Museum Leaders Outline Post-Pandemic Institutional Reforms: Redistribution, Anti-Racism, and Digital Equity

Museum directors and curators globally are reimagining institutional structures in response to COVID-19 and social justice movements. Laura Raicovich, interim director of New York's Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, emphasizes confronting societal inequities within museum operations through a "radical slowing down" that prioritizes process over product. At Para Site in Hong Kong, executive director Cosmin Costinas launched PS Paid Studio Visits, providing fees and health insurance to over 80 local artists while adjusting programming timelines to support collaborators financially during postponements. Dan Hicks of Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum advocates for redistribution of resources from wealthy metropolitan institutions to local museums, active anti-racism, restitution of looted artifacts, and treating audiences as co-producers. Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, director of Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, notes the MCA's June 16 reopening and highlights challenges of digital access equity, with some partner schools lacking internet connectivity. She questions the future of international blockbuster exhibitions amid climate concerns while committing to profiling Australian art. All leaders stress institutional humility, community solidarity, and structural reforms over mere programming adjustments, with Hong Kong experiencing earlier closures in late January and New York confronting anti-Black violence during lockdowns.