Collecting and Museology

To celebrate the first ten years of the international forum Collecting and Display, as well as the launch of a dedicated series of publications “Collecting Histories”, in 2014, a conference dedicated to new directions in terms of collecting, display, visitor experience and the use of modern media in today’s museums was held at the museums of the city of Memmingen in Bavaria. Speakers looked into whether and how the engagement with the history of collections, in their diverse permutations, has influenced and modified modern museology. This volume looks forward towards a future which oftentimes looks bleak due to funding cuts, lack of appreciation of cultural history and a sometimes dubious art trade in times of looting and vandalism. On the positive side, the future of museums and museology nonetheless offers exciting prospects as far as diverse possibilities of display, as well as museology courses taught at universities worldwide, are concerned; not to forget the rising visitor numbers at many of the great museums worldwide.