Doing Museology Differently

One might believe that museum studies is a stable field of academic inquiry based on a set of familiar institutional forms and functions. But as institutions museums have never been stable or singular, and neither has the discipline of museum studies. Museum studies as a field of academic inquiry has received little critical attention. One result of this neglect has arguably been a lack of invention in museum studies; another is the distancing of academic museum studies from museum practice. Doing Museology Differently charts a different course. A critical-creative reflection on academic practice, the book takes the form of a narrative account of museological fieldwork. A research story unfolds, challenging academic conventions at the level of its own presentation: the book combines critical museum visiting with an autobiographical voice. The identification of a previously underexplored interdisciplinary space leads the author to experiment with museum studies using contemporary developments in the theory and practice of human geography. The new approaches to museological research and representation that emerge from this unique inquiry challenge assumed institutional and intellectual boundaries and act as a call to further creative experimentation.

Introduction: After the Lord Mayor’s Show Part1. Adventures in Museology 1.Termini: Departures, Arrivals, Returns 2. Art Artist, A Museum, A City and A Researcher Part2. Relational Museum Studies 3. Knowing the Field 4.Museology as a Craft Conclusion

Duncan Grewcock is Senior Lecturer in Museum & Gallery Studies at the School of Art & Design History, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Kingston University London. A museologist and museum planner, Duncan is Course Director of MA Museum & Gallery Studies and MA Heritage (Contemporary Practice).