Jago Cooper: Re-thinking world museums in times of global change

Join BBC documentary presenter Jago Cooper as he explores the changing role of museums in the 21st Century.

RAMM’s recent Arts Council funded work on the re-display of the World Cultures Galleries brought into the public eye many of the big questions facing cultural institutions with diverse collections sourced from around the world.

Today all museums, from national to regional to local, are re-evaluating how and why international collections are displayed the way they are.

However, perhaps it is time to re-think some of the more fundamental justifications surrounding why museums exist and what their role in society should be?

Using the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and the British Museum to illuminate these thoughts, this talk will review some of the historical legacies of the museum world and sketch out some creative ideas for what a very different style of museum might look like in the future.

Jago Cooper is Director of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and Professor of Art and Archaeology at UEA.

For more than twenty years Jago has worked for and with museums and heritage organisations around the world to explore and communicate aspects of the great human story.

His books and publications provide innovative perspectives on cultural experience and interpretation of material expression. His research has ranged broadly across universal questions facing global society including climate change, technological revolution, colonial encounter and social innovation.

In addition to his academic publications and papers, Jago has always worked hard to engage a broader public audience with his research interests creating exhibitions, digital platforms and broadcast media including writing and presenting more than a dozen documentaries for the BBC.

For those who can’t make it to RAMM for this event, it will also be live-streamed via Zoom on the night (sorry, no recording of this event is possible).