As you all may be aware the Museums Association's call for conference papers closed some time ago. Sadly, the latest email to me from that 'auguste' organisation suggested that my conference proposal had been eaten by their office cat. So yet again I am forced to publish it here in spite of the fearsome feline censorship by the 'establishment'.
Cue long delay while cacophonous applause, cheering and impromptu dancing in the aisles dies down
Fellow delegates! We are all involved in some way with the management and interpretation of the past. We carefully protect, preserve, conserve, then present, educate and perhaps even (whisper it quietly) entertain the public with that past. Why? Why bother at all?
As arbiters of the past we are historians; not academic historians in their universities searching for a truth about the past based on the available evidence, but real 'public' historians. A university historian tends to reinvest this intellectual rigour and output within the academy itself. The 'truth' is shared at academic conferences and with history students. It remains in an intellectual bubble occasionally seeping out into the wider world. There is little incentive to interpret the research into an accessible format; a phrase often used is 'dumbing down'.This is why the Arts and Humanities Research Council is increasingly concerned with the 'impact' of research as a measure of output. In other words, enable the truth about the past to escape from the university ghettos and raise awareness to an audience that doesn't necessarily care about history or the past. Major museums can employ and use as consultants some of the great minds of the day to inform their developments. The rest of the museum world is not so fortunate. We can rely on our own limited research, the research of willing volunteers and occasional grants to pay for post doctoral academic input. Yet we play the key role of interpreting the past that historians aren't necessarily trained and/or willing to do.
We, the museums, are the ones delivering 'impact'. Because we deliver the past in a relaxed social environment to the widest audience that no other form does. TV documentaries are 'niche' adult offerings, not family viewing. Costume dramas are not child friendly viewing. 'Horrible Histories' is child friendly but not adult orientated. The only place where a family (and I mean that in a very broad sense) comes together to explore the past is in a museum or heritage site. In other words a museum is the only place where true public history is practised.
That's all well and good, but so what?
Within museums is the power of influence and educate beyond that of TV. We can be hands on, immersive and engaging to a point where we can make the whole general audience truly engage and CARE about the past; and if the general public cares about the past, understands the past and learns from the past then it is more likely to want to preserve that past and make better decisions about the future they want to have.
Museums can no longer rely on the public purse to support them without really trying to justifying their existence. This actually gives museum the opportunity to help preserve and conserve the past through an enhanced engagement process and deliver the social change that has always been the potential of the museum.
If you take the choice theory view that as individuals we become the decisions we make, then a good museum will help society make better decisions and therefore create a better society in the future. In the words of the Museums Association itself - museums change lives. Can the Natural History Museum help us understand climate change? Can the Stratford Garbage Museum encourage better waste management decisions? Can the Imperial War Museum inspire peace? Can the Amsterdam Sex Museum inspire better family planning decisions? Can the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets send us round the bend? Let's up our game and change the world. So I pledge to you the Museum of Unreason will bring reason to this troubled planet - what can you promise? If we all pull together then the 55,000 museums around the world can achieve anything and help humanity and the planet towards a viable future.
So when you go to bed at night and ask yourself why are you doing this job. Let 'the very survival of the human race' be your answer; I know it is mine.
Cue stunned silence and the beginning of the future of the human race.
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