The Manifesto is made up of eight principles, providing support for developing learning and engagement practice in all areas of museum work. The eight principles are:
- Cultural rights and cultural democracy – Access to and participation in culture is a basic human right. Everyone has a right to representation and agency in museums, and communities should have the power to decide how they engage.
- Social justice – Museums have a responsibility to work with their communities to overcome the challenges of poverty and exclusion and to achieve equality of outcomes.
- Activism – Museums are not neutral. Museum activism should be based on listening, acting and delivering with our communities.
- Community participation – Museums should develop innovative models of engagement which represent the cultural context of their communities and nations and that are brave and challenging. Community groups should be valued and fully engaged with all functions of the museum.
- Collections – Collections belong to communities and without people museums are just storage warehouses. Collections are for public use.
- Research and evaluation – Museums should support people-centred research that responds to the challenges in society and leads to positive change.
- Partnerships – Partnerships should bring communities together and be based on the principle of equity. Museums should work with a diverse range of partners and think beyond traditional partners and audiences.
- Workforce – Museums need a workforce that represents their communities, is respected and rewarded equally, and delivers and supports the ambitions of this Manifesto.
Throughout the course, we will explore each principle in detail.
In the next section, we will start to look at how you can use the Manifesto to inform your practice.