Starzenie się społeczeństwa a przyszłość muzeum
Ageing and the future of museum

Summary/Abstract: Ageing is one of the greatest social challenges of the 21st century for European societies. This paper explores the impact that the ageing of the population is having on museum practices. Ageing, it would seem, thus legitimates access to certain social experiences, while denying access to others, and also embraces sets of implicit expectations about behaviour in relation to aged identities. I argue that the ageing population presents both challenges and opportunities that museums will have to face in the very near future. Therefore, this paper contributes to the debate on how and why museums need to make some progress in terms of developing museum policies and museum programmes that reflect this important demographic change. Age is not a barrier to engagement or participation. The arts are effective at connecting isolated and lonely older people with the wider community, embracing different generations. There is good evidence that the arts have a positive impact on the physical and mental well-being of older people.

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