Heritage Museum Research Articles

Virtual Trauma: Prospects for Automediality

Unlike some current discourse on automediality, this essay eschews most of the analysis concerning the adoption or modification of avatars to deliberately enhance, extend or distort the self. Rather than the automedial enabling of alternative, virtual selves modified by playful, confronting or disarming avatars we concentrate instead on emerging efforts to present the self in hyper-realist, interactive modes...

The art of dialogic silence in the way of tea: rethinking space and time for contemplation

In this article I explore silence as dialogue in human communication and address its relevance to silence in heritage sites and museums. Instead of treating silent responses as negative or pedagogical failure, I approach silence from an eclectic perspective informed by linguistic philosophy, social anthropology and cultural psychology and present an analysis of dialogic silence in relation to the nearly 500-year-old ritual practice of Chado, commonly known as the Japanese tea ceremony. I engage with key concepts of dialogue and silence in order to draw parallels between museums and heritage sites on one hand, and the practice of Chado, performed in the tearoom, on the other. I suggest how the performance of ritual in the Chado tearoom takes place in a heterotopic and heterochronic space of dialogue and of contemplation in silence, where people set aside the concerns of everyday life in a suspended time away from an otherwise unpredictable and violence-prone world. I then argue that heritage sites and museums can be seen as spaces of contemplation akin to the space of the tea ceremony, a comparison which offers an alternative perspective on the crisis of representation, the limitations of language and the problem of visitor fatigue.

Indigenous representation in the ‘moral museum’: perspectives from classical ethical theory

ABSTRACTMuseums operate in a complex social, political and cultural sphere, and must therefore negotiate ethical quandaries in many of their activities. Engagement with indigenous peoples and cultures reflects one such quandary for museums, institutions closely tied to processes of colonialism. Ideas about the nature of ‘museum ethics’, expressed in both scholarly literature and professional codes and standards, can deliver conflicting values and guidelines for museum behaviour, making practical ethical decision-making a difficult process. Engagement with the fundamental theories and methodologies of the classical ethical tradition may help simplify this process, by clarifying ambiguous terminologies and providing a flexible framework for analysis. This paper applies theories in meta-ethics and normative ethics to the First Peoples exhibition at the Melbourne Museum in Victoria, Australia, to inform conclusions about the ethical implications inherent in interactions with indigenous cultural heritage in museums.

Benefits of visiting heritage museums: Chinese parents’ perspectives

The family, as a leisure unit, is an important museum consumer group. The literature on family leisure in museums concentrates on the cognitive and the learning aspects in science museums and art galleries in western contexts. It provides limited explanation of the leisure outcomes acquired from visiting museums. This work addresses this lacuna by exploring the benefits perceived by Chinese parents who take their children to a cluster of museums along China’s Grand Canal, a world heritage site in Hangzhou. A review of museum and heritage research, combined with 17 on-site, in-depth interviews, generated information on a range of benefits which was used to design a questionnaire that was completed by 450 respondents. Five perceived benefits were identified using factor analysis. In order of significance, they are family bonding, community attachment, cultural awareness, restoration and personal growth. These perceived benefits have implications for museums and other public facilities catering to the family leisure market, as well as for governments, community organisations, the heritage sector and other stakeholders that are charged with managing cultural heritage.

Museums and Crisis: The Imperative to Achieve Strategic Agility in the Current Instability. A Case Study of the Major Archaeological Museums in Greece

This study examines the impact of the current economic crisis on the reality of heritage protection, using the largest and most popular archaeological museums in Greece as case studies. The system of heritage protection and museum operation in Greece is outlined, and a description of the operation of these museums prior to the 2008 global economic crisis follows. The impact of the crisis on museums is examined, as well as the museums’ respective responses. Finally, a strategic model from the business field is presented that could help museums achieve tactical agility in the current unstable environment. This is a systematic attempt to examine the impact of the crisis upon the cultural sector in Greece using archaeological museums as a case study, and to suggest solutions to mitigate its impact. As the crisis is not exclusively a Greek issue but has a broader, international, relevance, the conclusions of this study could help various cultural organizations deal with the ongoing crisis — or even prepare for crises to come.

Research on Product Design Guided by Museum Heritage

This article looks for some cultural elements from the collection of exquisite cultural relics to inherit and carry forward the spirit and culture expressed in the historical society. The cultural creative products designed in this paper are divided into stone carving series, tile series, bronze series and others. Each cultural and creative product has a text introduction, according to the existing modeling characteristics of cultural relics, the paper try to use the scene in the life practice. These measures are not only a form of development, but also inherit the history behind the collection of cultural relics.

