Curator: The Museum Journal最新文献

{"title":"Unrealized Fears: Monitoring Museum Closure and Reopening in the United Kingdom During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Mark Liebenrood,&nbsp;Andrea Ballatore,&nbsp;Fiona Candlin,&nbsp;Jamie Larkin,&nbsp;Alexandra Poulovassilis,&nbsp;Peter T. Wood","doi":"10.1111/cura.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Fears of widespread permanent closures of museums expressed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted our research to monitor closures and other museum behavior in 2021–2022. We wanted to understand how the UK sector changed in this period. Which museums closed, and what factors were at work in their closure? Did museums that closed have anything in common? Were there trends or patterns across the sector? To monitor as widely as possible we conducted an experimental analysis of the sector using website scraping and machine learning to perform large-scale data collection and analysis. We found that museums did not close in the numbers expected; on the contrary, during the pandemic fewer museums closed than in previous years and we reflect on the likely reasons for this. Although the pandemic functioned as our case study, our methods are potentially applicable to other situations requiring whole-sector monitoring of museums' behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"413-424"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148533650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Curating the Unexpected: Stéphane Thidet's “Weeping Stones” Transformed During COVID-19","authors":"Tamar Mayer,&nbsp;Sefy Hendler,&nbsp;Asaf Ben-David,&nbsp;Darya Aloufy","doi":"10.1111/cura.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A monumental work by French artist Stéphane Thidet became the nexus for an unexpected interaction between an art installation and wildlife. “Weeping Stones,” which presents a desert-like world, devoid of greenery, was featured in an exhibition we co-curated at the Genia Schreiber University Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, in January 2020. During a year of recurring lockdowns, we decided to keep the installation running—even though our gallery was emptied of visitors. After a few months, with the help of a zoologist, we discovered that living creatures—insects and reptiles—had left their traces on the artwork. Instead of removing these uninvited interventions, we chose to welcome them as a means of turning “Weeping Stones” into a space that highlights human inability to control nature. Consequently, the relationships created in the gallery—between the piece, its creator, the curators, and the public—changed dramatically, teaching us important lessons about slow museology, curatorial reflection, and the power of resisting intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"437-447"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70032","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148522785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Curating Spaces: Showcasing Indigenous Identity Through Collaborative Art Practices at a University Campus","authors":"Nigel Bond,&nbsp;Madeleine Harvey,&nbsp;Jacob Powell","doi":"10.1111/cura.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Within Aotearoa New Zealand there is a growing body of evidence which shows that embedding cultural elements within student experience is a key contribution to the educational success of Māori and Pasifika students. This article describes how the Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland Art Collection team collaborates with indigenous artists and user communities to curate spaces across the University's campuses that align with, and foster a sense of, Te Ao Māori—or Māori worldview. The authors describe how the curation of art throughout the University's campuses (1) aligns with the University's commitment to <i>Te Tiriti o Waitangi</i> and its core kaupapa of <i>Whakamana Tangata</i> (protection and enhancement of the dignity and mana of staff and students) (2) represents a shift away from previous ad hoc artwork placement for “embellishment” and toward intentional curation and collaborative site-specific artworks.</p>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"425-436"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70037","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148534102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Building on Tradition, Looking Ahead: Introducing New Editors-in-Chief","authors":"Laura-Edythe Coleman,&nbsp;Theano Moussouri","doi":"10.1111/cura.70019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70019","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;We are honored to follow our colleague, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, John Fraser, in leading &lt;i&gt;Curator: The Museum Journal&lt;/i&gt;. Our field owes him a debt, as does Wiley Publishing, for nine years of service. We are grateful for his sage guidance as we enter this work; we could not do so without him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We do not undertake the Editors-in-Chief position lightly, and we know we have big shoes to fill as we move into this role. We follow a line of Editors-in-Chief dedicated to enhancing the prestige of our Journal: Harry L. Shapiro, Thomas D. Nicholson, Samuel M. Taylor, Zahava Doering, and John Fraser. We are thankful to be joined by our Associate Editors and Editorial Board, a team of museum professionals and theorists dedicated to excellence in the museum field.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While our Journal has highlighted the merit of museum professionals, their value predates its founding in 1958. Since then, our profession has evolved, and so has the Journal. Yet, throughout our history, we have not wavered in our commitment to museum professionals. Our authors, reviewers, and editorial board push the edges of museum practice. Museum professionals depend on the wealth of information and encouragement that &lt;i&gt;Curator: The Museum Journal&lt;/i&gt; provides. As our profession advances, we will emphasize progressive practices, addressing the movements shaping our field and the evolving roles of museum professionals. To do this, we will continue our trajectory, moving beyond the published writers well known within our field. We seek a growing cadre of museum practitioners, researchers, and theorists at every stage of their careers. We offer a platform for exploration, debate, and discussion of the current curatorial practices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our readers need to hear from museum professionals, people in the trenches of our work—people who rarely write and publish their efforts. We call on those who attend local museum conferences and care for small- and medium-sized collections to share their experiences and practices. We hear from the “big” museums and the well-known names; we welcome their continued submissions. Yet most museums are small in size and filled with wisdom—it is time they stepped out of the shadows. We are a platform for new and early-career museum professionals starting their journey and interpreting older practices for our current times. We want to hear from the future, the voices of our museum program students, eager to learn and change the field. We have colleagues with specialties outside the museum field who provide services to our museums—such as architects, educators, and sustainability experts—and we offer a place for their outside perspectives on our practice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We must hear from those new voices as they are the future of our field. We have a duty to be the platform for a spectrum of experiences and knowledges. Our future depends on a platform that provides a spectrum of experiences and knowledges, and for that we call on you. For those who feel their wr","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"285-286"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70019","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148533470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Catalyst for Change and Deeper Audience Engagement? Visitor Insight, Research, and Evaluation at the British Museum 2005–2025","authors":"Stuart Frost","doi":"10.1111/cura.