The 2025 Serle Lecture – Ethics in the House Museum: The Challenges of Historical Collections
Dr Louise Voll Box
Sunday, September 22, 2:30–4pm
Museum and art gallery professionals steward collections, engage with the public, and maintain the integrity of their institutions. Professionals working with historical collections also need to navigate and address the dark pasts of collection objects. How should house museums manage objects that have links to challenging histories, for example, objects made from endangered species, or those that depict enslaved people?
This lecture considers some of the many ethical issues considered by museum leaders, and highlights the constantly changing public expectations of what is considered ‘ethical’ and ‘appropriate’. How are these issues addressed by house museums? What are appropriate narratives in 2024? Case studies of fine and decorative art objects at The Johnston Collection will be discussed.
Dr Voll Box is an art historian, arts manager, and educator. She is CEO of The Johnston Collection and has taught in the art history, curatorship, and arts management programs at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests focus on the collection and display of eighteenth-century material culture, collecting and exhibiting prints, the English Country House, and juxtapositions of business and the arts.
Bookings and full details at:
Please note: No stilletto heels.
Next Open day at Villa Alba Museum
The Museum is ordinarily open to the public on the first Sunday of the month: full details of times and bookings. 
