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Appropriate Museology and the “New Museum Ethics” Honoring Diversity

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Appropriate Museology and the “New Museum Ethics” Honoring Diversity Nordisk Museologi 2015 • 2, s. 4–16 4 Appropriate museology and the “new museum ethics” Honoring diversity Christina Kreps Abstract: This article focuses on what I see as two key movements in the museum world today: the emergence and adoption of a “new museum ethics,” and appropriate museology. I describe how these movements inform one another in both theory and practice; and how they manifest a growing respect for diversity – diversity in the ways different communities make sense of the museum as well as the objects that end up in museums, and diversity in actual practice. Keywords: Appropriate museology, museum ethics, indigenous and alternative museologies, inclusion, shared guardianship, source and indigenous com- munities, Native American museums, Indonesia, Canada. Over the past few decades, relationships between practice” in one context may not be in another. ethnographic museums and indigenous Changing relationships have also given rise peoples have changed dramatically as these to a “new museum ethics” that recognizes this communities have demanded greater voice in diversity and reflects greater respect for people’s how their cultural heritage, in both tangible and cultural and human rights. intangible forms, is curated and represented While much has been written on collaboration in museums. These changes have led to and the changes taking place between museums increased collaboration between museums and indigenous communities, for example in and indigenous, “source”, “originating”, or Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United “descendant” communities, as well as the States,1 much less is known about the current development of more mutually beneficial and status of relationships between indigenous culturally appropriate approaches to practice. populations in Europe, such as the Sámi and Collaborative work, among other things, has the Nordic museums. Similarly, the literature revealed diversity in the ways people experience on indigenous peoples’ museums and cultural and understand their cultural heritage, showing centers has expanded greatly in recent years us how what is seen as appropriate or “best but includes limited contributions about Sámi Appropriate museology and the “new museum ethics” museums. This dearth in the literature makes increasingly practicing “appropriate museology” 5 conferences on which papers in this issue are (Kreps 2008). This trend is especially evident based especially important, and raises many in museums working in collaboration with questions. For instance: What is unique about indigenous “source,” “originating,” and the situation in the Nordic countries, but also “descendant” communities. how is it similar to changes occurring in other The emergence of appropriate museology parts of the world? What influences are Sámi can be attributed to several developments that voices having on mainstream ethnographic have been taking place in the museum world museums? What new insights can be gained over the past few decades. on both theoretical and practical levels from looking at how the Sámi are using museums to 1. The post-colonial critique of museums protect and represent their cultural heritage? that emerged in the 1980s on the part of What forms does collaboration take in the the scholarly community as well as those Nordic context? And relevant to my concerns whose cultural heritage has been collected in this article: How is Nordic museology and represented in museums, namely non- reflecting what I see as two key movements in Western, indigenous peoples, and ethnic the museum world today, the “new museum minorities. This critique has not only lead ethics,” and “appropriate museology”? to a rethinking of the museum idea, but has In this introductory article, I describe also dramatically transformed practice. how the new museum ethics and appropriate 2. The growth in the scholarship on museums, museology inform current museological and particularly, cross-cultural and theory and practice, and in general, represent comparative studies, has increased our growing respect for diversity – diversity in the knowledge of the different forms museums ways different communities make sense of the and museological behavior take in different museum idea as well as the objects that end up national and cultural settings. Studies have in museums. Although my examples are taken also revealed how many societies have had from my research and work in Indonesia and their own means of caring for things that the United States and reference developments they value, long before the introduction that have been taking place in these countries of the museum idea. In other words, they vis-à-vis museums and indigenous or local have had their own indigenous or local communities, I believe they speak to issues museologies. of diversity and ethics of relevance to Nordic 3. Greater collaboration and cooperation museums of ethnography/cultural history between mainstream museums and and Sámi museums for a cross-cultural, originating communities has cast light on international comparison. the problematic aspects of many mainstream Museums have now long been concerned curatorial practices in respect to cultural with the need to more adequately represent protocol and ethics. cultural diversity in their exhibitions, in addition 4. And finally, indigenous and ethnically to broadening their audiences. However, specific community-based museums have today many museums are also changing become sources of new and alternative curatorial practices to be more inclusive of museological paradigms for theorizing and diverse perspectives and approaches, and are advancing museum practice. Christina Kreps 6 Taken together these developments constitute on the part of government agencies and a shift from a field dominated by universalist, international museum consultants, museum Eurocentric, and hegemonic museology, to one workers remained poorly trained and collections that is recognizing a world full of museologies. poorly cared for and managed. But more I first describe the evolution of my thinking importantly, I also observed how the direct about appropriate museology, and how it has transfer and imposition of the Western museum come to be informed by the tenets of the “new model and practices was paradoxically erasing museum ethics” outlined by Janet Marstine or undermining local curatorial traditions in her introductory essay to the edited rather than preserving them as part of peoples’ volume, The Routledge Companion to Museum cultural heritage. It was within this context that Ethics. Redefining Ethics for the Twenty-first I began to formulate my ideas about appropriate Century Museum (Marstine 2011). I then museology, which were first published in the provide examples of appropriate museology article “Appropriate museology in theory as practiced in Native American museums and practice,” in the Journal of Museum and cultural centers as well as in mainstream Management and Curatorship in 2008 (Kreps museums housing ethnographic collections. 2008). In this article I suggested that approaches My aim is to show how diverse perspectives and to museum development and heritage work approaches to the curation of cultural heritage, should be adapted to local cultural contexts in both tangible and intangible forms, can be and socioeconomic conditions. Ideally, it is a reconciled through the practice of appropriate bottom-up, community-based approach that museology and the new museum ethics. combines local knowledge and resources with those of professional practices to better meet the needs and interests of a particular museum Appropriate museology and its community. Appropriate museology, My approach to appropriate museology grew furthermore, involves the integration of out of a concern for what I saw as a need to indigenous or local museological traditions create alternative approaches to museum into museum and heritage work where suitable. development and training in Indonesia, where In general, I envisioned appropriate I have conducted research and been involved museology as a method for making the in heritage work since the early 1990s (Kreps museum idea more compatible with local 1998, 2003). Up until relatively recently, cultural contexts, and for making museums museum and heritage work in Indonesia could more meaningful to local communities and be characterized as “colonial” in the sense that thus sustainable in the long run. Over the museums tended to be modeled after Western- years, I have also come to see how appropriate style museums, and were set-up and managed museology is congruent with the new museum in a “top-down” fashion with little involvement ethics that at its core is informed by a social of local community members. Museum justice and human rights agenda, and is part of development in Indonesia as a whole has the movement to make museums more socially mostly been under the control of government inclusive and responsible. officials, elites, and international experts. According to Janet Marstine (2011), the new I observed, over the years, that despite museum ethics is not defined by professional investments in numerous training programs codes, which have been the mainstay of Appropriate museology and the “new museum ethics” museum ethics discourse. Ethics codes and new museum ethics, and rests on the premise 7 guidelines have historically defined appropriate that museums should participate in creating a behavior, established responsibilities to the more just and equitable society. The principles profession and to the public,
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