As director of Leiden European City of Science 2022, a pilot program of the European Commission, she developed a new, bottom-up model for Public Engagement with Science. Meta holds various board positions, including at Kunsten92 and the Rembrandt Association, and is chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Design Academy in Eindhoven. In 2025, Meta's book will be published: Handbook for Time Travelers.
At NEMO’s European Museum Conference 2024, Meta Knol will deliver the keynote speech “Shifting narratives: Towards the museum of the future” on Monday 11 November.
Shifting narratives: Towards the museum of the future
Presentation abstract
As museums, we are used to looking in the rear-view mirror. We cherish the material memory of our societies. We are stewards of the past. In addition, museums are increasingly concerned with current themes such as social inequality, migration and climate change. But what if we learned to become true time travellers and actively focus our museum programs and activities that shape the future? In a society dominated 24/7 by immediate impulses and gratification of needs, the long-term perspective of "deep time" might offer a way out of rusty, dysfunctional systems, habits, and ideas. How can museums play a role in shaping new models for the future? How to do this in close interaction with citizens and local communities, while overcoming the effects of polarisation, disinformation and populism? In this talk, Meta Knol shares her vision and presents some refreshing new tools and ideas.
