A Moment of Reckoning: Thomas P. Campbell and András Szántó on Museums and Public Trust

András Szántó | Literary Hub | 4th June 2021

Familiar issues, yes, but articulated with oomph by a museum director who has to fix them. Museums are “not entertainment … we are places of education.” To do that they must be trusted by their communities. Winning new audiences brings new expectations. Return stolen antiquities and “appropriated” objects. Tell the history of colonialism fully. And “you still have to fundamentally enjoy objects … embrace the romance of the physicality of the objects”.