Social inclusion in Maltese museums : an African perspective

Abstract

Social inclusion is currently a much talked about topic, especially within the European Union, and as the Maltese society becomes increasingly multicultural, it is important that different ethnic groups are included and represented within museums. This dissertation explores whether social inclusion is present in Maltese museums. This was done with special reference to a sample of three distinct museums and by exploring the perspectives of the African community residing in Malta. . Three museum respondents represented three different museums; National (Heritage Malta), Private (Casa Rocca Piccola), and NGO (Palazzo Falson). These interviews portrayed the views and practices on the current situation when dealing with social inclusion. Moreover, interviews with a sample of eight African nationals expressed their point of views on museums in Malta. As resulted from the views of the representatives of the African community social inclusion is minimal within Maltese Museums. Results also show that the main target audience are; school children followed by tourists. In the case of Heritage Malta, this lack of appropriate policies by the Outreach Department is preventing them from conveying and attracting different audiences. The African community’s viewpoint considers museums stand as custodians of old and ancient artefacts. Museums resulted to be valuable sources of education for the children of the African respondents. However, the African respondents did not express any particular interest or motivation to visit museums. The results also show that Maltese museums have a long way to improve their social inclusion policies and practices.