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Museums are usually seen as arenas for the authorised presentations of reality, based on serious, professional knowledge. Yet, in spite of the impossibility of giving anything but a highly abstract and extremely selective impression in an exhibition, very few museums problematize this or discuss their priorities with their public. They don’t ask “what are the other truths of the matter?” Though the essays in this collection are not written with museums and truth as their explicit subject, they highlight contested truths, the absence of the truth of the underprivileged, whether one truth is more worthy than the other, and whether lesser truths can dilute the value of greater truths. One...
Presentations of war and violence in museums generally oscillate between the fascination of terror and its instruments and the didactic urge to explain violence and, by analysing it, make it easier to handle and prevent. The museums concerned also have to face up to these basic issues about the social and institutional handling of war and violence. Does war really belong in museums? And if it does, what objectives and means are involved? Can museums avoid trivializing and aestheticising war, transforming violence, injury, death and trauma into tourist sights? What images of shock or identification does one generate – and what images would be desirable?
This book explores how recent Colombian historical memories are informed by cultural diversity and how some of the country’s citizens remember the brutalities committed by the Army, guerrillas, and paramilitaries during the internal war (1980-2016). Its chapters delve into four case studies. The first highlights the selections of what not to remember and what not to represent at the National Museum of the country. The second focuses on the well-received memories at the same institution by examining a display made to commemorate the assassination of a demobilized guerrilla fighter. The third discusses how a rural marginal community decided to vividly remember the attacks they experienced by...
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The Digital Future of Museums: Conversations and Provocations argues that museums today can neither ignore the importance of digital technologies when engaging their communities, nor fail to address the broader social, economic and cultural changes that shape their digital offerings. Through moderated conversations with respected and inf luential museum practitioners, thinkers and experts in related fields, this book explores the role of digital technology in contemporary museum practice within Europe, the U.S., Australasia and Asia. It offers provocations and reflections about effective practice that will help prepare today’s museums for tomorrow, culminating in a set of competing possible visions for the future of the museum sector. The Digital Future of Museums is essential reading for museum studies students and those who teach or write about the museum sector. It will also be of interest to those who work in, for, and with museums, as well as practitioners working in galleries, archives and libraries.
This volume presents seventeen essays critically reflecting on the collaborative work of the contemporary ethnographic museum with diverse communities. It invites the reader to think about the roles and values of museums internationally, particularly the wide range of creative approaches that can progress dialogue and intercultural understanding in an age of migration that is marked by division and distrust. Against a troubling global background of prejudice and misunderstanding, where elections are increasingly returning right-wing governments, this timely book considers the power of an inclusive and transformative museum space, specifically the movements from static sites where knowledge is transmitted to passive audiences towards potential contact zones where diverse community voices and visibilities are raised and new knowledge(s) actively constructed.
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This volume presents sixteen thoughtful essays which address innovative ways to present cultural heritage primarily in ethnographic and social history museums through recent permanent, temporary, and mobile exhibitions. The essays included are taken from the different vantage points; they prompt critical debate about new ways of thinking and working in museums of different sizes, with regard for how we might work collaboratively towards a more equitable future. Essential political issues related to power and the strong influences of the museum are addressed in each section, especially with regards to the presentation of particular cultures and communities.
Museums and the Working Class is the first book to take an intersectional and international approach to the issues of economic diversity and class within the field of museum studies. Bringing together 16 contributors from eight countries, this book has emerged from the significant global dialogue concerning museums’ obligation to be inclusive, participate in meaningful engagement and advocate for social change. As part of the push for museums to be more accessible and inclusive, museums have been challenged to critically examine their power relationships and how these are played out in what they collect, whose stories they exhibit and who is made to feel welcome in their halls. This volume...