Spring 2026: Present Tense
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VOL. 45 ISSUE 1
In “Present Tense,” the Spring 2026 issue of Exhibition, museums are finding ways to highlight our shared experience instead of our differences, bringing communities together and providing space for new understanding in these tense times. Learn timely approaches and strategies for tackling complex topics with visitors, and how museums are responding to pressing current issues.
Exhibition is now an AAM member benefit, since 2025. Read articles below or download the PDF.
In this issue:
Editor’s Letter
Exhibition‘s Editor, Jeanne Normand Goswami, introduces the articles in this issue that share strategies for tackling complex topics with visitors, including crafting contracts that protect your exhibitions from uncertainty, training front-line staff to engage meaningfully with today’s visitors, and how we can move toward more sustainable exhibitions.
» Read the full letter.
Contested Figures in Museum Praxis
FEATURE
by Julia Peristerakis and Isabelle Masson
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights crafted a framework to guide decisions when individuals featured in the museum become the subject of public criticism or scrutiny.
Echoes from the Key Bridge: Collecting and Interpreting Contemporary Events
FEATURE
by Anita Kassof, Beth Maloney, and Verónica E. Betancourt
The Baltimore Museum of Industry responded in real time to the collapse of the Key Bridge to preserve and tell the story about the port, its workforce, and its central role in the city’s identity.
Centering the Cellphone, Decentering the Museum
FEATURE
by Laura Donnelly-Smith, Christyna Solhan, Marion Le Voyer, and Nicole Webster
A 2023 exhibition “Cellphone: Unseen Connections” at the National Museum of Natural History used four approaches to illuminate the unseen networks of people, places, and resources that make our cellphones function.
A Colossal Mirror: Museums as a Refuge for the Real in the Age of AI
FEATURE
by Lauren Thompson and Stefania Van Dyke
In today’s age of AI, learn about how to center human-forward museum work—and it’s key benefits in facilitating critical thinking, prompting emotion, and cultivating imagination—from interpretive specialists at the Denver Art Museum.
Exhibition as Process: CoLab Studio’s Adaptive Model for Rapid, Collaborative Curation
FEATURE
by Devon M. Akmon
In an era of rapid change and deep uncertainty, museums face mounting pressure to stay relevant, responsive, and inclusive. Learn how the Michigan State University Museum launched CoLab Studio, an innovation hub that reimagines the curatorial process as a dynamic, collaborative, and adaptive practice.
From Neutrality to Narrative: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Exhibiting Science
FEATURE
by Anna Mirzayan, Rachel Reeb, and Mason Heberling
The exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, “Uprooted: Plants Out of Place,” confronts the complexities of introduced plants by inviting visitors to question received narratives and consider the consequences of human actions in nature.
Vanishing Space: Interpreting Agricultural Change in Real Time
FEATURE
by Jennifer Rogers, PhD and LaShell Martinez
The exhibition “Vanishing Space” at the Collin County Farm Museum proves that even the smallest museums can shape narratives of change. Visitor engagement reveals that the community is gaining a deeper understanding from it of what’s being lost.
Present Tensions: A Snapshot of the Pressures Facing U.S. Museums
FEATURE
by Leander Gussmann
Increasing political polarization can manifest in museums as cancellations, public clashes, and high-profile interventions. A small survey of US museums asked about the pressures they are facing, how they respond, and how prepared they feel for future constraints on their exhibitions.
Entwined Histories of Monstrous Proportions
NUTS & BOLTS
by Andy King
Training can prepare interpreters for complex and contentious topics arising with visitors. Explore how through the lens of two recent exhibitions, with lessons learned about cultivating community conversations to help visitors feel seen.
How to Navigate Uncertainty Through Contract Negotiation
NUTS & BOLTS
By Sharon Hotchkiss, Esq.
Learn three straightforward contract clauses that every museum professional involved in exhibitions should understand and consider, from reducing risk and containing losses to responding strategically as plans change.
Rethinking Exhibition Mounts: Bio- Based Prototypes
NUTS & BOLTS
by Nikoletta Karastathi and Alicia González-Lafita Pérez
Sustainability has become one of the greatest challenges in exhibition design. Get practical tools and information for decreasing carbon emissions and waste across exhibition production, design, and mount-making.
Contemplating Colonial Echoes
EXHIBITION CRITIQUE
by Tamara Newton
While the author notes Portugal’s museums remain largely disengaged with the nation’s 600-year colonial legacy, one exhibit challenges that with an interactive space that encourages visitors to develop their perspectives through dialogue and reflection.
Restorative Museums: A Primer for Exhibition Practice
RESOURCES
by Kate Merrick
In some communities, trust in museums has fractured. As museum professionals navigate shifting political currents, social reckonings, and institutional contradictions, restorative justice offers a way forward for building deeper relationships.
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Your Member Access to Exhibition
Fall 2025
Accessing the Museum
Spring 2025
The Ethics Issue
Fall 2024
Active Disruption
Spring 2024
Alternative Realities
Coming Up
Fall 2026
Cutting through the Noise
Spring 2027
Between the Lines:
Language in Exhibitions
Call for papers deadline:
June 3, 2026
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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. We also invite volunteer contributions to the journal as book reviewers and exhibition critique writers.
New in 2025: Submit a Letter to the Editor. Letters are accepted on a rolling basis for upcoming issues.
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.
