Introduction: Transformative Museum Experiences at a Time of Transformation

Abstract

This introductory chapter contextualises and reflects critically on the emerging trends characterising the evolving social role advocated by museums in society, with an emphasis on museum experiences as vehicles for change or transformation. It looks at transformation by adopting a systemic perspective, anchored in the transformative potential of the experiences that museums offer to visitors, and then zooming out to turn attention towards the way recent changes in the socio-political and cultural context reverberated in structural and functional changes inside the museum and connected institutions and communities. The chapter is structured along a series of questions, starting by unpacking a rationale for transformative experiences and why they are worthy of attention at this particular moment (Why), then focusing on what we mean by transformative experiences in the context of museums (What), on particularities of design approaches and supporting technologies for crafting transformative experiences (How), and closing with reflections on the meaning and significance of it all, for the museum, the visitor, diverse audience groups and society as a whole (For whom and For what). The final part of the Introduction then reviews these themes once again, narrating how they are woven in the book narrative.