Older audiences and museums

This from Willy Tseng: Dear Sir / Madam : My name is Willy. I am a graduate student from Taiwan. I am making a study of museology. I have a question should like to ask the Australian Museum. It is an aging population society . In Australian Museum , no matter in exhibition, education or research, What does the museum do to answer this phenomenon ? Thank you.

Thanks Willy. Older audiences have long been of interest to several of us at the Museum. In 2002 we did a comprehensive study, Energised, engaged, everywhere: older audience and museums that looked at this very issue. Since then we have been programming for this group through tours and special events. I have also been noticing the shift in our regular demographics, especially recently with the opening of our new Dinosaur exhibition, with grandparents bringing their grandchildren. As we now plan for our new learning spaces older visitor are ones we are keen to target.

The best example of a museum/gallery thinking about this group is the National Gallery of Ireland – they had a conference Lifelong learning in museums and galleries focussing on creativity in older people which was really awesome. There is a publication but I can't find it on their website – I suggest you contact Dr Marie Bourke, Keeper of Education there and request a copy of the conference proceedings, they're really good. The paper I gave, Creating meaningful experiences for adults tailored to their expectations and learning styles can be found on my wiki ( go down the page a bit). I also did blog post about it too.

Good luck with your research Willy.

Lifelong Learning Conference Roundtable

Attended this session yesterday and found it really inspiring. There certainly is a lot of innovative work and thinking going on in Ireland about all audiences, not just older ones.
There was quite a focus on reminiscence, which is something that really interests me as it isn't dealt with in Australia at all I feel, although on reflection some of the digital stories we are doing with Indigenous communities and objects is getting there. The work of the Age Exchange in London was mentioned as a good resource, particularly for developing reminiscence kits.
Another thing that struck me was the work at the Ulster Museum and the Ireland Museum of Modern Art where they used older groups to actually produce product for them in terms of the reminiscence boxes at Ulster and various programming initiatives at IMMA. The poetry/writers group that uses the National Gallery of Ireland was also very inspiring, and often brought a tear to the eye (actually everything about the Gallery is incredibly impressive and has given me a lot to think about in terms of programming at my Museum).
Seems that collaboration is the key, while also considering (and planning for) sustainabilty after grant fudidng finishes. One of the challenges raised was that museums need to develop outreach programs for a variety of community groups, not just a traditional focus on schools. I think there is a lesson there for our Museum in a Box program - some of the potential audiences discussed at the roundtable were offenders; those with dementia; ethnic minorities; users of mental health services; those that are housebound (not just the elderly or with disabilities - think young mums) and intergenerational groups.
All in all a fine day, topped with a wonderful dinner in a beautiful part of the gallery.