Shaping the future together, for everyone. A museum becomes accessible and digital

Our society is becoming increasingly diverse, and with it, individual needs are becoming more varied. The desire for participation is growing. Whilst efforts towards inclusion and participation are gaining momentum, we are simultaneously witnessing a shift to the right that calls into question the equality of all people and seeks to interfere with cultural policy and the programmes of cultural institutions. At a time when discrimination and ableism are becoming noticeably more vocal, the role of museums as places of encounter, multiple perspectives and exchange becomes all the more important. As ‘third places’, cultural institutions can promote a tolerant and open society, integration and democracy.

Since 2022, Die Neue Sammlung has been strategically committed to this endeavour. The Design Museum at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich ranks among the world’s largest and most significant museums of 20th- and 21st-century applied art.

Under the banner of ‘Experiencing Design Inclusively’, various approaches, formats and concepts are being trialled here – digitally, in analogue form and always in collaboration with the people for whom they are intended. Frauke Maria Petry provides insights into the implementation of these projects and reports on the experiences, challenges and opportunities they present. After all, the future must be shaped together, not in isolation from one another.