. Formed in 2018, it advocates for socio-economic diversity in the museum sector, influencing interpretation, programming, and collecting. The name reclaims the term “common as muck,” celebrating working-class identity.
Museums Association
The Museums Association is a dynamic membership organization advocating for socially engaged museums and a diverse workforce. Working ethically and sustainably, they collaborate with partners, striving for equitable treatment for all UK museums. Independent and not-for-profit, they fearlessly advocate for museums, aiming to inspire change and envisioning inclusive, participatory, and sustainable museums at the heart of communities.
Musing on Culture
‘Musing on Culture, a site run by Maria Vlachou, started in 2010, champions cultural ‘voice biodiversity’. Its extensive archive covers diverse topics, making it vital for global cultural professionals. A book compiling 2010-2013 highlights includes forewords by Jorge Silva Melo and Michael M. Kaiser. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17970698-musing-on-culture
Reading the Pictures
Reading the Pictures, a non-profit web organization, enhances visual and media literacy by analyzing news, documentary, and social media images. It focuses on their meaning, context, and fairness, cultivating understanding among consumers and professionals. In an era of evolving truths, the organization explores visual framing of social issues, promoting nuanced interpretation of visual narratives amidst complex media landscapes.
Research Centre for Museums and Galleries
(Uni of Leicester)
RCMG conducts research promoting ambitious, impactful cultural organizations for equitable, inclusive societies. Emphasizing academic rigor and socially-engaged practice, we collaborate with diverse partners, merging varied expertise to generate insightful, transformative possibilities for museums’ societal roles.
Social Justice & Museums Resource List compiled by La Tanya S, Autry
This compilation, mainly from the USA, offers podcasts, books, articles, videos, and toolkits on art and museum culture, addressing race, colonialism, and social justice. Topics include narratives about individual museums, programming, education, curatorial practices, community engagement, censorship, disability, gender, sexuality, black museums, anti-oppression, and museum activism.
The Empathetic Museum
The Empathetic Museum, formed from a 2014 AAM Unconference Session, is a group of museum professionals advocating for inclusivity and empathy in the industry. Comprising educators, designers, and administrators, they aim to transform museums into more inclusive spaces, focusing on equality and representation through empathetic practices and diverse perspectives.
The Great Women Artists Podcast
Created off the back of @thegreatwomenartists Instagram, this podcast is all about celebrating women artists. Presented by art historian and curator, Katy Hessel, this podcast interviews artists on their career, or curators, writers, or general art lovers, on the female artist who means the most to them.
Toward-a-lexicon-of-usership
Stephen Wright’s “Toward a Lexicon of Usership,” edited by Nick Aikens and Wright, challenges traditional views on cultural engagement and participation. The book organizes key terms into emerging concepts, outdated institutions, and forms of usership. It serves as a toolkit, redefining the intersection of art, knowledge, and political action, blurring lines between consumption and production.