What Are Museums For? Episode 3: Representation

For many individuals and communities, the history of art has been a history of neglect, exclusivity and exclusion. In this episode of What Are Museums For?, Fitzwilliam Museum Director Luke Syson and Athena Art Foundation Director Nicola Jennings are joined by Rebecca Birrell, Jennifer Higgie and Dan Vo, to consider representation in the context of gender, sexuality and sexual politics. Have approaches to the acquisition and display of works by and documenting women and LGBTQ+ lives changed in recent years? How should museums deal with problematic histories and with objectifying or violent imagery from the past? What level of responsibility do museums have to ‘represent’ particular identities or communities?

This podcast is a Fitzwilliam Museum, Colnaghi Foundation and Athena Art Foundation co-production.