Smart Museums. Sul prossimo avvento della Internet of Things e del dialogo tra gli oggetti nei luoghi

Purpose of the paper : The paper wants to explore new technological frontiers applied to museum sector, starting from more established - in some ways already outdated - information and communication technologies (ICT) up to the foreshadowing of new possibilities of valorization for tangible and intangible museum heritage, thanks to the coming of the Internet of Things . Methodology : Beyond literary review and beyond direct knowledge, the method of the research is inductive-predictive type; in particular, the method crossed available information about the most advanced information and communication technologies (ICT) with valorization needs of museums sector, in order to outline possible applications. Findings : In this way, the paper gets to a possible application model of the Internet of Things in the museum field, with particular reference to the realization of an adaptive guidance system, which is able to harmoniously combine museum knowledges with visitors “experiential” knowledge. Research limits : Research limits are in its theoretical-deductive-predictive nature, well before the support of an empirical test, through a process of experimentation. Practical implications : As for managerial issues, the solutions outlined in the paper have important implications for museum lives in terms of strategies, product policies as well as several reflections on marketing actions and, last but not least, on financial aspects. Originality of the paper : The paper is one of the first attempts to foreshadow the possible impact of the Internet of Things on museum management and launches a debate that could be central in the next future, in this as well as in other fields.

Coal is our strife: representing mining heritage in North East England

This paper explores the history of representing coalmining heritage in museums between the 1960s and 1980s. The process of representing industry in museums during a period of significant economic change was highly contested. Whilst political and economic leaders often expressed a desire to vanquish the ‘old black industrial image’, there was a growing popular concern to venerate and represent an industrial culture and landscape that appeared under threat. At the same time the curation of industrial heritage, with its focus on collective memory, associational life and culture, represented a clear break with an earlier regional museum inheritance characterised by singular philanthropic and antiquarian collections and institutional developments. After 1960, the creation of museums to represent coalmining brought these tensions and new agendas to the fore. This article suggests that by examining in detail the historical context in which they were created we can better understand the nuanced and complex process of musealisation and its relationship to the experience of economic change and deindustrialisation.

Tomorrow's Issues of Intangible Heritage in Museums in the Context of Global Mass Tourism

Tomorrow's Issues of Intangible Heritage in Museums in the Context of Global Mass Tourism

Developing & using interaction geography in a museum

There are many approaches that support studies of learning in relation to the physical environment, people’s interaction with one another, or people’s movement. However, what these approaches achieve in granularity of description, they tend to lose in synthesis and integration, and to date, there are not effective methods and concepts to study learning in relation to all of these dimensions simultaneously. This paper outlines our development and use of a new approach to describing, representing, and interpreting people’s interaction as they move within and across physical environments. We call this approach interaction geography. It provides a more integrative and multi-scalar way to characterize people’s interaction and movement in relation to the physical environment and is particularly relevant to learning research and professional design practice in informal learning settings. The first part of this paper illustrates our development and use of interaction geography to study visitor engagement in a cultural heritage museum. In particular, we illustrate Mondrian Transcription, a method to map people’s movement and conversation over space and time, and the Interaction Geography Slicer (IGS), a dynamic visualization tool that supports new forms of interaction and multi-modal analysis. The second part of the paper describes one team of museum educators, curators, archivists, and exhibit designers using a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment based on interaction geography. We show how this environment used interaction geography to disrupt the conventional views of visitor engagement and learning that museum professionals hold and then reframe these disruptions to enable museum professionals to perceive visitor engagement and learning in innovative ways that potentially support their future design decisions. We conclude the paper by discussing how this work may serve as a blueprint to guide future efforts to expand interaction geography in ways that explore new collaborations across the fields of education, information visualization, architecture, and the arts.

Visitors’ Preferences for Museum Interpretation: Identifying and Targeting Market Segments

A number of heritage studies have revealed that interpretation is an essential component of the visitor experience. However, visitors differ in their interests in interpretation. Preferences for interpretation, which are often neglected in the literature, are essential for the marketing and management of heritage organisations. This paper deals with visitors’ preferences for museum interpretation to determine what the preferred types of interpretation of museums exhibits are and what the differences between the segments of visitors in this regard are. The research focuses on seven Adriatic heritage museums that took part in the cross-border project on the strengthening of cultural tourism through market-oriented initiatives. The survey set out to obtain information on visitor profiles and their preferences for museum interpretation. By isolating and analysing interpretation variables and visitor variables associated with visitor interpretation preferences, a framework was developed that enable the initiatives in museum interpretation for target market segments.

