Research Strategies in Inclusive Museology with the Museo del Prado Collections. Towards Universal Accessibility, Sensoriality, and Social Integration

Abstract

Following postmodernism, for the past four decades, History of Art, heritage and museum studies have evolved towards an encounter with other disciplines. Traditional research in artworks has led to studies on cultural institutions themselves. Studies in art sociology has allowed us to evolve from an understanding of art production to understanding the people; those who create as well as those who perceive and all the individuals in between: artists, donors, collectors, audiences, etc. These researches conducted a shift of paradigm in museums administration, increasingly taking into account visitors’ needs, demands and cultural experience. It is at this moment when a will to render heritage accessible also manifest in public policies. For instance, in 1959, the Ministry of cultural affairs of France is created. André Malraux assumed the head of the ministry in its first decade of existence and stated among its fundamental missions to “make capital artworks of humanity accessible (…) and to ensure the largest audience possible to our cultural heritage”. With the time, other ministries of heritage and culture were created all along Europe. Ever since, they have all little by little integrated the notions of inclusion, cultural democratization and universal accessibility.