Do collections have a future in museums?

This article studies the possible consequences of the current evolution within the museum phenomenon concerning the place of collections within the museum. Globalization, the development of digital technology, and the influence of new currents of thought, such as postcolonialism, could transform the way in which we define museums. However, this change is part of a more global development, which has continued since the 1970s. The author discusses the main trends that have led museums to focus on the public to the detriment of collection management, as well as the emergence of off-site storage within the museums. This principle leads him to consider jointly the evolution of storage and exhibition spaces in light of other trends within the world economic system.