What Does A Trump Presidency Mean For Museums And The Cultural Sector?
“It’s a dark day in America” is a chilling statement in an email sent to subscribers by Hrag Vartanian, editor of the Hyperallergic blog, in response to Donald Trump’s U.S presidential victory. “A vision of one hope-filled America may have died tonight, ” is what concluded in the email and felt by many in the arts and cultural community in the US and worldwide.
Who am I?
I’m the Business Development Manager at Beaconmaker. Born in the US, raised in Australia and brought up by Iranian parents whom studied architecture and the other fine-art and theatre, so it was natural that I would play an interest in US politics and the art community. My daily work involves designing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon audio apps for museums, such as Met Museum, MoMA and the Guggenheim. My job involves me working alongside museum curators, directors, designers and artists to help their museum, gallery or event to succeed in the digital era.
So, when Donald John Trump was announced the 45th President of the United States — the question I asked myself was this;
How will Museums, Art and the Cultural sector be affected by this election?
Recently, Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker announced to ‘restructure’ its print magazine due to declining advertising revenue, which will mean reducing coverage of arts and culture. These topics will be merged with sports and lifestyle topics to create a new section called ‘Life & Arts’. “I want to stress that these changes and their ramifications for the newsroom are necessary not just because we must adjust to changing conditions in the print advertising business, but because we know from audience research that readers want a more digestible newspaper”, Baker said.
This brings me to revisit my question, that it’s apparent in the western world that companies involved with promoting the cultural sector have found themselves comprimising for profit. Should we question their agenda? or should we be more concerned with our society becoming less concerned with art and culture. This brings me to discuss further the notion of why their is a lack of attendance to cultural activities by various social groups.
Will museums compromise for profit? and at what cost?
These are some questions mueseum enthusiasts and educators raise to museums. Regardless of this argument, it is comforting to know that museums are going digital in this day-in-age. If you have recently visited a museum you could have noticed that the institutions are updating themselves in hopes of staying relevant in a world where video killed the radio star — and where Snapchat killed the Facebook meme.
Recently, seven museums in L.A are embracing digital technology by allowing visitors to share art on social media. “The thing that has changed from the mid-2000s is that everybody brings their own device now, which has really altered the museum business model,” says Rich Cherry, deputy director of the Broad and co-chair of the annual conference Museums and the Web, which will come to L.A. in April.
Cherry adds, “The primary space museums in L.A. are working in is in mobile apps. We live in a selfie culture. Everyone is on their phone. They’re using them to engage whether we provide the app or not.”
“Digital does not replace real objects, humans are very sophisticated about that, even small kids,” says Karen Wise, vice president of education and exhibits at the Natural History Museum.
Nonetheless, sometimes real objects, like the ancient mummies on display in the museum’s “Mummies” exhibit, can be better understood, and better accessed, using technology.
Another example of museums going digital is when our team at Beaconmaker designed The Australian Museum mobile app. The app includes audio tours, a searchable database of animal specimens on view, online collection of information and push notifications alerting visitors when they near an object.
And recently in the Middle-East, an article by Le Figaro reported that a museum dedicated to the late Fatah leader Yasser Arafat is to open on the premises of the Ramallah complex he occupied for much of his final decade (French language article). Opening this month, the museum, is estimated to cost around $7 million to construct, will chronicle Arafat’s life and by extension the last century of Palestinian history.
What’s next?
The art community has raised concerns over Trump’s recent victory, so how can I contribute to the art and museum community to make them feel more equipped to channel that frustration, concern, vulnerability?
In no means encompassing, this is what I plan to share with them:
To all museums — from historical to modern, I know you may feel powerless to the outside world, but one of the most important things you can do is to show empathy and be part of a change for the next generation. Please don’t proceed like it’s just another day or business as usual, but to acknowledge what’s happened, try to be part of a progressive change and encourage gender, cultural and racial inclusiveness.
If you have ideas or resources that can help museums and cultural stakeholders to follow post-election aftermath, please post them in the comments below. Thank you for having a conscious and please support cultural institutions on the right path.
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