House Museum Research Articles

THE SYN(ES)THESIS PROJECT – A MULTI-PURPOSE EXPERIMENT IN INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS

In the spring of 2021, the “Pancho Vladigerov” House Museum in Sofia brought to life a new creative initiative that aimed to simultaneously enlarge the scope of the museum’s activities, open up new artistic paths, and allow for an innovative approach to the cultivation of a wider audience base given the ongoing pandemic at the time. In April of the same year, the SYN(es)THESIS Project was officially introduced to the public through its inaugural concert exhibition; since then, it has involved the partnership and support of no less than twelve institutions in Bulgaria and has culminated in three complete annual editions with multiple events and components. Three years later, with a remarkable array of creative results in several artistic fields, the project presents the intriguing tale of an original interdisciplinary experiment. This paper invites a closer look into its structure and organization, its participants' compelling and inspired productions, and its potential for further expansion into new creative territories following its main established principles. In its essence, the SYN(es)THESIS Project aims to explore the multitude of possibilities for synthesis, interactions, and interconnections between the various arts through inspired individual and group-coordinated creative work. As such, it is meant to build bridges, often in unexpected ways, between artists, artistic disciplines, and institutions at multiple levels, even between the educational and professional spheres and their respective audiences. To foster the above goals, the project employs an array of creative approaches that, as its very name suggests, allow for manifold combinations and artistic interpretations. In practice, the root words “SYN” (Greek, “together”), “THESIS” (“statement”), “aesthesh” (“feeling”), and “SYNTHESIS” all have a certain relationship to its main guiding principles; and, while the number of these morphemes is fixed, the project does provide an open framework in which the potential directions for artistic work can, at least in theory, be limited only by one’s imagination and the specific relationships between the various creative mediums. In this regard, the project encompasses a rather open general format; concurrently, with every new session, all possibilities are narrowed down to specific combinations of artistic activities. This consequently allows for a clear, yet ever-evolving structure to be re-established as the basis for creative work.

THE HERITAGE OF VLADIGEROV – THE MUSEUM UP CLOSE

The preservation, scientific processing and presentation of the rich material and musical heritage of the classic Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov are the main goals of the Pancho Vladigerov House Museum – Sofia. In fulfillment of Vladigerov's will and thanks to the donative gesture of his wife, Mrs. Elka Vladigerova, today the composer’s former home houses his archive, painstakingly collected by him throughout his life. The diversity and uniqueness of the collections in the museum's holdings are a prerequisite for the development of thematic documentary exhibitions, educational programs, and multi-genre concerts, as well as many accompanying events that attract young audiences and introduce them to the composer's personality and the recognition he received as a leading figure in Bulgarian musical culture, as well as on a European and global scale. The team’s work is focused on turning the house that has preserved the unique atmosphere of Vladigerov's home in the capital's Lozenets district at 10 Yakubitsa Street into an attractive cultural center.

MUSICAL EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES IN THE PANCHO VLADIGEROV HOUSE MUSEUM – SOFIA AND THE BORIS CHRISTOV MUSEUM

A visit to a museum can offer a range of benefits to students. This is also true of the Pancho Vladigerov House Museum in Sofia and the Boris Hristov Museum, which provide the opportunity to implement various musical and educational events. The direct engagement with historical documents and artifacts and the immersion in the creative atmosphere of the musicians' homes, provide students with a unique emotional experience. This experience fosters respect and reverence for art, while also promoting awareness of national identity and instilling a sense of pride. The museum acts as a mediator between music teachers in mainstream schools and professional musicians, facilitating contact between them in their common goal of educating, nurturing, and preparing children and young people for the concert halls.

Musealization of Wawel Castle 1945–61 – Royal heritage and political legitimacy in early socialist Poland

ABSTRACT This article’s aim is to analyse why Poland’s socialist authorities decided to transform Wawel Castle into a historic house museum and how they took advantage of its new role in order to bolster their political legitimacy during their rule’s initial period. My argument is that Wawel Castle’s transformation into a historic house museum was motivated by the building’s status as the ultimate national symbol and its specific geopolitical situation. Situated in Cracow, far from the capital city, it could have played only a marginal role as an official residence in Poland’s highly centralised political life. Therefore, the socialist state ventured to exploit this heritage’s symbolic potential differently. The establishment of the historic castle museum demonstrated the regime’s attachment to national heritage, serving also to adapt the castle to its socialist vision. The castle’s musealization could legitimize the regime in the eyes of non-socialists without sacrificing its ideological agenda.

