Museums & Stereotypes: Anti-Stereotype Kit for Museums Launched

The second edition of the International Training School on Museums and Stereotypes has concluded, resulting in a toolkit designed to help museum professionals dismantle stereotypes. The school, promoted by social cooperative ABCittà, featured moderators Anna Chiara Cimoli and Maria Chiara Chiaccheri, with speakers Aurora Rodonò (Diversity Officer at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne), Sarah Smed (head of the Danish Welfare Museum), and Bernadette Lynch (writer, researcher, and museum professional). They discussed how museums can give voice to the anonymous, make visible the often invisible, and provide new insights on familiar names and events. The toolkit uses 20th-century photographs taken mostly in museums to prompt open-ended questions about gender, sexuality, age, cultural background, ability, and museum practices like exhibition design, education, and communication. The initiative aims to support social inclusion and challenge stereotypes both within museums and in the wider community.