On Museums

I mention museums a lot in my posts. It’s something I think about a lot as well. What makes a good museum? What makes it engaging? How do they use the museum to communicate an idea or information?

I am a trained archaeologist. That was my undergraduate degree. And in my training, I learned about how museums work.

Good museum have a clear story. The best museums have a clear story that is divorced from colonialism. Or they rework the story of the information they have to clearly explain the history of their location in a surprising way.

I think the best museum I have seen that works in this framework is the city museum of Stockholm, Sweden. The city itself has a vast history, and it was interconnected to the rest of the world. In their exhibit in 2019, they had a display about the history of the interconnected world that Sweden was a part of, including jade from China and ornaments from the middle east. Sweden was not a monolith. It was trading with people from all over the world. And there were people living in Sweden who had traveled there from all over.

This is the story they were telling. About how Sweden was not all a bunch of tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed people five or six hundred years ago. There were people from all over. And it’s an important story.

The British museum is another story. The people who gave artifacts to the museum 100-200 years ago worked under different laws than exist now. There are so many museums that are mostly filled with stolen artifacts. There was an excuse years ago, but now we know too much.

So, the way I approach museums is this way: what do they have and why do they have it? I hate museums where I know the most impressive artifacts are ones I know were pilfered. There is no reason that the Parthenon marbles are still in England - Greece has sufficient space and an amazing museum to put them in. England isn’t keeping them safe, they are hording them.

The British museum has enough available artifacts to keep their museum viable. England has an amazing history and has fantastic archaeology. They don’t need these stolen goods.

So this is where I am. The best museums tell the stories of their location. They are intrinsically tied to their location. The worst museums just throw a bunch or artifacts from all over the world into cases with no story, no reason. The best museums are supremely local, and they don’t shy away from the worst parts of their history. Colonialism is the truth of the past, and it’s better to admit that than pretend that it wasn’t a thing.

So, good museums are local. They tell the story of their location in a way that no other museum can. If they have international artifacts, there is a reason behind them and there is an agreement with the source country that the source country owns the artifacts but they are there on loan. And copies are fine! They can tell the story without robbing the source country of their heritage.

Museums can be amazing. And the best ones are those that know where they are, and work with source sites to make international history available for all.