CONTEXTUALISING THE CONTESTED: XR AS EXPERIMENTAL MUSEOLOGY

Abstract

Museums are becoming increasingly multi-medial experiences and with the emergence of the metaverse (Coates, 2021), immersive technologies (XR) are projected to form an important part of future museum experiences. With options to provide a multiplicity of non-hierarchical information, support individualised paths through exhibitions, and experiential visits, XR has the potential to help keep visitors engaged around complex and nuanced information (Mulcahy, 2017). Working on devices that most museum visitors already own, XR technologies present a promising move towards more inclusivity, accessibility, and active audience engagement. Contributing to research on the multiple uses of XR in UK museums, this paper focuses on how XR can be operationalised to address contested displays in Western museums. Using an external app for the British Museum as an example, this paper discusses the challenges arising from this intersection, including the entrenchment of immersive technologies in colonial power dichotomies, the risks of performative virtual interventions, and the conflicting agencies museums, companies, and individuals must navigate in this context. The author suggests, as a possible experimental approach, wiki-based XR interactions which engage with non-Eurocentric epistemologies and are co-created by communities commonly disenfranchised in Western museum spaces.