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper selectively focuses on the introduction and most significant impacts of visitor research and evaluation at the British Museum (BM) from about 2005 onwards. Its primary focus is the influence of evaluation on the curation, interpretation, and display of the collection, both charged-for exhibitions and free displays. This culture shift took place under former Director Neil MacGregor and was linked to wider changes in the sector and specific innovations at the BM, including the creation of an Interpretation Team in 2005. The BM's first motivation-based audience segmentation model was developed in collaboration with Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (MHM), who from 2005 onwards conducted an annual visitor survey for the BM. At the same time formative and summative evaluation began to be commissioned systematically for all charged-for special exhibitions, a practice that became embedded and that continues today. From 2006 onwards the Interpretation Team also began to undertake evaluation in house to inform the refreshment and redisplay of permanent galleries and to assess the effectiveness of the new displays. Evaluation and visitor research significantly changed the way the Museum thought about its audience when developing new displays. This paper describes and reflects upon the institutional impact and learning, identifying the most significant changes driven by this evaluation.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"359-372"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148534226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mobilizing the Museum: Touring Exhibitions in Early Stalinist Poland, 1947–1949","authors":"Patryk P. Tomaszewski","doi":"10.1111/cura.70022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70022","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article examines the origins, institutional frameworks, and pedagogical strategies of the “touring exhibitions” (“wystawy objazdowe”) program in early Stalinist Poland. Initiated in 1947 under the auspices of the National Museum in Warsaw and rapidly scaled by state cultural authorities, this program brought thematically curated exhibitions to rural and working-class publics, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors within its first 3 years. Focusing on two case studies—a 1947 show dedicated to the nineteenth-century academic painter Jan Matejko and the 1949 exhibition on poets Adam Mickiewicz and Alexander Pushkin—I argue that these displays reinterpreted the Polish art-historical and literary canon to present state socialism as the culmination of Poland's collective struggle and contested identity. Drawing on pedagogical models inspired by Soviet historical materialism, the exhibitions combined visual didacticism, scripted interpretation, and logistical mobility to fulfill a dual purpose: expanding access to national culture while serving as a vehicle for political propaganda and an instrument of emergent Stalinist state formation.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"307-322"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148532732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecologization Is Not a Metaphor: Museums in the Web of Life","authors":"Colin Sterling,&nbsp;Harry Reddick,&nbsp;Giulia Bellinetti","doi":"10.1111/cura.70035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70035","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article documents and critiques emerging accounts of museum “ecologization”. Drawing on political ecology, materialist theory, and contemporary museum practice, we challenge dominant frameworks of ecological modernization and advocate for a more critical understanding of museums in the web of life. Through a series of case studies and theoretical interventions, we distinguish three overarching models of ecologization in contemporary museological thinking and practice. The first is a <i>discursive/representational</i> shift—concerning the stories museums tell about ecology, nature, and the environment. The second is a <i>material/operational</i> shift—foregrounding the more-than-human relationalities that permeate museum phenomena and the transformation of specific practices towards sustainability and regeneration. The third is a <i>social/political</i> shift—framing ecologization as a strategy of resistance against intersecting forms of domination. We argue this third approach, though currently marginal, may prove the most vital expression of ecological praxis for the museum field.</p>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"402-412"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70035","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148533285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Behind the Curtain: COVID-19 as a Lens to Precarity in Museum Labor","authors":"Miriam Taylor Fair","doi":"10.1111/cura.70021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70021","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using in-depth interviews with emerging and early professional museum workers in New Orleans, Louisiana, this article expands on scholarship around the perceived and actual value of nonprofit labor. It adds qualitative support to the argument that museum labor is <i>real labor—</i>open to exploitation and abuse while constantly negotiated internally and externally. The findings enhance an understanding of what happens when work asks too much and offers too little, underscoring that the future of the museum field is at risk if the institution is simply for the visitor and never for the staffer.</p>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":"323-331"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70021","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148533290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to “成为更好的自己1:中国科学类博物馆教育工作者专业成长愿景与路径研究”","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/cura.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ji, J., W. Guo, and D. Anderson. (2026). “成为更好的自己1:中国科学类博物馆教育工作者专业成长愿景与路径研究.” Curator 69: 9–18. 10.1111/cura.12674.</p><p>Missing Author - David Anderson; the authors names should appear in the following order: Ji, J., Guo, W., and Anderson, D.</p><p>We apologize for this error.</p>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148533725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding Visitor Path Choice and Enhancing Wayfinding in Museums: A Critical Review of a Century of Research","authors":"Gareth Davey","doi":"10.1111/cura.70016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.70016","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The paths taken by visitors in museums influence what they see, do, learn, and experience. Poorly designed museums can lead to missed goals and opportunities. In this article, I critically review visitor studies published since the 1930s to evaluate explanations for visitor path choice in museums, namely, the location and attractiveness of displays, exhibits, and entrance and exit doors; spatial layout of exhibitions, galleries, and museums; cerebral lateralization of brain function; learning and cultural norms; optimality models of behavior; and the museum experience (e.g., visitor agenda, motivation). I discuss wayfinding aids including new technologies such as digital signage, indoor location technology, mobile access to wayfinding information, and Artificial Intelligence. Suggestions are made for understanding path choice and enhancing wayfinding in museums.</p>","PeriodicalId":10791,"journal":{"name":"Curator: The Museum Journal","volume":"69 2","pages":"225-232"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cura.70016","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147715046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}