the creative-culture-knowledge divide

The creative economy refers to the fields that hold 25-30% of employment in highly developed nations. It refers to the industries ranging from publishing and engineering to research and development. What they all have in common is they are driven by ideas and creativity. Even a dude as well as another dude wrote a whole book about it. Now what's the big deal?

Well, they are pretty posh jobs for pretty posh people attracted to pretty posh cities. In Lord's The Manual of Museum Learning, museums can be seen "as a talent magnet for the creative economy" and attract audiences/visitors from that similar pool. After reading that, I kinda wanted to barf. I had a horrible flashback of a guard yelling at me because I thought Maya Lin's Systematic Landscapes was interactive. But sticking to my new years resolution of not barfing (okay, it was more about being patient) I continued reading and was delighted with this:

"Some people think that this notion of the creative economy applies only to a small percentage of the population...therefore, a museum's decision to change in the direction of openness, dialogue, and interdisciplinary activity impacts only an elite group. That would miss a very important point: all human beings are creative - whether or not they work in or earn their living through the creative economy. Lifelong learning is thus for everyone - and museums, because they are open to all, no matter what their level of academic or economic achievement, can be places of lifelong learning for everyone" (p. 8).

Cheesy, I know, but relevant to this discussion! We are so quick to be aware and adamant against the 'technological divide' we forget that there's an even greater disconnect - a creative-culture-knowledge divide between generations, communities, and social groups as museum experiences continue to target specific audiences and remain in cities that cost a million dollars to live in. Even the very people (community of origin; Lord, p. 15) that the museum artifacts come from, people directly related to the objects on display are rarely included in the creative, decision-making process. I as well am part of that divide - there were plenty of times when I had no connection or understanding of an Asian-American art exhibition I visited!

Sure, the viewer takes away what they want to learn and there is equal responsibility in the museum-based learning process, however, how can we better bridge this process? What changes need to be made? And as Lord asks, What and how can we learn from objects? (p. 17)

AND as the links to the right show, museums are evolving and progressing and redefining their roles in contemporary society and potential and possibilities are sprouting like sprouts! So with this in mind, I hope further reading and discussion will help answer the following:

• How do cultural institutions provide the most effective means of creating a society in which people work together to solve problems and create knowledge?

• How do museums occupy a central role in civil society as a real place that can influence meaningful change to an even greater depth in the creative economy of the future? (Lord, p. 9)

• And how do we prevent the creative-culture-knowledge divide (I know I made it up and it sounds funny, but you get my point!!!)?