LoGaCulture recently joined over one hundred colleagues from the museum and cultural sector in a day-long dialogue on the contemporary role of museum mediation. Spanning eight hours of talks and parallel sessions, the Museological Mediation and Heritage Interpretation Conference took place at Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (the Natural History Museum located in Lisbon, Portugal) on 05 April 2024, exploring topics as wide and varied as mediation of difficult heritage narratives or cultural prescribing for wellbeing.
Pedro Ferreira, a senior postdoctoral researcher with LoGaCulture, co-facilitated a session on “Digital and Creative Connections”, one of six discussion sessions running through the afternoon. Across three hours, dozens of participants shared personal and valuable insights on their museum practices and the manifold challenges they face.
With its focus on engaging European publics with the cultural and natural heritage that surrounds them, LoGaCulture shared the efforts it’s making on creating innovative interactive technologies to foster those human-culture connections, especially as the consortium makes digital tools available in coming years. “Museum professionals must be trained to accept, or even imaginatively overcome, these challenges, which is why it is imperative to recognize the importance of their work in building a more inclusive and democratic society,” commented Inês Bettencourt da Câmara, Founder and Manager of Mapa das Ideias, the cultural mediation partner that organized the one-day conference.
“Talking about mediation and interpretation in museums and cultural and natural heritage always involves thinking about people,” added da Câmara. “For this reason, we wanted to create a polyphony that would push the Museum out of its institutional comfort zone.” Through its own dynamic session, LoGaCulture lend a helping hand.