Past Events
- Residential conference
- What are Museums for?
- A Cumberland Lodge Conference
- Venue: Cumberland Lodge, The Great Park, Windsor
- Date: September 17, 2004 to September 19, 2004
- Time: 3.30pm Friday to 3.30pm Sunday
- Tickets: £250 (£50 for students)
- Booking: This event has now taken place.
- A conference report is now available on the Cumberland Lodge website.
The traditional role of both science and humanities museums has changed. Rather than focusing on preserving, studying and presenting their collections, museums may now be required to take on a variety of social functions - including social inclusion, lifelong learning and recognising group identities. Has taking on these tasks left the museum overburdened and confused about its role? Can and should museums make people feel better and affirm their identity? Are scholarship and the collection under threat? Museums' right to retain or interpret artifacts from non-western societies has also been challenged. Some argue for repatriation, or the involvement of indigenous groups in interpreting objects and designing exhibitions. Who owns culture? Is there a danger we close down understanding if only one selected group can speak about culture? What is the role of the curator, and who should decide what we collect in the future?
This conference will explore the new roles of the museum, examining their intellectual roots and consequences. It has been planned in consultation with Josie Appleton (spiked), Dr Gareth Griffiths (British Empire and Commonwealth Museum), Tiffany Jenkins (Institute of Ideas) and Raj Pal (Oak House Museum). See the Cumberland Lodge website.
Sessions include: Collect to connect – museums are getting better at connecting but have forgotten about collecting, Social Inclusion: is it destroying the collection? , A sense of place: museums and identity , What can museums teach us? , The universal museum, Who owns culture?, The role of the curator, What should we collect?
Speakers will include
- Julian Spalding
- author, 'The Poetic Museum and The Eclipse of Art'
- John MacKenzie
- formerly Professor of Imperial History, University of Lancaster
- Professor Frank Furedi
- School of Social Policy, Sociology, and Social Research, University of Kent
- Mark Fisher MP
- Helen Wilkinson
- Museums Association
- Jonathan Williams
- British Museum
- Jenni Calder
- formerly National Museums of Scotland
- Josie Appleton
- spiked
- Garry Morris
- Merseyside Maritime Museum
- Dr Katherine Hann
- Head of Education and Interpretation, British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
- Claire Fox
- director, Institute of Ideas
- Dr Alan Borg
- recently director, Victoria and Albert Museum
- Dr Nick Merriman
- University College London
- Tiffany Jenkins
- director of arts and society, Institute of Ideas
- Tristram Besterman
- director, Manchester Museum
- Maurice Davies
- deputy director, Museums Association
- Peter Jenkinson
- national director, Creative Partnerships, Arts Council
- Professor Richard Fortey
- Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, London
- Dr Gareth Griffiths
- director, British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
- David Barrie
- director of the National Art Collections Fund
Cumberland Lodge initiates fresh debate on issues of national and international significance. It is independent and so able to promote frank discussion and cross-sector cooperation on matters affecting the development of society. Its conferences explore connections in the following areas: international affairs, especially concerning the Commonwealth; education and culture; law and order; media and society.