Museums Matter

Museums Matter
Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Total Pages : 166
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780226126807
ISBN-13 : 0226126803
Rating : 4/5 (803 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Museums Matter by : James Cuno

Download or read book Museums Matter written by James Cuno and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-12-15 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of an encyclopedic museum was born of the Enlightenment, a manifestation of society’s growing belief that the spread of knowledge and the promotion of intellectual inquiry were crucial to human development and the future of a rational society. But in recent years, museums have been under attack, with critics arguing that they are little more than relics and promoters of imperialism. Could it be that the encyclopedic museum has outlived its usefulness? With Museums Matter, James Cuno, president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago, replies with a resounding “No!” He takes us on a brief tour of the modern museum, from the creation of the British Museum—the archetypal encyclopedic collection—to the present, when major museums host millions of visitors annually and play a major role in the cultural lives of their cities. Along the way, Cuno acknowledges the legitimate questions about the role of museums in nation-building and imperialism, but he argues strenuously that even a truly national museum like the Louvre can’t help but open visitors’ eyes and minds to the wide diversity of world cultures and the stunning art that is our common heritage. Engaging with thinkers such as Edward Said and Martha Nussbaum, and drawing on examples from the politics of India to the destruction of the Bramiyan Buddhas to the history of trade and travel, Cuno makes a case for the encyclopedic museum as a truly cosmopolitan institution, promoting tolerance, understanding, and a shared sense of history—values that are essential in our ever more globalized age. Powerful, passionate, and to the point, Museums Matter is the product of a lifetime of working in and thinking about museums; no museumgoer should miss it.


Museums Matter Related Books

Museums Matter
Language: en
Pages: 166
Authors: James Cuno
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-12-15 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The concept of an encyclopedic museum was born of the Enlightenment, a manifestation of society’s growing belief that the spread of knowledge and the promotio
Making Museums Matter
Language: en
Pages: 342
Authors: Stephen Weil
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-01-11 - Publisher: Smithsonian Institution

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this volume of 29 essays, Weil's overarching concern is that museums be able to “earn their keep”—that they make themselves matter—in an environment
Museum Matters
Language: en
Pages: 313
Authors: Miruna Achim
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-08-24 - Publisher: University of Arizona Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Museum Matters tells the story of Mexico's national collections through the trajectories of its objects. The essays in this book show the many ways in which thi
Museums Matter
Language: en
Pages: 166
Authors: James Cuno
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Powerful, passionate, and to the point, this book is the product of a lifetime of working in and thinking about museums; no museumgoer should miss it. The book
Matters of Belonging
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Wayne Modest
Categories: Belonging (Social psychology)
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This publication examines creative and collaborative practices within ethnographic and world cultures museums across Europe as part of their responses to ongoin