Museum as Civic Space

Museum is a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited. The practice of museum supporting facilities has now been extensively recognized and is a challenge. Currently, museum is not only a place where objects and knowledge are stored and exhibited. The role of a museum has shifted from an institutional-like space to perform as a civic space. Museum is a place where human interaction and social discourse established. The issue of museum supporting facilities is being used to question the role of museum as a civic space. Museum supporting facility is one of the most important facets in museology for museum to archive the role of a civic space, as it involves directly to museum visitors. It can represent the vision of such museums how much they respond to changes of the social and cultural contexts.

This book is based on a research that studies existing supporting facilities in selected local museums in Thailand to develop possible models responding to social and cultural changes in contemporary Thai society. The book unfolds the practice of museum supporting facilities through international museum case studies and selected local museums from different regions in Thailand.