We live in a new ‘museum age’, in which more museums are being built and more people visit them each year. Alongside the increasing popularity of museums there exists the problem of crime within art institutions. How and why does crime take place in museums? How can it be managed? This nationally and internationally comparative research investigates the museum as a crime scene, by considering the diversity of criminal performances within the museum setting (from copyright offences through vandalism to theft of artworks) in the context created by competing museum objectives, risk management strategies, and changes in audience expectation, artistic practice, and curatorial techniques.
Researchers
Lachlan MacDowall + Alison Young