«ГДЕ ЗАПИСЫВАЮТ В КОШАЧЬИ ИМПЕРАТОРЫ?»: ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ОБРАЗОВ ЖИВОТНЫХ В СОВРЕМЕННОМ БРЕНДИРОВАНИИ МУЗЕЕВ И ДОСУГОВЫХ ПРОСТРАНСТВ

The article describes the ways the image of cats is used to make museums attractive to visitors. The author has studied how this practice is applied in such museums as the Hermitage Museum, house museum of Anna Akhmatova on the Fontanka River, the State Museum of Vyborg Castle, and archaeological reserve «Tauric Chersonese». Moreover, some social networking pages on Vkontakte and «Classmates» have been analysed, including those of the cat Bridgelet, the cats from Chersonese, and the cat Philimon from Vyborg Castle. The article proves that the images of the cats from these and other museums have become popular means to attract prospective visitors. The following examples of conducting such a marketing work can prove it: social networking pages run in the name of cats, various contests and events connected with cats. The author has come to the conclusion that the usage of feline images is brought about by multifaceted transformations in society. In particular, nowadays museums and libraries function not merely as places to store data and historically valuable artefacts, but also as leisure facilities. In addition, the attitude to domestic animals plays a huge role here, as now they are kept at home for pleasure, rather than for work. We can’t but mention the changes in the system of social values: domestic asceticism has been replaced by a convenient and cosy way of life, thus popularizing the images of animals that are associated with it.

The Pulborough Gold Torc: a 4th to 3rd century BCE artefact of European significance

Two fragments of a decorated buffer terminal torc were found in 2019 near Pulborough, West Sussex. The simplicity of the design belies the complexity of the construction of this hollow, gold alloy neck-ring. The overall shape is that of 4th to 3rd century BCE buffer terminal torcs found in western Europe, particularly France, Germany and Belgium. The terminal and neck-ring are decorated with filigree made from block-twisted wire soldered to the surface of the sheet metal parts. Filigree ornament is unusual in this shape of torc but is known from other varieties of torc and contemporary gold objects found on the Continent. The location of this find, towards the south coast of England along ancient routes of Atlantic and cross-channel contact and trade, is intriguing given the disparate influences seen in the design. This is not the first buffer terminal torc discovered in England; its discovery is preceded by both gold and copper-alloy versions, but it stands out for its individual style and decorative effect. After its discovery and reporting to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the torc was subject to analysis and examination, confirming it qualified as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996. The Sussex Archaeological Society acquired the torc in 2023 for the Barbican House Museum, Lewes, Sussex. Further detailed technical examination of the torc was carried out on their behalf at the British Museum and is described here.

The total picture: Activist artist Virginia Jackson Kiah and the Black house museum beyond the frame

AbstractThis article presents artist activist Virginia Jackson Kiah as a key figure in the phenomenon of the African American house museum. Readers will benefit from this layer of Kiah scholarship and its contributions to the field of anthropology by looking at a talented artist fueled by her status as a Black woman denied civil, civic, and human rights. Therefore, Virginia Jackson Kiah recreated herself as an artist activist who led a cultural resistance to racism in the arts prior to desegregation and the civil rights movement. As a scholar outside the realm of anthropology, art criticism, and analysis, I approach this project from the stance of a storyteller applying cultural studies methodology and content analysis. I posit that more attention should be given to the total artist—not just the person that had a grasp of brush, paint, pencil, and canvas. Besides her gifts as a painter, little has been written about Virginia Jackson Kiah, the interdisciplinary artist activist who examined culture and history as a musician, composer, singer, pianist, and arts educator. This recovery project fills several voids using archived materials and interviews which recast a total picture of Virginia Jackson Kiah as an artist and activist.

