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THE IDEA

You are going to read a short introduction to the project Museum for People made of text and illustrations. To read the text version only click this link.

WHAT ARE MUSEUMS FOR?

is probably one of the hottest questions in the field. 
Some possible answers are:

A yellow amphor illustrated

1) Preserve our heritage (museums can keep safe fragile and ancient objects, for instance).

An open book illustrated

2) Tell stories about the past and the present (or, as some say, "through the eyes of the present"). 

A person wearing a t-shirt saying "Enjoy your place"

3) Inspire urban change (have you ever heard about urban regeneration? Museums can contribute).

A yellow bus illustration

4) School trips! (however, they should inspire a different kind of learning from school).

In love eyes women illustration

5) Make your aunt happy (and this makes it easier to think about her birthday present).

There is no right answer and never just one. In this list, for instance, some relevant aims are missing such as supporting personal change or enhance community involvement. In any case, depending on the answer, museums can be very different one from the other.

MUSEUMS ARE FOR PEOPLE

Whatever museums' aims, in the opinions of many, museums have to be for people first: places where humans feel comfortable, facilitated to understand what is around them and supported to develop their own ideas.

Group of people ready to visit the museum
Three museums illustrated

WELCOMING PEOPLE IS REMOVING BARRIERS

As people, we are different from each other. We have different needs and motivations and that is why, to make it simple, we find different barriers, often overlapped one other. Here a few examples:

Cultural barriers: a card showing a women saying "Museums are not for me"
Learning barriers: a card showing a person covered by a book with the sentence "Have you ever heard about functional illiteracy?"
A card showing an elderly women reading with a magnifier
Participatory barriers: a card showing the diversity between museum designers and museum users
Many other barriers: and here you need a checklist
ACCESSIBILITY IS THE KEY

Accessibility is the quality of the environment and services of being easy to use by as many people as possible. It is not about niche audiences, outside of the average, but about the opportunity to change our idea of what we usually perceive as the average.

A pair of glasses illustration
DIVERSITY FOSTERS CRITICAL THINKING

There is no normalcy: there is just diversity. The more museums will provide opportunities to engage with diversity itself (in terms of people but also approaches and tools) the more they will allow visitors to find their own way to learn, collecting different experiences and reflections.

An handshake illustrated

LEARNING IS EVERYWHERE

Learning deals a lot with accessibility and is not just about knowledge and facts. Learning, in fact, deals with values, skills, attitudes and behavior, enjoyment and creativity. As museum professionals, we can always facilitate learning or not: it's all upon us!

Light bulb illustration

IT'S ALL ABOUT STRATEGY

Whatever our dreaming museum, the actions to achieve our visions should be carefully planned. We should think big, as well as look at details, and define a strategy on long terms (and everybody happily ever after).

A red knight illustration

Museums for people is a small drawing project about all these issues and many others museum-related, for lovers and professionals. More stories are ready to come, enjoy!

SHARING IS CARING

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“Overloaded, visitors skim the exhibitio
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