Community Partnership—A Global Dialogue on Museums and Their Publics

Listen to a conversation with an international array of scholars, artists, writers, performers, and activists on changing narratives in museums.

In this series of conversations recorded for the People: A Global Dialogue in Museums and Their Publics symposium organized by The Met, hear from an international array of scholars, artists, writers, performers, and activists as they share their ideas about how museums engage with people locally and globally.

Rather than preset descriptions, we asked a set of open questions to frame each program session. In Community Partnership, we consider from the perspective of communities, what are innovative methods and challenges of museums–community partnerships and collaborations. What is the role of ethics in this work? And finally, how do museums serve as public resources or platforms that center the needs of communities rather than the needs of institutions?

Welcome
Ann Meisinger, Assistant Educator, Public Programs and Creative Practice, The Met

Introduction
Sydney Munn, Teen Intern, The Met

Speakers
Joshua Bell, Curator of Globalization, Recovering Voices Program, and Acting Director of the National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History
Louise Hunter, Lead, Indigenous Services, Public Libraries and Engagement, State Library of Queensland
Samir Meghelli, Senior Curator, Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
Salma Jreige and Sarah Fortmann-Hijazi, Project Coordinators, Multaka: Museum as Meeting Point
Moderated by Kemi Ilesanmi, Executive Director, The Laundromat Project

Recorded on May 20, 2021

© 2021 The Metropolitan Museum of Art


Contributors

Joshua Bell
Curator of Globalization, Recovering Voices Program, and Acting Director of the National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History
Louise Hunter
Lead, Indigenous Services, Public Libraries and Engagement, State Library of Queensland
Samir Meghelli
Senior Curator, Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
Salma Jreige
Project Coordinator, Multaka: Museum as Meeting Point
Sarah Fortmann-Hijazi
Project Coordinator, Multaka: Museum as Meeting Point
Kemi Ilesanmi
Executive Director, The Laundromat Project

Black-and-white photo sheet of objects from around The Met
The Eames-designed visual display at The Met was primed for all types of visitors to understand the relationships between time, place, culture, and artistic value.
Kelsey Rose Williams
June 18
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