Conference Day 2: Discourse

November 28, 2025

Post-neutrality in Museums: Cultural Communication Betwenn Expertise, Activism, and Public Value

– Nana Kann Rasmussen

Keynote

Museums all over Europe are in the midst of a major transformation from being understood as neutral or strict scientifically grounded cultural institutions to undertaking a more distinct and active position on certain societal issues. Museum professionals today are concerned with contributing to a more inclusive society and drawing attention to past injustices. Simultaneously, museums are increasingly involved in solving new types of tasks in society, e.g. fighting climate change or engaging in issues of health and well-being.

In this talk, Nanna Kann-Rasmussen will describe this development using examples from Denmark and discuss how it can be understood both as a continuation of modern Western cultural policy, long oriented toward values such as diversity, participation, and inclusion, and as the emergence of a new, more activist practice within museums. The talk will also explore why this shift is occurring now, linking it to broader changes in public governance and the evolving expectations placed on cultural institutions.

Nanna Kann-Rasmussen is a cultural policy researcher based in University of Copenhagen, Denmark with a focus on the relationship between cultural institutions and society. Her work examines how libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) legitimize themselves through user orientation, social relevance, and even activism. She has contributed to debates on New Public Governance and how it shapes cultural policy rationales. From 2024 to 2028, she leads the Velux-funded project Post-neutrality in Libraries, Archives and Museums.

“Museum Discourse”: Exploring relations of power and knowledge. – Emily Pringle

Short Talk

Museums are complex institutions with multiple and at times conflicting agendas. This presentation draws on the philosopher Michel Foucault’s concept of ‘discourses of power’ to examine how the relationship between knowledge and power continues to shape museum practices. Specifically the talk focuses on the ‘Four Discourses of the Art Museum’ model I developed in 2019. This model helps to clarify why certain practices and viewpoints can dominate within the museum and ultimately how powerful discourses can operate to reaffirm some activities and perspectives while simultaneously excluding others.

Emily Pringle trained as a painter and worked for several years as an artist, educator, researcher and programmer. From 2010 to 2019 she was Head of Learning Practice and Research at Tate, developing research-led programming and co-managing the London Learning department. In 2017 Emily was awarded an AHRC Leadership Fellowship to examine research practices in art museums. The publication from this research – ‘Rethinking Research in the Art Museum’ – was published in July 2019. From February 2019 to December 2022 Emily was Head of Research at Tate, nurturing and overseeing research across the organisation. Now working freelance, Emily collaborates with a range of organisations in the UK and internationally in the areas of strategy and programme development, research, mentoring, project and people management. Emily has also returned to her studio, while continuing to write and maintain her Practitioner Research in the Art Museum blog (PRAM – Practitioner Research in the Art Museum).

From Custodians of Heritage to Arenas of Civic Discourse: How Museums Can Foster Dialogue on Climate Change and Societal Challenges – Giulia Valentina Paglia

Short Talk

Museums are no longer just custodians of heritage; they are increasingly expected to act as civic spaces for dialogue and engagement. Drawing on my research with NEMO’s Working Group on Sustainability and Climate Action and the guide Fostering Dialogue in Divisive Times, the present keynote explores how museums can organise community forums that make “distant yet crucial” themes such as climate change and sustainability legible and actionable for citizens. At the same time, interviews with museum professionals reveal persistent barriers: reaching beyond niche audiences and truly positioning museums as inclusive meeting places remains challenging. The talk examines both the promise and the limits of this evolving civic role and offers concrete strategies to bridge the gap.

Giulia Paglia graduated cum laude in Communication and Society at the Università degli Studi di Milano in 2022, with a thesis on the instrumental use of information in postmodern totalitarian movements. She is currently a Master’s student in Culture Studies at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, where she is writing her thesis on alternative media and institutional communication for young audiences. In 2024, she published Fostering Dialogue in Divisive Times, a research guide commissioned by NEMO’s Working Group on Sustainability and Climate Action.

Fresh Aproaches to Participation and Co-creation: How we Involve Diverse Audiences in Shaping Museum Experiences and Foster Real Dialogue — David Weigend

Short Talk

David presents innovative approaches to audience participation at Futurium Lab in Berlin, where interactive experiences are co-created with diverse visitor groups. Drawing on insights from game design and futures studies, he demonstrates how analog and digital learning games can break down barriers, making complex topics accessible while fostering genuine dialogue. He shares practical prototyping methods—including generative AI tools—that enable museums to rapidly test and iterate participatory formats based on real visitor needs.

David Weigend is Head of Futurium Lab in Berlin, where he develops interactive formats for creative engagement with the future alongside partners from science, business, and society. With a background in economics, design thinking, and futures research (MA, Freie Universität Berlin), plus several years as a game developer, David specializes in creating new learning and interaction formats that make complex topics accessible and inspire enthusiasm for future-oriented themes. His work focuses on differentiated approaches that take diverse visitor needs seriously while using co-creation and testing as core design elements.