Museums ‘should address socio-economic issues’

Museums should spend more time exploring issues of inequality and class differences in society, a report has suggested.

The study, conducted by Kings College London and the Museum of London, found that while attention has increasingly been devoted to issues around diversity in recent years – including race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender – issues around class have not recieved the same exposue.

The report calls for museums to address the the topic of socio-economic issues “not only through dedicated public programmes, curatorial projects and exhibition displays but also through more wide organisational change".

“We urge museums of every kind to embrace their social responsibility in this area, and come up with imaginative and institutionally relevant ways to address working-class stories drawing on the distinctive opportunities afforded by their collection, institutional history, locality and current and potential audiences,” the report, funded by Arts Council England, states.

A panel discussion to coincide with the launch of the report is due to be held on Wednesday (11 January).