Introduction
According to modern surveys, fewer and fewer people belonging to ethnic minority groups are visiting museums. This is why it is a museum manager’s task to make museums more attractive not only to the wide public. Rising to this challenge requires a museum leader to perform a number of tasks, whereof we will give examples in this paper.
Main body
Firstly, the cultural heritage of ethnic minorities must not be underrepresented in a museum. Museums should position themselves as advocates of diversity. The goal of a leader is to change the overall perception of a museum by adapting it to non-traditional audiences. To attract such visitors, a museum must not be solely an exhibition of “white” and European artifacts, since any individual will be more inclined to visit a museum to learn about his or her own heritage and culture.
One may also note that minority art is not very well researched, that is why a museum manager needs to seek aid from historians, interested in community history or immigration, in order to make a comprehensive review of minority artworks, exhibited in the museum or a compilation of course materials about minority art to supply local universities. A great amount of time should be dedicated to cooperation with local minority establishments and councils in order to seek funding or individuals willing to cooperate in organizing events dedicated to minority art.
Various factors can prevent an individual from visiting a museum. One of them is the lack of knowledge and cultivated taste. There are also cases when an individual has no established tradition of visiting a museum. Both are influenced by cultural background and education level. The solution lies in an extensive interaction between museum managers and school managers. Studying museum artifacts of all ethnic groups should be integrated into classroom curricula as historic examples, thus making it of relevance for any racial group. Some children claim that museums are boring, that is why entertaining activities for children in the museum are crucial for altering children’s negative perception.
Conclusion
One of the reasons that prevent an individual or a group of people from visiting a museum is financial hardship. This problem can be partly dealt with by raising awareness about free visiting hours, available discounts, pass giveaways, etc.
This review is not comprehensive, since museums are enterprises, which bear a substantial, yet unresolved potential.