Educational Approaches and Contexts in the Development of a Heritage Museum

Background: Educational museums are composed of objects, documents, and narratives that together create a learning experience. Existing models of museum education tend to analyze the visitor experience, but rarely take into consideration the unique characteristics and challenges of multicultural heritage museums. Purpose: This article proposes a conceptual model of experiential multicultural museum education that delineates teaching approaches in multicultural museum education. Methodology/Approach: The article is grounded in the framework of conceptual research aimed at identifying and clarifying key characteristics and educational concepts raised by museum’s designers and educators. The analysis it presents is based on insights learned during the design of the Interactive Jewish Museum of Chile. Findings/Conclusions: The major contribution of this article is the development of a conceptual model that allows for the identification of three approaches in multicultural museum education: the academic-educational approach, the artistic approach, and the identity-cultural approach. Implications: Our model can be applied to other heritage museums, and can be useful for the training and development of formal and informal educators interested in including multicultural heritage museums as experiential learning spaces.

Exploring the Use of Robots for Museum Settings and for Learning Heritage Languages and Cultures at the Chinese Heritage Centre

AbstractIn this article, the challenges facing museums to offer more ways to provide information for learning have been reviewed. The use of social robotics has been explored within a museum setting, for guiding tours as well as for learning heritage languages and cultures. The article focuses on the design and development of two social robots for a heritage museum. The first robot is a virtual human character mounted on a mobile robotic platform. It has been implemented to serve as a museum guide. The second robot is a humanoid. It is programmed for bilingualism, which injected elements of culture learning and education. The objective was to develop robots as well as robotic and virtual reality applications primarily, and to explore the usability of these technologies in a heritage museum. The implemented robots have been deployed to validate the development work and to evaluate the feasibility of using these robots for cultural education among young children. Finally, we discuss our deployment experiences and offer suggestions for future work to improve the viability of the robots for a more elaborated deployment at public museums.

TITLE: VISION OF THE RECONSTRUCTION OF DESTRUCTED MONUMENTS OF PALMYRA (3D) AS A STEP TO REHABILIATE AND PRESERVE THE WHOLESITE

Abstract. Syria is one of the world’s most impressive Cultural Heritages in terms of the number and historical significance of its monuments. Palmyra lies in the heart of Syria, an oasis in the midst of the arid desert.it could be considered as a part of this human heritage. In1980 was registered on the world and national heritage list for its huge historical importance. In addition, it was the focus of many studies and researches in the fields of restoration. Then the disaster happened, many monuments were demolished, temple of Ba’al, temple of Bael-shameen, Arch of triumph and the Castle. Lately the Tetrapylon and the Stag. Every Syrian was hurt, the whole world was hurt. The destruction of the city caused its people to become homeless and Palmyra was no longer the oasis we know. We felt pain, so we wanted to make a move, a step forward, to present a work that expresses our love for Palmyra, we organized Palmyra workshop to provide a vision for the reconstruction and revival of the historic site importance. Visions with using new idea & new technology. Palmyra historical areas are considered a large open museum for heritage through history, which is the reason to treat these area as a historical protection precinct and give a vision, ideas, suggestions to the future of Palmary as a first step to preserve the historical buildings& the archeological park.

Using 3D Printing to Enhance Understanding and Engagement with Young Audiences: Lessons from Workshops in a Museum

AbstractThis paper details findings from a collaborative research project that studied children learning to 3D print in a museum, and provides an overview of the study design to improve related future programs. We assessed young visitors’ capacity to grasp the technical specificities of 3D printing, as well as their engagement with the cultural history of shoemaking through the museum's collection. Combining the museum's existing pedagogical resources with hands‐on technology experiences designed by Semaphore researchers, this study enabled both researchers and museum education staff to evaluate the use of 3D‐driven curriculum and engagement materials designed for children visiting cultural heritage museums. This study raises critical questions regarding the practicality of deploying 3D media to engage young learners in museums, and this paper illuminates the challenges in developing models for children to put historical and contextual information into practice.

