The Floor Is Yours

2026-07-22

Museums have been thinking about their role within society. A more democratic approach needs to run parallel where audiences themselves are invited as well to participate in these discussions. The Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Mart and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen are convinced that a cultural institution in the 21st century has an invested interest in having these conversations. The only way a museum can stay relevant is by aligning themselves with diverse groups/organisations/people. Not only to expand audiences, but also to look for more meaningful relationships wherein the museum can learn and grow. This democratic and participatory connection building is site specific. Audiences in Rotterdam expect something else from a museum then from one in Prague, Paris or Vienna. It’s clear why ICOM has trouble finding one unified definition for a museum. With the project The Floor is Yours we’re using a bottom-up approach. The Floor is Yours departs from a public program inspired by the collection but created independently by local partners. The challenge here is not to initiate such a public program, but to create space for meaningful dialogue by and with audiences who do not feel represented in the museum. What happens when we don’t dictate what is being shown and how, but decide together with citizens? Within this pilot, our constituents aren’t only invited to come and experience the narratives as curated by the museum, but to take ownership of these stories themselves and whom they want to share it with. Three museums will work together, each with two target groups that have so far felt poorly represented by the museum. Each museum will organise nine activities in co-creation. From each museum, members of the target group will go on a residency in one of the other museums to work with the local communities and learn from each other. Each residency concludes with a joint knowledge session. The entire programme will be concluded with a symposium.

Netherlands, Italy, Austria

2026-02-15