Mission Statement

A collection of images of people of various ages and backgrounds visiting the Museum of Portable Sound and interacting with our museum's Director & Chief Curator. Also, there's one image of two art handlers installing a large framed image of a sound waveform while standing on two ladders; curiously, both art handlers have the same face: that of our Director & Chief Curator.
Our museum’s mission is, among other things, to continue to strive to listen with and to our visitors – because without them, our institution is just a meaningless warehouse.

The Museum of Portable Sound strives to collect, exhibit, preserve, and research (primarily) non-musical sounds as museum objects displayed within a cross-cultural, decolonising, and cross-disciplinary context that spans the more-than-human, science, technology, and the arts – all while listening with and to the critical voices of our visitors.

We hold ourselves to high standards of institutional ethics and inclusivity while at the same time acknowledging the inherent imperfections of museums as human projects, always conceding that museums are not, and never were, neutral.

Consequently, we do not shy away from the polemical, the political, nor the absurdist (we’re a museum on an iPhone 4S, ffs).

Still paying attention? Just checking.

Though most of our Permanent Collection of Sounds consists of field recordings collected by our own Acquisitions Team, we also hold some historical recordings and new field recordings by other contemporary collectors in order to tell the most accurate stories about the universe of “portable sound” that we can. Our Physical Objects Collection, Research Library, and Video Gallery support, contextualise, and guide our research into the cross-disciplinary importance of non-musical sounds and our efforts to share knowledge with our audience.

Through our collections, exhibitions, research, publications, social media, educational offerings, and live events, we strive to bring the culture and history of sound beyond music to the world – one listener at a time. We duly and gratefully acknowledge the most important component of any museum is its visitors, without whom the institution is nothing but a warehouse.

Revised 27 September 2025 by unanimous vote of Museum of Portable Sound Staff.

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While you’re here…

…we need your help. For four years, we have managed to keep admission to the Museum of Portable Sound free for all. But this model hasn’t proven to be sustainable. If you value what we do, and would like to help us continue to fulfil our mission of bringing the culture of sound to the world one visitor at a time, please consider making a donation or supporting us long-term on Patreon.

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