Comparison of gamified and non-gamified mixed reality in enhancing museum visitor engagement, motivation, and learning outcome

ABSTRACT This study, conducted at the Wieng Yong House Museum in Lamphun, Thailand, examines the impact of gamification within mixed reality (MR) experiences on visitor engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes. Utilizing a comparative approach, the research contrasts Gamified and Non-Gamified Mixed Reality groups. To facilitate this evaluation, we developed two versions of mixed reality applications: a Gamified Mixed Reality version incorporating interactive game elements such as leaderboards, progress maps, badges, levels, and quizzes, and a Non-Gamified version without these gaming elements. The findings reveal that while gamification notably enhances the reward dimension of visitor engagement, its influence on other motivational dimensions, overall engagement, and learning outcomes is less pronounced. Behavioral data analysis indicates that the Gamified Mixed Reality group exhibited a 30 percent increase in both total and average duration of museum interaction, suggesting a heightened level of visitor engagement. Despite these findings, the study suggests that the implementation of gamification in mixed reality might be more suitable for larger museums with sufficient resources to support extensive MR setups. The research underscores the nuanced effects of gamification in educational museum settings, providing essential insights for cultural institutions considering the adoption of MR technologies.

Comparing the Impact of Non-Gamified and Gamified Virtual Reality in Digital Twin Virtual Museum Environments: A Case Study of Wieng Yong House Museum, Thailand

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly employed in various domains, notably enhancing learning and experiences in cultural heritage (CH). This study examines the effects of gamified and non-gamified VR experiences within virtual museum environments, highlighting the concept of a digital twin and its focus on cultural heritage. It explores how these VR modalities affect visitor motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes. For this purpose, two versions were developed: a gamified virtual reality version incorporating interactive gaming elements like achievements, profiles, leaderboards, and quizzes and a non-gamified virtual reality version devoid of these elements. This study, using an experimental design with 76 participants (38 in each group for the gamified and non-gamified experiences), leverages the Wieng Yong House Museum’s digital twin and its fabric collection to assess the educational and experiential quality of virtual museum visits. The findings indicate that while gamification significantly boosts the reward dimension of visitor engagement, its influence is most pronounced in the effort dimension of motivation; however, its impact on learning outcomes is less marked. These insights are instrumental for integrating VR and gamification into museum environments.

Bardiches in the Tobolsk Museum-Reserve Collection

Purpose. This article presents the analysis of two bardiches stored in the weapon collection of the Tobolsk Museum-Reserve.Results. Further study of bardiches should be based on a complete accounting and classification of such weapons stored, primarily, in museums. Bardiches in the Tobolsk Museum-Reserve collection belong to two different types, which are most common both in Western Siberia and in the Moscow state in 17th century. A characteristic feature of the Tobolsk exhibits is the decorative design, which has few analogies.Conclusion. In written sources, the use of bardiches in Western Siberia was recorded in 1670s. Bardiches were in service with dragoon regiments, and were delivered to Siberia as part of centralized supplies from Moscow. In Siberia bardiches could be produced in rural forges, although in limited quantities. Some bardiches were delivered to Siberia privately. Tobolsk Museum houses ceramic tiles of the late 17th century. On the tile there is a picture of a warrior armed with a bardiche. During the reforms of Peter I bardiches were in service with Russian army, but at the beginning of the 18th century this weapon gradually became obsolete.

Site of Social Justice Advocacy, or Home of Godly Women? Interpreting Women’s Work at the Frances Willard House Museum

In 1900, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) transformed the Evanston, Illinois home of their late president, Frances Willard, into one of the first house museums dedicated to a woman in the United States. For over ninety years, WCTU members used the collections to situate Willard’s social reform career in the framework of domestic and religious duty. Recent efforts by historians and community members to reinterpret the collections to demonstrate Willard’s significance to a progressive, nondenominational, and diverse audience has sparked contentious debate over the ownership of the museum. Drawing on archival materials, published texts, and oral history interviews, this case study examines the use of space and artifacts, as well as the verbal sparring such choices have provoked. The controversy over the Willard House collections suggests that when women’s political and professional activity is central to a house museum’s significance, it becomes an especially contested commemorative site.

