Unit 1: Audience

https://www.facebook.com/longmontmuseum/videos/239236724974363 (Sorry for the link, I couldn't get Blogger to accept any types of links other than Youtube).

Hey everybody,

     Last year, on February 17, my family (the Tanaka family), the Mayeda family, and the Kanemoto family were asked to share our family's history in the U.S. as a part of a series on voices in Longmont, Colorado's community. It was a panel of the three representatives and the host, questions were held until the end. The goal of the talk was understanding, learning other people's perspectives and histories. 

    The three families farmed a large part of Longmont, even contributing a large portion of land to the development of the city in the Kanemoto's case. All of them arrived as illegal immigrants through various means. 

    It was nice to share our history, without being interrupted. The questions were mostly respectful. The biggest thing, we were able to talk about difficult times-- the KKK's presence in Colorado, the looming threat of internment and Governor Carr, the U.S.'s longstanding anti-Asian sentiment -- without bruising egos. The museum, and the city by extension, didn't try to undermine our stories. 

    I hope that in the future there are more events like this one, an open discussion panel for minorities to share their stories, their oral histories. 

    That's really the way it should be. The museum shouldn't have to defend its interests in order to survive, undermining its community and values, like in the example scenario by Isabel Singer on their Wordpress article.

    In the article, Singer describes a hypothetical scenario that a museum might run into. The museum, rightly or wrongly, decides to avoid angering their donors, avoiding controversial topics, even though the community decides that there are more useful or relevant topics to explore. It has the consequence of alienating the community the museum is supposed to serve.

    Most museums aren't funded publicly, so donors are their biggest source of funding. Even Longmont Museum is partially funded by donors, so their funding was endangered if the Voices of Change series upset one of their donors. Someone in the museum thought it was more important that voices in the community were heard, instead of the donor's feelings and agenda.

    I might be giving too much credit, but I felt that the series was brave on the museum's part; a good way to bridge a gap between the community and the overwhelmingly white audience of the museum.

Ever the slacker,

Andrew Horiuchi

Singer, Isabel, “Museums are Predators,” It’s All How You Remember It, blog, November 29, 2021,                 https://itsallhowyourememberit.wordpress.com/2021/11/29/museums-are-predators/