Can we make a difference?

Ten upcoming young museum professionals from around the world gathered in the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam to discuss the crisis of the ethnographic museum. What is the relevance of these former colonial museums in todayâs society? Can they make a difference? The ten papers presented show that they still do. In every part of the world, individuals and institutions are trying to find innovative ways to make heritage of the past relevant for the present. From culture banks in Africa to museum cooperatives in Asia and collection libraries in Europe, the different case studies show that the ethnographic museum has a bright future, in North and South, as long as we do not cling to the term ethnographic or the term museum. The conference Museums, Society & Development and this publication were produced by the Royal Tropical Institute (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) as part of the EU-funded Culture and Development program that was carried out by CulturCooperation e.V. (Hamburg, Germany) between 2005 and 2008.