The Disobedient Museum: Writing at the Edge

Abstract

the term disobedience a bit differently, not so much to engage directly with museum and curatorial activism (though that is implied), but to provocatively question and probe the role of writing about those interstitial spaces between museums and political governance, activism, community engagement, and the academy. Message argues for a delib-erate self-awareness in trespassing these boundaries when writing about museums — this is the ‘ writing at the edge ’ of her subtitle –– as a desirable and important form of protest. What is the role of writing in progressing social justice? How does one write about museums to advance ethical reform, through, alongside, and sometimes against the fragmented disciplinary frameworks of museum studies? What role does the writer about museums play in weaving the conceptual threads of museum practice into the wider public fabric, beyond the museum walls, informing civic debate and activism? How does writing about activism that takes place around museums, and/or with activities and agendas that are ‘ museum-like ’ (4), constitute a form of disobedience? Be forewarned: this book is not necessarily interested in providing any tidy answers to such questions, but rather in making those questions visible, in giving voice to where and how museums sit in relation to sectors of society, and civic, cultural, political, and intellectual traditions and debates.