Cultural Strategist András Szántó To Address Where Museums Are Heading

The pandemic caused museums across the globe to close their doors for an extended period of time and get creative with their programming. Cultural strategist András Szántó explores how museum leaders are adapting to current challenges in his new book, The Future of the Museum: 28 Dialogues.

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill will welcome Szántó to Friday Nights Live! for a live-stream chat with Corinne Erni, Senior Curator of ArtsReach and Special Projects, on Friday, February 12 at 5:00 p.m.

“András has created an invaluable snapshot of the current museum conversations and I look forward to exploring with him topics that range from entrepreneurial visions behind new institutions, the examination of art history through new angles and the questioning of the custodians of knowledge, to how Covid and the murder of George Floyd forced museums to engage in new models for radical inclusivity and to be of service in the community,” said Erni.

For The Future of the Museum: 28 Dialogues, Szántó, who advises museums, foundations, educational institutions, and brands on cultural strategy, spoke with nearly 30 directors about how museums are adapting to our new normal, and the most encouraging adaptations to challenges museums are facing. Each conversation explores a specific issue in museum practice, such as “Community” and “Equity” to “De-Westernization” and “Immersive Experiences.”

“As one reads though the dialogues, a distinctive and more or less unifying philosophy emerges about what an art museum is and what it should aspire to be,” Szántó declared in the book’s introductory essay. “If the late twentieth century ushered in a liberating pluralism in art and cultural expression, it can only be hoped that the twenty-first century will do the same for the institutions of art. This sense of open possibility would be the ultimate guarantor of the enduring strength and relevance of the museum form.”

The candid conversations delve into how institutions are working to become more open and inclusive, technologically proficient, thinking outside the box, and focusing on the needs of their visitors and communities.

Leaders are working towards “a more responsive, empathetic, public-facing museum,” Szántó noted.

For more information, visit parrishart.org.