Transcending fear - engaging emotions & opinion - a case for museums in the 21st century

Revaluating the roles of museums and the exhibitory complex in light of the presence of 'difficult' topics is necessary given that these matters invoke memory, emotions, attitudes, values and belief systems. Although museums now exist in a cultural and social context of contestation, and academics and museum practitioners have mused on these ideas, most conversations have been preoccupied with describing and deconstructing controversies or providing an introspective analysis of the emergence of museums as sites of controversy in the US context. Despite these recent arguments, and the continuous reassessment since the emergence of the new museology, of what the museum does and for whom institutions speak, there lacks a theoretical, analytical and practical framework based on sustained research to understand the contemporary and future roles of museums in relation to these subjects. To this end, investigations necessarily require a rethinking of the way museums have engaged and connected with communities, stakeholders and media in the past and how these modes of engagement can be extended and transformed to embrace the special relationship required for the proper engagement of potentially controversial subjects.