Balade Blanche: Putting New Museum Theory into Practice

Abstract

AbstractOver the past decade, museum administrators, curators, and staff have begun to recognize a subset of visitors that is starting to view their roles in museums differently. No longer is this new museum audience willing to accept curators’ authoritative narratives passively. Instead, this group of visitors seeks to share authority with curators. In response, some curators have employed strategies to encourage visitors to participate more fully in museums by asking them to contribute to exhibits more actively and by creating exhibits that allow visitors to immerse themselves into the stories that are being communicated. This article explores how Balade Blanche, a historical ghost tour that took place in France in 2010, took on some of the new demands of this “participatory visitor” and put them into practice by sharing curatorial authority and creating an immersive experience.