In 2022, ICOM El Salvador and ICOM Belgium launched a cultural research and mediation project as part of "ICOM Solidarity". The project started from the need to bring the museum collections of El Salvadoran museums closer to communities following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, but also to the unsettled political climate, not all museums are equally accessible to a part of the population. Therefore, the aim of the project was to find an alternative form through which different communities in El Salvador can learn about and connect with museums. Following a project call, 10 museums applied. Together, they chose to develop toolkits for local communities. Each toolkit starts from the museumcollection and the same methodology. Because of the diversity of the museums - army museum, currency museum, anthropology museum and art museum - the materials in each toolkit differ, such as replicas of artefacts, materials, objects and USB sticks with additional information.
With these toolkits, the project aims to strengthen ties between Salvadoran museums and communities and revive connections with the museums, especially in situations where the public does not have access to museums. Moreover, it aimed to encourage new readings and interpretations of the collections pieces, taking into account new audiences and communities. The ICOM El Salvador 'solidarity' project was a collaborative project between ICOM Belgium and ICOM El Salvador. Both committees submitted a project to support museum colleagues in El Salvador in the field of public education. Many museums in El Salvador do not have separate services or people available for education and lack resources. From that demand, ICOM Belgium and, in particular, ICOM CECA Belgium were involved in the project. Museums were also encouraged among themselves to cooperate and exchange experiences, which so far has not happened much in El Salvador.
The NBG Historical Archive (NBG/HA) pursues contacts with vulnerable social groups often excluded from cultural goods as well as groups that are not familiar with the museum culture, groups with a strenuous daily life in a foreign and often hostile environment which deters them from visiting cultural places. As a socially active cultural institution, it seeks ways to remove such exclusions and ultimately social inequalities, ways to strengthen the self-esteem of these groups and their "belonging" through their access to the museum environment.
Immigrant and refugee communities have been invited to present actions inspired by the culture of their places of origin (on the occasion of the European Night of Museums celebration for instance) and to participate in special innovative educational programs; teenagers from refugee camps, parents and children members of the Network for the Rights of Children, intercultural schools of Primary and Secondary Education, teenagers who have been separated from their parents according to public prosecutor's order and formerly incarcerated adults in the stage of drug rehabilitation have taken part in experiential workshops.
The NBG/HA hosts permanent and periodic exhibitions in its museum areas. However, the handling of archival documents as museum exhibits that are attractive to younger and older visitors remains a great challenge. An even greater challenge is the search for ways to highlight concepts such as archive, memory, history, right of access to information, democracy.
The conference will present ways and tools with which the aforementioned groups of visitors are approached pedagogically as well as basic learning principles of an alternative form of education; ways of highlighting the inscribed historicity of the diverse archival documents available to the NBG/HA which can provoke reactions and interaction through targeted interpretation. We observe, approach, interpret, compare, feel, and ultimately communicate.
How can museums increase self-esteem, communication, and peer support of people with memory disorder and their family members? Activities in the Tatamuri® in the Museum group have done this for many people.
Tatamuri® in Museum group activity was designed in Museum Centre Vapriikki by Museum Educator Lila Heinola and Art Therapist Tiina Butter. Activity has been produced in cooperation with other cultural history and art museums in Tampere in 2022–2024.
The name "TATAMURI" comes from the Finnish words for TAidetta ja TArinoita MUistisairaan RInnalla, meaning art and stories side by side with memory-disordered persons.
The participants are memory-disordered persons and their family members, who take part as a couple. The persons with memory disorders have progressed to the point where they are no longer able to work, but they can have conversations and move around with the help of a family member.
The group meets in different museums 6 times once a week for 2 hours. Getting to know the exhibition takes place in interaction with the participants and according to their interests. The following art workshop consists of both discussions and creating your art in a trusting atmosphere.
The workshop consists of steps of the TATAMURI® Method, which was originally developed and registered in 2016 by group art therapists Tiina Butter and Marjatta Hiltunen.
It is estimated that in Finland, which had about 5,5 million inhabitants in 2021, the number of people with the diagnosed memory disorder will rise from 150,000 to 250,000 by the year 2040. Diagnoses also affect dramatically the lives of their family members. Museums have an essential role in enhancing cultural well-being through specially designed group activities, where they facilitate communication between individuals with memory disorders and their family members, making it possible to reach and connect with the core person.
The Museum of Byzantine Culture, since its opening, has placed particular emphasis on designing and implementing activities for different groups of visitors, without exclusions, aiming at fighting against prejudices and stereotypes, and showing respect for otherness for the benefit of society. In this framework, its educational policy included sensitive and marginalized groups of visitors, such as people with disabilities (physical, intellectual, mental, visual and auditory), Romani people, groups of refugees, homeless and unemployed, as well as elderly people. Theatrical games and workshops, experiential creative workshops, games and tactile activities are some of the pedagogical tools used to approach these groups.
In this paper, we present briefly the innovative activities that have been implemented in the Museum of Byzantine Culture, and we discuss the goals, methods and ways for approaching sensitive groups of visitors. The emphasis will be placed on the recent cooperation of the Museum, and in particular the Department of Exhibitions, Communication and Education and the Department of Paper and Book Conservation, with the Municipality of Thessaloniki to include new and usually socially excluded groups of visitors, especially the homeless, the unemployed and the elderly people. We will discuss the specific characteristics of each group and the appropriate pedagogical tools that were used to approach them: creative workshops, activities aimed at recalling memory, personal narratives, records of personal objects. The ultimate aim of the paper is to highlight the positive assessment of these activities by the participants and their beneficial impact on these groups of visitors that were recorded through discussions with them.
Incubating meaningful connections with audience and communities is an ongoing challenge for museums, as it requires significant time and effort to build genuine relationships. How can we ensure our communities see the museum as an integral part of their daily lives? And how can we provide what diverse communities truly need from us and create a long-term impact?
In 2021, M+ opened its museum building to the public, but the institution had begun building an inclusive environment to welcome diverse communities as early as 2014. Over a 10-year period, the M+ learning team cultivated relationships with a wide range of communities across the city, and this work also transformed the community engagement landscape of museums in Hong Kong. Through open and constant communication, the team sought to deeply understand the needs, interests, and the barriers faced by different communities, as well as to critically examine the museum’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall capabilities – from its physical spaces to its intellectual content and programming. This holistic understanding of both the communities and the museum’s own resources informed the development of inclusive community engagement strategies and participation models. This session will share the innovative approaches to collaboration that M+ employed, the different types of participation models they utilised, as well as the valuable lessons the team has learned since embarking on this journey to meet the needs of the underserved populations of Hong Kong.
The presentation will dive into the ever-evolving dynamics between the museum and its communities, exploring the pivotal roles that museums must play in fostering meaningful and sustainable engagement, and how this work can drive long-term, impactful change.
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