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This is the second debate in the series “The activist museum: going deeper”. Our guest is Elaine Heumann Gurian. Her book Civilizing the Museum (which includes a number of essays under the title “The importance of ‘and'” or the article “Turning the ocean liner slowly”) has shown us that Elaine is a restless inquirer and a visionary who has helped shape the thinking and practice of many museum professionals around the world. Her new book Centering the Museum will be an excellent companion volume to Civilizing the Museum and a useful support for emerging museum leaders.
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Elaine Heumann Gurian has 50 years of museum experience as a senior executive and consultant. Taylor and Frances is releasing her new volume Centering the Museum, Writings for the Post-Covid Age, published by Taylor and Frances, in September 2021, which calls on the profession to help visitors experience their shared humanity, complexity in the presentation of ideas, and social uses for public buildings, to make museums more central and useful to everyone in difficult times and identifies many small, subtle ways museums can become more welcoming to more – and to all.
Gurian draws on her extensive experience as a deputy director, senior advisor to high-profile government museums, lecturer and teacher around the world to think about recommendations for inclusive actions by intertwining sociological thinking with practical decision-making strategies.
As an elder in the field, Elaine Gurian always speaks personally and emotionally, making no distinction between work and passion.
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