This Open-access book explores the dilemmas and possibilities of art museums that want to strengthen people’s engagement in the museum as well as the museum’s engagement in societal challenges. It offers a new approach to museum’s inclusive and participatory strategies by combining in-depth case studies of large-scale, collaborative art projects with a new theoretical framework for conceptualising, analysing, and organising participatory processes at museums and other cultural institutions. The framework bridges museum studies, sociology of culture, and democratic theory with theories of craft, affect, and materiality.

Empirically, the book focuses on the prizewinning, craft-based projects at Trapholt Museum in Denmark, highlighting the participants’ voices, contributions, and experiences. Based on a three-year research and action project, it uncovers the creative, institutional, and social potentials of participation at art museums. It is essential reading for museum professionals, scholars, and students interested in participatory, democratic, and transforming museum practices.

Birgit Eriksson is a Professor of Cultural Theory and Analysis at Aarhus University, Denmark. She researches participation in arts, cultural institutions, and society. She has led several research projects on this topic, focusing most recently on cultural centres, social housing areas, and museums. Her publications include Cultures of Participation (2020).

Tina Louise Hove Sørensen is an Assistant Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research explores the affective, aesthetic, and political dimensions of participatory art, media, and cultural practices. She writes on themes such as participation, affect, and the transformative roles of art, media, and literature in contemporary cultural life.