With different perspectives and emotions being always involved, there is no such thing as neutrality and it therefore should and can not be the goal of museumswork. But what we should aim for is the awareness and transparency of our own perspective, the sensitivity to the emotions of others and the will to include diverse points of view in our daily work.
Lisa Firlus, 2024
“Museen zeigen Geschichte und Geschichte ist nun mal Geschichte." (which translates to" Museums present history and there is just one history.”), my uncle once said when we were talking about my master program “Management and Communication in Museums". I talked a lot about our curriculum and the role of museums with my friends and family and we often ended up talking about museums being or rather not being a neutral institution. I got the impression that, as my uncle, a lot of people have the idea of a museum presenting history or art in a neutral way and that they don't question the institution itself.
Even silence is a form of communication and therefore not neutral. You always position yourself in some way, if you like it or not.
