Research statement

Doctoral research
My doctoral research adopts a cross-disciplinary approach to investigate the relationship between states/governments and museums. I argue that one common feature of the relationship between states and museums across countries, that of museums representing the idea of the state, and of thereby civilizing citizens, has expanded significantly to now encompass multiple objectives. I point out that the idea of the museum itself is of a protean nature; and this has contributed to the museum’s highly dynamic presentation since the last two decades of the 20th century. Secondly, based on Western European practices, my research identifies the advent of post-industrial society and the prevalence of cultural consumption as crucial factors leading to changes of the state-museum relationship. Meanwhile, based on UK practices as a representative case, I argue that the government’s radical policy changes under the flag of Neoliberalism and New Public Management are the driving forces contributing to these unprecedented changes in museums. In addition, I use the cases of France and the US to further demonstrate that among the Neoliberal influences on museums, socio-cultural traditions and institutional structures are the main factors in determining the degree of the state’s adoption of Neoliberal instruments.

The second part of my doctoral research is an in-depth case study of Taiwan, and of how the state-museum relationship in Taiwan has been influenced by Western practices (including Japan’s colonial governance of Taiwan that was modelled on the West), as well as Taiwan’s own political, economic and socio-cultural trajectories. I propose the argument that, since the late 1970s, as a “developmental state”, museum development in Taiwan has operated under various highly centralised national economic plans. Meanwhile, the state-museum relationship has been subject to the state’s different political agenda, and economic objectives, as society changed. My finding is that the state-museum relationship has developed from one with a few objectives to one of multiple-objectives and is highly dynamic. However, the changing relationship between the two must be scrutinized from multiple perspectives –mainly from political economy, institutional structure, and socio-cultural tradition– in order to see a complete picture.

Current and future research interests
My early research on museums before my doctoral research questions the museum’s contribution to the economy (Chu, 2004). Based on the Taiwan case, I argued that only “superstar museums” have the capacity to generate substantial economic activity; while most museums in Taiwan were of medium or small scale with few star collections to attract large visitor numbers and therefore their contribution to economy was limited. However, as museums’ functions expanded and as the government promoted cultural tourism much more than before, I modified this point of view in a later research paper (Chu & Chang, 2008), suggesting that the contemporary trend of incorporating education, and culture to leisure activities have made small and medium sized museums a part of the tourist network and helped stimulating the local economy. Pursuing my interest in museums’ contribution to the economy, and government museum policy, I plan to expand my research further by putting museums in the development studies in various national contexts. The countries I am interested in exploring further are other developmental states including Japan, South Korea, or Singapore; and regional governments of China (given that economic and cultural development are highly uneven and basing discussion at a national level in China would not be appropriate.) I intend to test how the framework I set up in my doctoral research needs to be modified and supplemented.

Secondly, based on my research on museums and globalization (Chu, 2007), in which I discussed the global businesses of establishing branch museums, I am keen to explore further how, under the sway of globalization, museum practices, policies, and museum architecture led by advanced economies have influenced other localities.

I am currently conducting a comparative study of three museum renovation projects - the recently renovated Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the British Museum’s Great Court project, and New York MoMA’s renovation project in the early 2000s. These renovation projects did not alter the urban landscape but changed the museums’ interior and the visitor experience. I hope to expand this research by offering a comprehensive study of changes in the museum space and museum architecture, and discussing how these changes are closely connected with the contesting idea of the museum itself, and broader social and cultural changes in the 20th century.


References
Chu, C.-J. (2004, Octboer 4-6). Museums and creative industries: a myth in Taiwan. Paper presented at the INTERCOM (International Committee on Management), ICOM general meetings, Seoul.

Chu, C.-J. (2007, July 8-11). Re-examining museums and globalization. Paper presented at the The 9th International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management (AIMAC 2007), Valencia, Spain.

Chu, C.-J.; Chang, S.-Y. (2008). Taipei City Museum in the Making In I. Jones (Ed.), City Museums and City Development: AltaMira Press.