On 15 November, the second event in the CCPR/CREATe ‘Reflections on Culture’ series was held in the ARC. Dr Mark O’Neill’s wide-ranging lecture began with an absorbing photographic account of the little-known history of Glasgow’s museums. He underlined how, over 150 years, the city’s public had sustained a deep sense of public ownership in its museums. The local civic culture had encouraged those of all social backgrounds to visit collections regularly – a unique situation in the UK, and highly distinctive internationally.

Dr O’Neill next drew on his five-years’ experience as a judge in the European Museum of the Year competition. He lavishly illustrated the breadth of museum practices across the continent while casting an ironic illustrated eye over institutions that failed to welcome their visitors due to poor signage and obscure entrances.

In conclusion, Mark O’Neill called for new research into fostering the widest possible range of museum attendance. He argued that we should know much more about those who had persistently overcome social and economic obstacles to visit museums. It was time to recognise how, despite all the well-meaning cant and misguided evaluation projects, museums still super-served the most well off. It was time to change this.

The event was curated and chaired by CCPR’s Professor Philip Schlesinger. An audio recording will be made available soon.

First published: 17 November 2023

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