Empowering Young Voices
Kunstmeile Krems and HLF Krems at the MUSEUM NEXT - Museums & Schools
At the digital conference MUSEUM NEXT – Museums & Schools Summit, Kunstmeile Krems and students from HLF Krems captivated the international audience of experts with their participatory initiative MY MUSEUM.
Speakers included renowned institutions such as the Children’s Museum Singapore, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Swedish Museum of Natural History, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, and V&A Dundee.
The video “Empowering Young Voices,” developed by Kunstmeile Krems in collaboration with students from the HLF Krems tourism schools, explores what young people want from museums and introduces the participatory initiative MY MUSEUM.
In 2024, a class at HLF Krems supported the Kunstmeile Krems for one semester as part of the MY MUSEUM initiative, assisting with project management and the organization of an event day for 130 students. For Museum Next, three students—Meryem Schrammel, Marlies Bernleitner, and Laura Löffler—shared their experiences and actively contributed to the development of the script as well as the production of the digital conference presentation. During the Museums & Schools Summit, Meryem Schrammel took part in the digital Q&A session and answered questions from over 1,500 experts participating live. After all, who better to talk about participatory projects than the students themselves?
Participation in the “Empowering Young Voices” conference impressively demonstrates how participatory projects can build long-term relationships between schools and museums. Involving young people as experts on their own lives is important and extends far beyond the end of a project.
We are proud of our ongoing collaboration with HLF Krems and are delighted by the positive response the MY MUSEUM initiative has received from our international colleagues.
MY MUSEUM
Every year, the MY MUSEUM initiative at the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich invites students and residents of Lower Austria to actively help shape the museum space. Since 2019, more than 2,300 students aged 6 to 18 have participated in participatory projects. They have developed multimedia guide entries, stop-motion films, installations, and performances. These contributions provide commentary on and contextualize the exhibited works of art in light of the young people’s lived experiences and open up the museum space as points of connection for their peer groups.
Museums & Schools Summit
29 - 30 April 2025 Virtual Conference
Museums & Schools Summit Trailer at Vimeo