Are you a Museopunk?

New Curator has coined a new term to describe, well, a category that I guess most of us fall into: Museopunk. Museopunk's

...have some of the best ideas and the most energy yet they aren’t very high in the hierarchy.
The concept, such as it is - still fluid and loosely-defined - really appeals to me. What do you think?

Comments

Jenny said…
It's interesting, and, as far as I can see, quite probably highly applicable. I met a HUGE number of interesting, intelligent people on the MA course and they have had serious problems getting into or higher up in, the Museum Industry, as it were.

Because I do worry about the corporatisation of museums. They are not supposed to be like that. They are cultural expressions, cultural artefacts, determined by individual expression and perception. At least, that is how I see them. Perhaps others do not.

Vive la Museopunk!
Jenny said…
Thank you! Likewise. :) I look forward to chatting with you some more.
Sarah H. said…
The description of a "Museopunk" sounds a lot like the kind of people you find working in small museums (by small I mean places with 1 to 10 staff members, or totally volunteer-run). Us small museum folk have always had a DIY spirit (if we didn't, nothing would get done!) and the uncanny ability to make a lot out of minimal resources. And many of us have stuck to small museums because we love the freedom, the collaboration, and the variety of experience in places where the curators not only care for the collections, but clean the toilets too!

I honestly believe that the success of many small museums lies with this attitude, and it's something the compartmentalized, departmentalized and specialist-run huge museums could learn from in these leaner times.

By the way, love the thought-provoking posts on The Attic and New Curator. Keep up the good work!

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