Heritage interpretation assessment framework for historic house museums in Singapore: a case study of the NUS baba house

Singapore is increasingly preserving historically significant structures through adaptive reuse, notably using historic house museums to connect with local history. NUS Baba House, a well-preserved Peranakan townhouse, is a prime example of this. Evaluating heritage interpretation at NUS Baba House can clarify relevant criteria, but existing principles lack specificity for the heritage interpretation of Singaporean historic house museums. This paper systematically assesses NUS Baba House's heritage interpretation using a literature-based framework, providing tailored recommendations across five dimensions: authenticity, sustainability, professionalism, guided tour interactivity, inclusiveness, and community engagement. While further validation through case studies is needed, this study offers a practical framework to enhance heritage interpretation at Singaporean historic house museums, filling a gap in current guidelines.

Memory in Motion

Memory in Motion illustrates the ways that replicating a now-lost culinary practice achieves stickiness through the affective transfer of ideas and experiences for visitors in history museums. It explores how embodied re-enactment both preserves and creates memories, while instilling senses of social value, currency and meaning in the museum, and in heritage more broadly. The work also considers museums, particularly house museums, recipes, and in this instance—sponge cake—as sites of memory and nostalgia, and their contemporary relevance. By interweaving resonant fragments of the museum’s collection and family (hi)stories with a performative activity embedded in memory and motion, we see the development of stickiness through a relational assemblage framework centred around emotional connections to food in the past and in the present, with a view to the future.with a view to the future.

Subtle Sound Design: Designing for Experience Blend in a Historic House Museum

In this article, we present and discuss a user-study prototype, developed for the Bakkehuset historic house museum in Copenhagen. We examine how the prototype—a digital sound installation—can expand visitors’ experiences of the house and offer encounters with immaterial cultural heritage. Historic house museums often hold back on utilizing digital communication tools inside the houses, since a central purpose of this type of museum is to preserve an original environment. Digital communication tools, however, hold great potential for facilitating rich encounters with cultural heritage and in particular with the immaterial aspects of museum collections and their histories. In this article, we present our design steps and choices, aiming at subtly and seamlessly adding a digital dimension to a historic house. Based on qualitative interviews, we evaluate how the sound installation at Bakkehuset is sensed, interpreted, and used by visitors as part of their museum experience. In turn, we shed light on the historic house museum as a distinct design context for designing hybrid visitor experiences and point to the potentials of digital communication tools in this context.

The Houseness of the Naga House Museum: Towards a Narrative of the Postcolonial South Asian House Museum

This article expands the study of museums and public culture in postcolonial South Asia and the Global South through an exploration of non-state house museums in contemporary Nagaland, a state in north-east India that is Indigenously inhabited, predominantly Christian, and was home to an armed movement for political autonomy over 1953–97. It demonstrates that the political significance of the Naga house museum as a site of history, heritage and identity rendered invisible in state-funded exhibitionary arenas that display an essentialist image of Naga Indigeneity is not only anchored to the labour of non-state actors, but also to the open-ended and oscillating ties between ritual and secular frames of exhibition and reception that animate it within an expanded field of visual and exhibitionary cultures. In doing so, this article challenges the dominant European and North American imaginary of the historic house as the basis for normative understandings of the house museum. If canonical accounts of house museums focus on their ‘museumness’, this study seeks to foreground the ‘houseness’ of the house museum in postcolonial South Asia.

Introduction: Between the Field and the Gallery: Exploring Anthropological Knowledge in South Asia

This special section brings together the work of historians, anthropologists and museologists, exploring how anthropological and sociological knowledge has been produced, consumed and reproduced in India. In particular, the special section is interested in analysing how these academic disciplines consolidated themselves as sciences informing the way a newly independent nation-state was to define its future, present and past in social and cultural terms. Anthropology and sociology were seen as tools to understand the diverse ethnic, religious and cultural background of India. Scholars used these disciplines to define what aspects of society were foreign or indigenous; what cultures, religions and languages were to be preserved; and what aspects of society were to be eliminated or integrated in order to achieve ‘progress’. Thus, anthropology and sociology shaped and continued to shape how we see India as a country and society. To understand how this process took place, the articles forming this special section are organised under three main categories: genealogies, methods and museums. The section on genealogies explores the way the first generation of Indian anthropologists and sociologists simultaneously challenge racial hierarchies coming from Europe while accepting caste and racial differences in India. The ‘methods’ sections looks at the trend of action anthropology in this case through social science approaches to ‘marginal’ citizens, whose cultures were explored as part of a larger citizenship complex stressing modernity, assimilation and secularism. The museum section contextualises a wide variety of national, state and house museums within the post-independence tribal integration policies and explores indigenous critiques that decolonise essentialising narratives of the state and nation.

