I’ve been reading a ton of interesting stuff this. 2016 may go down as the year of “Ed has too many books to read.” But I’m making my way through them, and the pile of articles, too! One that has really been speaking to my condition has been “Post Critical Museology: Theory and Practice in the Art Museum”. Check it out!
What I like about it
Unlike so many of the books on the market, this isn’t a collection of essays. It’s the result of a major collaborative research project carried out at Tate Britain in London that looks at the reconfiguration of the relationship between art, culture and society and how Tate Britain has tried to respond, with mixed results. It is able to be grounded in one institution, and the authors do a good job of navigating between that specificity and generalizations about the field. I’m a sucker for anything promoting progressive thinking in museological practice and whether or not I resonate with what they’re calling “post-critical museology” or not, it’s been an interesting trip thus far.
I mentioned this on Twitter a few weeks ago to Prof. Suse Cairns, and the response was positive.
So, if you’re going to be in New Orleans for MCN 2016 and are looking for a more structured kind of conversation, come hang out with me and Suse Cairns, and whoever wants to join in as we talk about Post Critical Museology. We’ll find a spot and a time and have a good long talk! I’m looking forward to it.
Thinking about Museums 
It’s a very smart book, and was crucial to my PhD thesis, especially the sections that detailed how Tate theorized and then brought into practice particular innovations in the ways that the museum viewed visitors and interacted with them. More, one of the authors, David Dibosa, was my PhD examiner. I should mention some of this research in the talk I am to give at the MCN on Wednesday, November 2.
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Thanks for the heads up, Seph!
I hope you’ll join us when we pick a time and place!
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