Development of Heritage Places under Unesco Guidelines Case Study: Al Maliha Neighbourhood in Riyadh City

Riyadh, capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the largest city in the Kingdom. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and is located in the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama and in the center of the Arabian Peninsula, on a vast plateau. Densely populated, with over 5.7 million people, it is the urban center of a region with about 7.3 million people. It consists of 15 municipal districts under the management of Riyadh Municipality, headed by the mayor of Riyadh, and the Riyadh Development Authority, chaired by the Governor of Riyadh Province.This research aims at dealing with the development of Al Maliha Neighborhood, as a case study of development of heritage places.Al Maliha neighbourhood is located in the center of Riyadh, bounded on the north by AL Jomla Suq and market, in the south by Al Salam garden, in the west by King Fahad Street and in the east by warehouses and a school from the south. There are also old heritage houses in the southeast of the area. The proposed project will develop the old heritage area, re-use it as a Heritage Museum, and demolish the warehouses to establish new galley rooms and Heritage research center.The research methodology will follow the UNESCO regulations and guidelines followed for conservation of heritage places. It will also adopt Riyadh Municipality, and the Riyadh Development Authority regulations for the development of heritage places. The project is proposed for architectural students at level four in Dar Al Uloom University, to be completed within four months and presented for Prince Sultan Award 2006 for Heritage.The aim of the research is to follow the KSA strategy in protecting and maintaining historical places like Al Daraya, old palaces and old mosques. The project will give a proposal study in managing and developing heritage places, by following the UNESCO guideline for heritage places and Riyadh Municipality regulations.The research outlines conclusions and recommendations to decision makers, for application in the development of Al Maliha neighbourhood applied in developing Al Maliha neighbourhood

Middle of nowhere: contesting rural heritage at the World Famous Gopher Hole Museum

The World Famous Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, Alberta, Canada, is a rural museum located in a relatively isolated hamlet of less than 200 people. Inside the museum, small diorama boxes feature taxidermied gophers dressed in tiny clothing and posed as townspeople dining in restaurants, shooting pool and chatting at a beauty parlour, among other activities. Drawing on methods stemming from critical museum theory, critical rural studies and critical heritage studies, this article analyzes the ways in which both local residents and visitors from outside the region understand the museum, considering why it is indeed world famous, attracting over 5000 international tourists each year. It argues that the Gopher Hole Museum succeeds in part because its organisers are active agents who take pride in the museum without attempting to refute the sometimes negative responses to it, or control the ways in which outsiders interpret it. The museum in Torrington is a complex ‘open text’ that both employs and critiques the conventional methods used in natural history and heritage museums to offer multiple narratives about childhood, heritage and rural life, addressing local people as well as tourists.

Cyborgian entanglements: post-human feminism, diffraction and the science exhibition Bundled-up in Blue

ABSTRACTThis article articulates a post-human feminist museology within cultural heritage museums. It focuses on the entwined intra-actions of museum artifacts, traditional exhibition forms and technologies, and considers how sex/gender is enmeshed in entanglements of meaning and matter. Its aim is twofold: to introduce insights from scholars working within feminist studies of technoscience into museological theorisations, and to put such articulations to work through a case study of an exhibition at The National Museum of Iceland. Through Barad’s theorisations of agential realism and Haraway’s articulations of the cyborg, the article contributes to a diffractive mapping of intra-active cyborgian entanglements that make different possibilities possible and elucidates how materialities, discourses, technologies and nature come into being through ways that are always open-ended and uncertain.

Mixed Race Asian American Identity on Display

As communities from colonial Latin America in the seventeenth century to the U.S. in the twentieth century began to diversify in terms of race and ethnicity, racial mixing was a reminder that those communities were on a course of change. Edward Said's concept of Orientalism is evoked when theorizing mixed-race identity—that identity is developed as a result of the interaction between the self and the other. This article examines several heritage museum exhibitions that focused on exhibitions on the topic of multiracial people, in particular the multiracial Japanese American history exhibition, Visible and Invisible: A Hapa Japanese American History. Ethnic arts institutions function to legitimize marginalized stories by providing the gallery space to support public history, and create memory for displaced communities.

Investigating islands' visitor experiences in cultural heritage museums: the case of Cyprus

The consumption of the tourist product relates to a series of visitor experiences that shape overall visitor evaluation. Such experiences pertain to how visitors sense, relate and act when consuming these products. Museums, safeguarding cultural heritage, contribute significantly to this experience by providing exclusive insights and interaction with (in) authentic exhibits of many areas, such as islands. Nonetheless, in many islands, museums have not been fully developed as destination features and thus, significant opportunities to utilise museums' visitor experience to enrich the tourist offering, are lost. In this respect, the paper examines the experiences of tourists with cultural museums in the island of Cyprus, from the policy makers and museums' managers' perspective. Specifically, through face to face interviews with 13 representatives of tourism policy/museums, the study indicates that the role of museums is important for the formation of visitor/tourist experiences while certain elements appeal to visitors' engagement in museum settings. The paper concludes that museums could provide holistic memorable experience that can help actively diversify the tourism products of islands. In this respect, emphasis must be given upon how experiences are created having in mind also that visitors are increasingly becoming value co-creators in this experience.