It is very difficult to represent planetary change in the gallery space of a single museum, or even several. There are no obvious objects. Numbers and graphs in isolation do not make for an exciting exhibition or appeal to the very mixed audiences that museums attract. Nonetheless the museum sector has a moral obligation to use its collections and exhibitions and other events to explore some of the inequalities wrought by global warming.
Curating Climate Change explores the power of real objects and collections to stir hearts and minds. The book tackles the broad global issue of climate change through specific collections and in local places. It reflects the Pacific community at its core, but also embraces many other communities who will experience the adverse effects of climate change sooner or later. It is part of a wider endeavour where material collections, with cultural and humanities traditions, can work with sciences and together build new networks and collaboration for the environmental humanities, not just in New York and Samoa, but more broadly. The book is rich with practical museum experience and detail, as well as critical, analytical and philosophical about where a museum can intervene to speak to this great conundrum of our times.
This book is essential reading for all those working in museums and grappling with how to talk about climate change. It also has academic applications in courses of museology and museum studies, cultural studies, heritage studies, digital humanities, design, anthropology, and environmental humanities.
