Museums are Theatres

Museums are no longer ivory towers, but local theatres open to the community, claim French economists.

Crowd drawers, Gay animals in Oslo museum

But what might this mean?  In a recent article two economists known for their research into the mechanisms of the "Cultural Economy" take a keen and explorative look at the development of the French Museum World since the 80's.

They find that the whole area has been permeated with a building frenzy instigated by a public interested in using the museums as pile drivers in the development of their local or national economy through job creation, cultural tourism, etc. This building activity has had two side effects. One is that the political supervision has increased and museums have become sites for political contentions over huge investments. Further, funding has been redirected from the curatorial and educational obligations of the museums towards the future development of a more "educational" role. The magnificent architectural statements have created the need for the museums to reinvent themselves as businesses intent on creating new forms of revenue.

This has created a new museography, where the curator is called upon to act as a stage director putting on a diversified programme of exhibitions and other activities. Museum shops, blockbusters, "turnkey" exhibitions, "edutainment" parks as the new (old) eco-museums and open-air museums have all become the mainstay of the 21st century museum.

Marketing
To a large extent, however, museums are not very professional in their marketing efforts. There is room for development, claim the French economists.

New inspiration may be had from a new book on Arts Marketing Insights written by Joanne Scheff Bernstein. The point is that Theatres, Orchestras and Ballet Companies met these challenges early on. Why? Because the old system of finance built on a loyal group of people subscribing up front eroded more than a decade ago. This created a natural slump that, however, lately has been replaced by a new and much more creative effort to work with product development and marketing professionals. The results: Lots and lots of new ideas on how to market stuffy concerts as treasure hunts, neighbourhood matinees, teddy bear concerts and so on. Much is already implemented in museums all over Europe, but much may also be learned.

The book brims with ideas and is hereby highly recommended.

Related Information
Benhamou, Françoise and Nathalie Moureau: From Ivory Towers to Museums Open to the Community: changes and developments in France's cultural policy.
Museum International. No. 232, Vol. 58, no. 4, 2006)

Berstein, Joanne Scheff: Arts Marketing Insights. The dynamics of Building and retaining Performing Arts Audiences.
USA: John Wiley & Sons 2007.

Françoise Benhamou is currently topical with her new book on the devolution of the traditional French idea of the "cultural exception", that is the idea, that the cultural sector should be exempted from the driving forces of the market. Les dérèglements de l'exception culturelle, Seuil, 2006, 348 p., 23 €  

Against Nature? An exhibition on animal homosexuality in The Natural History Museum, University of Oslo. Exhibition runs to August 19, 2007, www.nhm.uio.no/againstnature/index.html