Pedagogical and mentoring activities of the blind writer Vasily Eroshenko as a subject of research in the work of his memorial museum

The article examines the study of the activities of the symbolist writer, professional typhlopedagogue and wise mentor, Vasily Yakovlevich Eroshenko (12.01.1890–12.23.1952), as one of the priority areas of work of the House Museum of V. Ya. Eroshenko in his homeland — in the Starooskolsky region. The writer, a native of the village of Obukhovka, Starooskolsky district, Kursk province (now Starooskolsky district, Belgorod region), lived and worked, including creating schools for the visually impaired, in different countries of the world. Blinded at an early age, he understood the problems of the blind like no one else and studied all his life, engaged in self-education, thanks to this he was able to achieve success in various fields of activity. Vasily Yakovlevich’s innovative pedagogical method brought effective results, his students were able to live a full life and bring all possible benefits to society. The authors of the article highlight the main aspects of the writer’s worldview aimed at creating schools for the blind in different countries. V. Ya. Eroshenko considered the boarding school for the blind in Turkmenistan to be the main business of his life. The article contains the memoirs of his grateful Turkmen students. The memoirs are kept in the funds of the Starooskolsky Museum of Local Lore, they are written in a living language. One can imagine what a sensitive and wonderful teacher V. Ya. Eroshenko was. His unique teaching methods and extraordinary organizational skills motivated people with disabilities to live a full life. One of the priorities in the activities of the literary Memorial House Museum of V. Ya. Eroshenko is the popularization of the ascetic life and the unique literary and pedagogical experience of the writer and mentor. The staff of the house museum has experience in creating and implementing projects aimed at the socio-cultural rehabilitation of the visually impaired, thus they continue the mission of Eroshenko himself. The expediency of broadcasting such an experience is justified. It is concluded that the results of this study are relevant and in demand in modern museum realities.

A House of Many Stories: The Gibson House Museum and Narratives of Inclusion and Exclusion

A House of Many Stories: The Gibson House Museum and Narratives of Inclusion and Exclusion

A Museum Theatre Approach to Museum Communication in Durban, South Africa

This article explores how museum communication can be enhanced in museums in Durban, South Africa, using the Old Court House Museum (OCHM) in Durban, South Africa, as a point of departure for analysis and discussion. The aim is to close the gap between the humanities disciplines through disciplinary hybridisation while focusing on exploring the intersection of theatre arts and museums through applied theatre (AT) strategies to enhance museum communication. Grounded in Richard Schechner’s multidisciplinary approach to performance studies (PS), it incorporates the viewpoints of Dwight Conquergood on PS. The argument is that the humanities disciplines are historically and conceptually linked through cultural performance. The research employs qualitative methods, including historical-analytic analysis, key informant interviews (KIIs), and direct observation. The findings suggest the practice of the museum theatre (MT) concept in some parts of the South African cultural ecosystem, but with scant attention on Durban municipal museums.

Historic house museums and their change of use: searching for balanced building performance: a case study in São Paulo, Brazil

A house museum has its own particularities, presenting many challenges in terms of conservation of the building itself and its surroundings. This article aims to present integrative methods that can be adopted by museum managers and teams to monitor the building performance of a historic house museum. An exploratory study was carried out using Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), a multi-methods non-invasive application, at the Ema Klabin historic house museum in São Paulo, Brazil. This approach analyses qualitative and quantitative aspects of the environments to evaluate their performance and the context in which they operate, including the point of view aired by researchers/evaluators, other experts, and regular users. Summary charts and maps regarding diagnosis and recommendations were developed to demonstrate the results achieved with these methods. They are the result of cross-sectional surveys, providing input to aid decision making and developing possible guidelines for future projects with similar characteristics.