"Museums of Tomorrow (Issues in Cultural Theory)"

Museums of Tomorrow (Issues in Cultural Theory) by Maxwell Anderson, George Baker, Alexander ALberro, Donna De Salvo

Published in 2004, this is the transcript of a 2-week online symposium of curators, museum directors, educators, art historians, and artists. It's surprisingly readable, considering I think it contains long e-mailed postings as content. But Maurice Berger, curator at the Center for Art and Visual Culture, does a great job engendering thoughtful and honest comments. Some topics are all-too-common, e.g. the rise of the corporate model for museums or the struggle between museum educators and curators. And some participants seem to present lists of their own institution's accomplishments rather than jumping in and joining the argument. But many of the responses are very thoughtful and even critical of one another. It's great to hear some of the curators talk about their vision for museums without towing the typical party line.