Spring 2025: The Ethics Issue – Preview

VOL. 44 ISSUE 1

Recent developments have shone a light on the question of museum ethics in the United States. Legal developments have revealed much about evolving expectations for museums—but is strictly adhering to legal requirements enough to qualify as ethical behavior? If our institutions truly want to earn the public’s trust—must they move beyond legal obligations to embrace what is just and equitable? This issue explores these complex ethical considerations.

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In this issue:

President’s Letter

AAM’s President and CEO, Marilyn Jackson shares the significance of Exhibition becoming a member benefit in 2025, and the critical importance of this issue’s subject, ethics. “The need to establish a shared set of ethics and standards was one of the main impetuses for the founding of AAM in 1906. We continue to collaborate with members of the field to uphold and adapt these principles … I invite you to explore the ethical approaches to this work gathered in this issue and to learn from and with our authors.”

» Read the full letter.

Editor’s Letter

Exhibition‘s Editor, Jeanne Normand Goswami, introduces this timely issue on ethics: “As we all struggle to make sense of the deluge of executive orders attempting to influence the ways we exhibit and interpret our shared history and culture (to say nothing of those designed to dissolve agencies and cut funding to vital programs), understanding the ethical dimensions of the work we do, and communicating that clearly to our audiences and partners, is of the utmost importance.”

» Read the full letter.

Witnessing Change: An Exhibition’s Enduring Impact on Museum Ethics and Practice

Feature | Free to Read

by Felix Berry, Matthew Cutler, and Lisa Quirion

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, shaped by its complex colonial legacy and evolving practices, is redefining accountability with a partnership with the Witness Blanket, centering Indigenous ways of knowing and authentic relationships in an ethics of care.

Building Empathy by Developing an Ethically Sourced Materials Policy

Feature | Free to Read

by Douglas Flandro

Explores how museums can adopt ethically sourced materials by addressing forced labor, pollution affecting marginalized communities, and high embodied carbon—with practical steps and resources to guide more responsible and sustainable exhibition design.

Iconic and Ethical? Approaches to the Exhibition of Pop Culture

Feature | 🔒 Member Login

by Amalia Kozloff

Through three case studies and an ethical framework, learn how the Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP) navigates the complex ethical challenges of curating rapidly evolving and often controversial pop culture content by prioritizing dialogue, representation, and responsible storytelling.

Beyond the IT Office: Solving for Ethical AI in Cultural Institutions

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by Audrey S. Chang, PhD, and Brad MacDonald, MS

Museums are rapidly adopting generative artificial intelligence tools to support exhibition development and operations. Discover some of the questions to ask yourself or your team regarding the use of AI, and learn about the need for institutional policies to address ethical considerations in its implementation.

Political Exhibitionists: Ethical Considerations in the Display of Political Art

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by Nicola Guy, PhD

When promoting politically engaged exhibitions, are museums also upholding the same values in internal practices? One museum’s controversial censorship decisions are a case study for the author on why true ethical alignment requires institutions to support political expression beyond curatorial decisions.

Ethics and Materiality: A Case Study in Adobe

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by Gilda Posada

How do ethics inform and intersect with exhibition practices? The author gives a personal account of her recently curated exhibition and how she approached integrating an ethical framework more broadly into the museum where she worked. She discusses some of the successes and frictions that resulted from the approach.

Reflecting on Duty of Care: A New Floor, Not a Ceiling

Op-Ed | 🔒 Member Login

by Stephanie Mach, PhD

The revision of NAGPRA regulations in 2024 prompted a widespread removal of items from display and a reevaluation of practices, highlighting the need for consent and collaboration in the care and display of Native American cultural items and highlighting concerns about ethical stewardship.

Designing to Inspire: Translating Empathy into Action

Op-Ed | 🔒 Member Login

by Maggie Jacobstein Stern and Jha D Amazi

Explore two different projects that together illuminate how empathetic, participatory design in exhibitions can transform public memory into action. Learn strategies for fostering personal connection, inspiring sustained engagement, and positioning designers as long-term agents of social change.

Ethical Deliberation in Divisive Times: Q&A with Janet Marstine

Questions & Answers | 🔒 Member Login

interviewed by Exhibition Journal Editor Jeanne Normand Goswami

What do we mean by “ethics”? We think we agree on what ethical behavior is, but do we really? How can we continue to forge a more equitable future, especially amid this moment of intense division? Get insights into ethical exhibition-making from a leading scholar of museum ethics.

Exhibition Critique: A Celebration and a Reclamation

Exhibition Critique | 🔒 Member Login

by Deborah Parker

This critique of the exhibition, “Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian’s Legacy,” at the Morgan Library & Museum provides a thoughtful look into Greene’s groundbreaking career and complex identity, while also exploring themes of race, passing, and representation.

Review of Welcoming Museum Visitors with Unapparent Disabilities

Book Review | 🔒 Member Login

by Violet Rose Arma

This review carefully examines how the book broadens museum accessibility discussions with an empathetic approach and use of case studies, while highlighting the need for more inclusive exhibition design and attention in museums to mental health conditions.

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About Exhibition

Published twice a year, the journal offers 128 pages of thought-provoking articles, exhibition critiques and commentary, technical articles, and essays. Each issue is organized around a theme, such as the power of words, exhibitions and universal design, innovation and community relevance, and new media in exhibitions.

Meet the Editorial Team

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Coming Up

Fall 2025

Accessing The Museum: Reflecting On 35 Years Of ADA

Spring 2026

Present Tense

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Contribute to Exhibition

Calls for papers are posted twice each year (typically in November/December and April/May). While the editors welcome queries about contributions, please note that each issue is created around a specific theme.

New in 2025: Submit a Letter to the Editor. Submissions are due August 31 for the Fall 2025 issue.