STUDIO i wants to inspire, inform and connect
STUDIO i is initiated by the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. Our goal is to make the cultural field more inclusive. The project ran from 2017 until 2020 and is now finished.
Why inclusion?
In an inclusive environment, everyone feels recognised and appreciated. And yet in society, we see the same stereotypes over and over again. An imagined ‘norm’ is often repeated; you only have to look at the people in advertisements. They usually share the same look, and the same cultural and social background. They have neither disabilities nor financial problems.
However, there are so many people in the Netherlands whose disability, sexual orientation, cultural background, financial situation, family composition, and so on, mean they don’t fall into that ‘norm’.
Would these people recognise themselves among the staff, public and programmes on offer at your institution? What about the visiting public of the future? How future proof is an exclusive theatre or museum if we take account of trends such as an ageing population and globalisation?
Check out our animation for the basics of inclusion.
Inclusion is a process
The process of creating a more inclusive cultural sector is already well underway. A lot of cultural institutions have launched projects or created programmes that appeal to new target audiences, often in collaboration with those communities. Such an inclusive project can act as a flywheel within your organisation, and by working together with target audiences, you can create a more open atmosphere within your cultural institution.
This website features inspiring regional, national and international cases from the sector.
Inclusion is not something you can do alone
Although inclusion isn’t complicated, everything is difficult to begin with. STUDIO i would like to offer guidance in the process that many cultural institutions are involved in, towards a more inclusive cultural sector.
We do not presume to know everything there is to know on the subject. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven are both in the midst of a process of inclusion. That is why we are collaborating with the sector and with partners who possess specialist knowledge and experience.
An intersectional approach
To reach people, museums got used to categorizing their visitors. But this is where we unconsciously fall short, as identity has multiple layers. Each individual consists of several intersections. You are many things at the same time. How can museums take the multi-layered identity of their visitors into account? We share some insights on this issue in our animation on intersectionality.
See what STUDIO i does
It is our firm conviction that museums should be accessible to everyone – regardless of their cultural and social background, gender or disability, whatever form they may take – so in recent years we have developed innovative programmes for people who cannot simply take museum visits for granted.
