Commemoration, affective practice and the difficult histories of war

Abstract

This chapter examines two recently developed Australian museum exhibitions and their role in inducting visitors into affective practices of war commemoration and remembering; it draws on analysis of each of the exhibitions examined as well as interviews with key curatorial and education staff at the two institutions. To develop this argument, it discusses the museum through the theoretical lens of the heterotopia. The chapter argues that representations of war history offer valuable insights into the ways exhibitions work with emotion and affect to teach visitors particular ways of engaging with and understanding the past, and that different approaches speak to the political and social purposes for museum learning. Museum Victoria is an institution viewed within and without as having a 'social conscience'; interviews with curators and educators reflected their keen awareness of the potential of their museums to contribute to social justice and inclusion in the state of Victoria.