Short Abstract:

This panel and roundtable explore how ethnography conducted within and with cultural institutions can contribute to developing spaces for imagining new perspectives that allow for diversity and plurality.

Long Abstract:

Based on an increased awareness of old hegemonies of inclusion and exclusion, established cultural institutions, such as museums, archives and libraries are rethinking their practices. While new initiatives are questioning these paradigms from the ground up, other institutions still have to find their ways towards change. These transitions are taking place in diverse contexts, from the superdiverse metropolis to post-industrial rural areas, where new stories, so far underrepresented in the authoritative cultural space, are in need to be told.

Often, to facilitate these transitions, diverse methodologies, for instance artistic interventions, are employed and external partners are consulted. It seems that academics working with ethnographic methods are rarely invited into these spaces to offer their unique methods.

We want to explore how ethnography conducted within and with cultural institutions can contribute to developing spaces for imagining new perspectives that allow for diversity and plurality. What are the preconditions and risks of stepping into and working in these institutional spaces? How to create a safe collaborative space to study institutional practices? How can academics and professionals trained in working with ethnographic methods help institutions to change in order to become enablers of more prosperous futures?

We look forward to receiving papers that present concrete cases from the field as well as papers that focus on theoretical, practical, and ethical considerations. The panel will be followed by a round table where we like to discuss more generally the opportunities, challenges, and limitations of ethnography in contributing to cultural institutions in transition.

This Panel+Roundtable has so far received 2 contribution proposal(s).
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