A View from the Smithsonian: Connecting Communities to Collections

Abstract

AC: So, what’s most important to you in terms of the applied implications for museum work and your experiences? What has really stood out? JB: The reason I took this job was because of the Smithsonian’s public platform—having a chance to work at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), which has some 7 million visiting public members a year. Then, there is the 126 million objects from around the world, of which some 2 million is in the anthropology department, collected over some 200 years. These collections have constituencies around the world in their communities of origin. When this breadth and depth of collections is combined with the interdisciplinary staff at the museum and our diverse audiences—there is the potential for a truly transformative experience. I realize that I am very optimistic in saying this, but I think the combination of collections, relationships with heritage communities, and the wider public of the museum, sets one up to be able to talk and do things that you can’t do just within an academic setting at a university. Part of it is that with this wider constituency, we have a broader and more complex set of ethical obligations that necessitates us to think much more thoroughly about who our audience is and what, and for whom, we are doing our work. This is then combined with our greater capacity and opportunity to do something with a wider reach that is actually profound—such as connecting communities to collections and challenging public perceptions about the world. So, it’s that combination of what is possible, the collections and communities, the platform and audience A VIEW FROM THE SMITHSONIAN: CONNECTING COMMUNITIES TO COLLECTIONS