A shock to thought: Curatorial judgment and the public exhibition of ‘difficult knowledge’

Abstract

Many institutions of social memory have moved away from a singular emphasis on affirming presentations of patriotism, triumph and great deeds toward an appreciation of the potential for aggression inherent in human relationships. The result has been a proliferation of practices of remembrance related to violence, loss and death, topics often characterized as ‘difficult knowledge’. This is amply illustrated within contemporary museum practices. Exhibitions commonly understood as offering ‘difficult knowledge’ have concerned not only histories of violent conflict and traumatic loss, but the aftermath of such. Despite this commonplace understanding, it remains important to consider what it is about such exhibitions that render them ‘difficult’ and what might be achieved by making these painful histories public. These questions are explored through a series of comparative studies of varying museum exhibitions that, while drawing from the same archive of images and documents, have presented them in different ways.