Katherine Danylak
What is Multicultural Audience Development
(MAD) and what are the potential benefits for museums?
When you consider that one in five Victorians speaks a language
other than English at home, the importance of MAD in our cultural
organisations becomes obvious. There's not only a social responsibility
to encourage people from diverse backgrounds to participate in
the state's cultural and artistic life - there's also a commercial
imperative. Museums worldwide have a responsibility to ensure
that all members of the community can access their services, and
feel included by them.
Current research indicates that if you were
born overseas and speak a language other than English, you are
much less likely to visit a museum or gallery. A MAD strategy
can identify ways to widen audience reach. In the present economic
climate, which has seen a decline in museum audiences, broadening
your existing audience base has become a necessity.
The challenges for museums are:
- to reach culturally diverse audiences effectively,
- to identify channels of communication,
- to engage new audiences in a meaningful
and relevant way, and
- to get them to come back!
What are the issues when setting up a model
of MAD?
- Firstly, know your existing audience base
- Ensure that government minimum standards
are met when eliciting ethnicity data
- Address diversity without being tokenistic
- Deal with issues pertaining to the second
generation
- MAD must be integrated across the whole
organisation, rather than being limited to Marketing or Public
Programs. An organisation needs to be culturally inclusive at
all levels for MAD to be successful.
- Undertake audience research, which will
provide an analysis of key needs. There is no such thing as
an aggregate "ethnic audience" – one size does not fit
all, so to speak. Beware of generalisations and ethnic stereotyping!
- Identify target groups and channels of
communication to reach them.
- Be aware of intragroup diversity: people
may share a common language, but not share the same educational
experiences, lifestyle, recreational interests or religious
beliefs.
- Be open to innovative ways of engaging
target groups - audience research can yield ideas for this.
- Tailor your MAD project to dovetail with
other museum initiatives.
- Museum Victoria research found that language
was not the only barrier. "Uncertainty avoidance" - uncertainty
about parking, finding the entrance, navigation around the museum
and museum etiquette is common. Non-museum visitors wanted to
go as part of an organised group so that all the uncertainties
of the visit would be taken out.
-
Is MAD about producing multilingual brochures
and websites?
Websites and brochures can be great tools to enhance your communication
strategy - but a museum could print the best brochures and construct
the best multilingual website and still not reach these target
audiences. MAD is concerned primarily with engaging audiences,
raising awareness in the community, building up sustainable relationships
and ultimately changing patterns of leisure participation. All
the multilingual brochures and websites in the world won't do
any good if their intended audiences don't know they exist.
Are there benefits in tailoring an exhibition
to a specific language community?
While this can be a good 'hook' to attract new visitors and break
the ice, you have to make sure that there are reasons for the
target group to return once the particular exhibition is over.
The Melbourne Museum's first travelling exhibition,
Viet Nam Voices, dealt with issues of the war in Viet Nam. One
of the planning committee's major concerns was to engage the Vietnamese
audience beyond the life of the exhibition. Steps taken towards
this ideal were:
- Consultation with Vietnamese leaders and
youth prior to exhibition opening; community leaders invited
and included in official museum program.
- A Youth Forum was run during the exhibition
to bring together the children of Viet Nam war veterans of both
Australian and Vietnamese descent. Direct legacy of this public
program was the first Australian-Vietnamese second generation
dialogue.
- A Vietnamese CD launch and public performance
at the museum.
- A Vietnamese media campaign
- A Vietnamese language CD ROM put out by
the Australian Multicultural Foundation examined the history
of Federation in Australia.