The New Trend for Museums
The article “Curatorship as Social Practice” explained how museums have evolved in the modern day to become more focused on explaining the social meaning of their artifacts rather than simply displaying them. Museums are now more focused on engaging visitors in thinking about the displayed objects, and this has given new responsibilities to the curators of such objects. I think the recent trend towards emphasizing social context is good for museums. Using artifacts to educate visitors can only create a more informed people that is aware of their history and surroundings. Visitors to a museum may easily forget the objects they saw, but they will always remember some important lesson they may have learned during their visit. Additionally, the emphasis towards educating the audience makes the job of a curator more complex, giving them a chance to use a more varied set of skills to create a richer experience for museum visitors.