Why does a museum decide to address a vulnerable audience? Is the opening of museums to society the only reason to do so? How should we do it? Who should be the first to be invited? For us at the Benaki, fundamental challenges were present from the very beginning. How to truly open a museum that showcases works of art to visitors with impaired vision or blindness who literally cannot see them? How to complement a country’s national education in order to give children from SEND schools equal chances to benefit from encounters with art? How to talk about the past and our heritage to visitors with loss of memory or early-stage dementia?
Our first two target groups, children with cognitive disabilities and visitors with impaired vision or blindness, both had difficulty accessing the content of an art institution. In a sense they were all unable to perceive the museum with their own eyes. And then in every step, the bigger and more concrete the obstacle, the more meaningful it was to fight against it. At the Benaki we had previously engaged with disabled visitors, children and adults as well as marginalised minorities, on demand or on special occasions. But nowadays we cater regularly to the specific needs of specific audiences, by designing focused and made-to-measure educational proposals aimed to privilege a museum’ s underprivileged. We insist on organising our events in-house since we firmly believe in the long-term nature of these actions, and work to make them a permanent component of the Benaki Museum’s identity.
We began our specially designed tours in 2014, we are still offering them and intend to do so in the years to come. Having extended and varied collections we have countless opportunities to invite our audiences, guiding them through the long path of Greek Civilization, from Antiquity to the 20th century. We also welcome our disabled guests to understand and enjoy our collection of Islamic Art as well as our Toy Collection, hosted in different annexes within the organisation. Being conscious of our responsibility when addressing a sensitive group of people, we insist on working closely with experts in different fields, scientists and artists. The effort needs to be ceaseless, and the true challenge is to carry on, always seeking to include new audiences through such initiatives, that are at the same time deeply transformative for participants and museum professionals, in so many ways.
Multaka means ‘meeting point’ in Arabic. It is an inclusive, collaborative long-standing community project based at The History of Science and Pitt Rivers museums. The project brings together people from all over the world who live and work in Oxfordshire, many of whom are forced migrants, to create spaces, events, resources, activities and displays for intercultural dialogue and understanding, reminding us of our shared humanity. In this presentation I will be discussing MultakaOxford’s approach to engaging with volunteers and presenting case studies from our work over the past 12 months, which highlight the breadth of our work and illustrate how we put our values into practice. Case Study 1 was a project to create primary school resources for a migration topic; Case Study 2 looks at a co-created event which saw an Oxford city event about Alice in Wonderland combined with the celebration of an Islamic religious festival (Alice Celebrates Eid); Case Study 3 focuses on the research on the Silk Roads that volunteers carried out as part of the British Science Festival which resulted in a public event which celebrated the global history of science and the sharing of findings through updates to the Museum database and staff training.
By extending access through satellite groups and community events, the project honours its museum mandate, providing access to cultural exchange and enrichment for all. This is enhanced through global partnerships with the Alwaleed cultural network and Multaka European network.
The presentation focuses on the field of museum education and the specially designed museum-pedagogical programs of the Greek archaeological museums and sites under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture, for audience groups that are often outside the procedures of access to cultural goods (disabled, immigrants, refugees, prisoners in detention centers, people with mental health problems, etc.). Special mention is made of the program "Multaka-Intercultural Tours in Athens", which began to be implemented in 2015 by four Museums in Berlin and then in various museums in Europe (Oxford, Bern, Florence, Turin) and in 2022 in museums and archaeological areas of Athens. The Program was the result of the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum and the Municipality of Athens. Its goals are to support refugees' access to museums and to strengthen their participation in the public sphere. Basic principles of the program are the meeting of cultures, the strengthening of intercultural interaction and the awareness of society in matters of tolerance and respect for different cultures. It concerns the conduct of "intercultural tours" in selected museums and monuments, which are conducted by refugees and immigrants in their language of origin and addressed to the same language communities of Athens (Greek/English/French/Arabic/Farsi). For the implementation of the project in Athens, the following Departments of the Ministry of Culture cooperated: the Directorate of Archaeological Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programs (which also coordinated), the Directorate of Modern Cultural and Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Epigraphic Museum, the Museum of Modern Greek Culture and the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens. People with an immigrant or refugee background were trained by specialized staff of the above Services to carry out cross-cultural tours. Τhe trained cross-cultural tour guides presented tours of museums/archaeological sites, connecting them with their own experiences, and helping to create a cross-cultural dialogue with the tour audience, in order to discuss differences, highlight common experiences, experiences and values, to encourage acceptance and mutual understanding.
Meanwhile, the majority of Indonesian museums remain collection centers, and some are paving the way to be more people-oriented. Museum Bahari Jakarta is elevating the connection with its local community to the next level. Beyond storage of the past, a shelf of historical artifacts, and seasonal social service activities. The museum aims its arrow to break the glass ceiling and bring about social change.
Calling upon the expertise of IHHCH, a network hub of museum enthusiasts that works to foster creativity and innovation in museums and heritage sites, a program aimed at increasing the knowledge and welfare of the people of Penjaringan, where the museum is located, is designed.
Penjaringan is an area brimming with hundreds of years of rich history, iconic historical landscapes such as Sunda Kelapa Port, one of the oldest ports in the world, and also a long history of gang fights, drug trafficking, and a portrait of the poverty of coastal communities with densely populated slum settlements. The statistics bureau recorded that around 9.5 thousand people in Penjaringan do not attend school.
The hub conducted stakeholder mapping, desk studies, and interviews with key stakeholders to analyze the root of the problem and the community's needs. Including meetings with the prominent businesses in the area, such as Sunda Kelapa Port Operator and Hexagon Market Management, to understand their development plan and identify the potential space where the local community can fit within the grand design of Sunda Kelapa Heritage Tourism Area Development.
Based on the study, the hub and the museum launched the MLEADS Program (Museum for Local Economic Development and Social Changes), which translated to Indonesia as Museum to Inspire/Lead the Way. The program targets the young people of Penjaringan District, as they are vulnerable to joining gang fights and drug trafficking.
Highlighting its focus on youth empowerment, the program is tailored to the needs of Penjaringan youth while also considering the potential workforce required as a result of the presence of economic activities based on the grand design.
The program consists of a series of trainings, such as Designing Creative Products Based on Museum Collections, Tour Guide Training for Museums and Heritage Sites, etc. Further, the museum also provides a social space where the youth can perform sports, arts, fashion, culinary arts, festivals, exhibitions, and other activities on a weekly basis.
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