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When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Why aren’t more museums designing highly constrained participatory platforms in which visitors contribute to collaborative projects?
It is multi-disciplinary, incorporates diverse voices from our community, and provides interactive and participatory opportunities for visitor involvement. This post focuses on one aspect of the exhibition: its participatory and interactive elements. So many museum exhibitions relegate the participatory bits in at the end.
When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Why aren’t more museums designing highly constrained participatory platforms in which visitors contribute to collaborative projects?
This exhibition represents a few big shifts for us: We used a more participatory design process. Our previous big exhibition, All You Need is Love, was highly participatory for visitors but minimally participatory in the development process. Without further ado, here's what we did to make the exhibition participatory.
Last week, I gave a talk about participatory museum practice for a group of university students at UCSC. Teenagers are often the target for participatory endeavors, and they definitely have high interest in creative expression, personalizing museum experiences, and using interactive or technological tools as part of their visit.
Which of these descriptions exemplifies participatory museum practice? But the difference between the two examples teases out a problem in differentiating "participatory design" from "design for participation." In the first case, you are making the design process participatory. In the second, you make the product participatory.
A group in their late teens/early 20s were wandering through the museumwide exhibition on love. They were in a playful mood, talking about the objects, playing the games, responding on the comment boards. When I walked by the first time, the teens were collaging and Kyle and Stacey were talking. Next time, everyone was talking.
This week marks five years since the book The Participatory Museum was first released. I thought the pinnacle of participatory practice was an exhibit that could inspire collective visitor action without facilitation. Since 2010 I have seen, again and again and again, how valuable human facilitation is to the participatory process.
This past weekend, in conjunction with our exhibition about Ze Frank's current participatory project, A Show , we hosted " Ze Frank Weekend "--a quickie summer camp of workshops, activities, presentations, and lots of hugging. You can see more comments from participants here and here and see a photo set from one participant here.
At one point, he commented that there's a difference between the "framework" and the "sensibility" for engagement. I've written before about the difference between participatory processes and products , but this question of frameworks and sensibility is more broadly applicable to community engagement strategies.
Recently, I was giving a presentation about participatory techniques at an art museum, when a staff member raised her hand and asked, "Did you have to look really hard to find examples from art museums? For this reason, I see history museums as best-suited for participatory projects that involve story-sharing and crowdsourced collecting (e.g.
In many museums, comment cards are currently the most "participatory" part of the visitor experience. There are few, if any, ways to write back and continue the conversation with the visitor who commented. In other words, comment cards aren't effectively organized for use. Enter the internet.
You''re in for a treat, with upcoming posts on creativity, collections management, elitism, science play, permanent participatory galleries, partnering with underserved teens, magic vests, and more. folk through comments, emails to me, and hallway conversations. The greatest gift you can give me is your thoughtful comments.
Many institutions do this unintentionally--by providing post-its or comment books, pens or crayons. I encourage you to share your own rules and thoughts on this in the comments. Rabinowitz commented that "as a 40-year veteran of history museum interpretation, I can say that I never learned so much from and about visitors."
At the big one, I worked on a small project with teens to design science exhibits for community centers in their own neighborhoods. I started meeting people through the blog--both those I interviewed and early readers who commented. In 2004, Anna was the Director of Exhibitions and Programs at the International Spy Museum.
I worked on one project in which the client institution thought they wanted unfettered teen expression. When they saw the results of that expression, they struggled with the content and eventually integrated it into their project in a way that diminished the teens’ involvement and hard work.
Last week, I wrote about the ways that dogs can be useful social objects --and you had lots of good comments and input. Sure, it's social, but people stick to their own "pods"--families, teens, adults--and don't diverge or merge. Ideas participatory museum Unusual Projects and Influences visitors. Why does this happen?
Visitor Co-Created Museum Experiences This session was a dream for me, one that brought together instigators of three participatory exhibit projects: MN150 (Kate Roberts), Click! In Children of the Lodz Ghetto, every data entry is verified by staff in a three-step process as well as reviewed and commented on by other users.
When I watch the videos teens created at the Exploratorium and post on YouTube, I see the aspects of the exhibits they thought were most important to share with their classmates. Here are three examples of changes you could make: Change the language and presentation of comment cards. What do you want?”
The people were of all ages--moms with babies strapped to their fronts, six year-olds using skillsaws, pre-teens building robots, teenagers doing homework. For example, the Exploratorium is an extraordinarily participatory museum, but it''s not nearly as participatory as a Community Science Workshop.
Teens advocating for all-gender bathrooms. That means offering clear, visible, appealing participatory experiences that enhance the destination experience. If you are reading this via email and would like to share a comment or question, you can join the conversation here. Printmakers leading workshops. You get the idea.
We're always happy for more bodies in the door, but if supporting teens means alienating seniors, there's a problem. Museums need to develop ways to track frequency of use, whether with technology or otherwise As David Gilman commented, "How can we be friends if I not only keep forgetting things about you, but never learn them to begin with?"
Let's say you spend a year working with a group of teens to co-create an exhibition, or you invite members and local artists to help redesign the lobby. In many cases, once the final project is launched, it's hard to detect the participatory touch. Not every participatory process has to scream "look at me!"
It makes us uncomfortable with opening museum content up to comment, tagging, and alterations by visitors. Museums aren't the only venues facing this question: news outlets, corporate brands, and educators are also grappling with the question of trust in the participatory age. Many of the teens write, "learn with us.
I''m open to any questions you want to share in the comments. When I look back at some recent projects that I''m most excited about (like this teen program ), I realize that I had very little to do with their conception or execution. Participatory work can be very labor-intensive. In the meantime, here are some.
Every other year, they convene TUPAC, a group of 35 outside advisors, including teens, college students, Temple University professors, artists, philanthropists, and community leaders. If you are reading this via email and would like to share a comment or question, you can join the conversation here. I don't have the answers.
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