Museum Participation - New Directions for Collaborative Working

Genuine participation is about much more than simply “taking part”. But many museums’ commitment to engagement and participation remains at this superficial level. Larger museums, in particular, struggle to engage with their communities in genuinely participatory ways. And often, although the museum may be committed to social change - it has difficulty in changing itself.

So what does true participation involve? The sharing of authority, decision-making and power. And letting go of the boundaries between the professional and the public.

Museum Participation: New Directions for Audience Collaboration provides examples of inspirational participative practice within larger museums and galleries throughout the world, as well as provocative and challenging thinking from eminent professionals. It shows what is being done, and how it can be done.

Lavishly-illustrated, in its 636 pages Museum Participation will help you and your institution think through the wide-ranging opportunities and important practicalities involved in enabling genuine participation.