New Museums and the Making of Culture

by Kylie Message

In the last decade, museums all around the world have been reinventing themselves. They are now much more than scholarly, cultural archives. A remit to reach out to a broader public, the increasing politicization of the ownership and curation of objects, the architectural expectations of new buildings, the requirements of the "event exhibit". . .all have changed the way any new museum is built, operates and serves its public purpose. Museums now reflect global economics and local politics. New museums now shape our public culture.

Illustrated with a very wide range of museums and museum spaces - from Moma in New York to the reconstruction of Ground Zero, from the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington Dc to the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, from the planned renewal of the Crystal Palace site in London to the Sendai Mediatheque in Japan - the book reveals how the new museum is evolving as a cross-disciplinary, self-consciously political, and often avowedly self-reflexive institution.

Genres: Museums

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Eila Mcmillin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I waffled on how to rate this book because there are some really neat ideas and synthesis of different ideas, but the writing is just so dense and academically bloated that it's virtually incomprehensible unless you're familiar with all of the specific literature that Message draws on. Pretty much, unless you have a higher degree in one of the social sciences as well as experience in museum studies and/or art history, this book is going to be impossible to divine meaning from. And that's one thing, but it takes on a lot of ironic meaning when the author discusses Bourdieu and the tendency of the dominant class to impose their cultural taste onto the masses in public institutions. Unfortunately Message is trying so hard to do the most within the format of academic writing that she overuses many words (like ephemera) with the result of being numbingly repetitive, and rather obfuscates whatever she's trying to argue meaning by trying to tie in more theoretical points than is necessary. Like there are good points along the way, I just don't think it reads like a cohesive work.

[Valerie Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is clearly extremely thoughtful, intelligent and has a fantastic viewpoint to share. I gave it 3 stars because her writing is so laborious... this is not pleasant to read. She does not make it easy. Definitely do not recommend for the layperson; do recommend for any museum professionals etc. but prepare yourself to slog through.

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting examination of the successes and missteps of museums as they are attempting to change their practices to embody the ideals of the postmodern museum and becoming cultural centres in an increasingly globalized world.
Questions whether or not this new trend toward the 'glocal' is perhaps just a reframing of the modernist social reform practices of the traditional museum.