Museology Research Articles

Camouflaging colonialism: a case study of a NeoColonial Museum

Museums are presented as institutions housing a society’s most outstanding artistic collective achievements. They are racialized organisations helping preserve white supremacist normativity in the racialized social system. We argue that museums are colonial projects that often camouflage colonialism. Museums’ hierarchal nature in prioritising Europe is blatantly apparent but rendered unseen unless you study its presence. Then, you discover differences through indifference. We used ethnographic observations and photography to explore how the Boston Museum of Fine Arts conceals colonialism. We find, for example, that the Art of Africa is demoted to two transitionary passageways. The pre-Columbian exhibit is relegated to the basement and camouflaged by other exhibitions. Additionally, Black bodies are subject to out-of-place sexualised portrayals. These findings reinforce our earlier argument that museums are white sanctuaries, safe spaces allowing whites to reaffirm their dominance in society.

A Study on the Use of New Media in Museums to Forge the Consciousness of Chinese National Community: A Case Study of Museums in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

In the era of "Internet +," the vigorous development of digital media technology has provided a new way and a new method for forging a sense of community in the Chinese nation. As an important cultural position, museums should conform to the trend of The Times, give full play to the advantages of new media communication, and play an active role in education and publicity. This paper takes the Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as Guangxi Museum) as an example, sorts out the application of short videos in Guangxi Museum, and puts forward the path for Guangxi Museum to use short videos to spread awareness of the community of the Chinese nation. The first is to refine the short video theme in-depth exploration of different cultural themes. Second, we should optimize the short video content, pay attention to the innovation of form and content, and give play to the advantages of interactivity and fun. Third, it is necessary to enrich the presentation of short videos and use the platforms of major institutions to allow the public to experience the charm of culture without leaving home. Fourth, it is necessary to expand the transmission channels of short videos and use the combination of online and offline methods to display cultural content in a three-dimensional manner. Guangxi Museum integrates the consciousness of building the Chinese national community into the whole process of organizing the exhibition, and it empowers Guangxi Museum through short videos to strive for a better communication effect.

The Effect of Authenticity towards Cultural Heritage Tourists’ Behavioral Intention: Case Study of the Graeco-Roman Museum

The Effect of Authenticity towards Cultural Heritage Tourists’ Behavioral Intention: Case Study of the Graeco-Roman Museum

Library and Bibliographic Classifications of Art Literature in the Documents of the M.I. Fabrikant Archive

The professional art history interests of professor M.I. Fabrikant (1887—1966) in the field of book studies, bibliography, library and museum studies are reflected in the documents of his personal archive in the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Scientific Library of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Based on his extensive experience, the scientist drafted in the 1920s a scientific classification of art literature. In addition, working in the 1930s in the scientific libraries of major Moscow museums (the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Tretyakov Gallery), he drafted the structures of branch catalogues. M.I. Fabrikant also participated as a consultant in the development of projects for the organisation of departments and catalogues in the new building of the Lenin State Library of the USSR in 1936.

Judeus libaneses em São Paulo: memória, identidade e perspectiva de musealização

The present work proposes to share some initial reflections raised by the ongoing doctoral research, provisionally entitled Jews of the Middle East in São Paulo: perspectives of musealization for the legacy of Lebanese immigrants. This study aims to rescue, deepen, and give visibility to the history and memory of Jewish families from Lebanon, responsible for the formation of an organized community in São Paulo at the beginning of the twentieth century. To this end, concepts of the New Museology and notions of community and ethnographic museums are mobilized, which support the development of a musealization proposal for the material and intangible heritage of the group in focus. Thus, it is intended, on the one hand, to value the culture of these immigrants and contribute to the safeguarding of their legacy, and, on the other hand, in theoretical terms, to collaborate to fill a gap in the interface between Jewish and museum studies.

From Entrepreneurial Origins to Professional Museum: A Practitioner’s Perspective on Field Hockey’s Sporting Heritage at The Hockey Museum, England

Founded in Woking, England, in 2011, The Hockey Museum (THM) set out to achieve something unprecedented. That is, the bringing together of objects and archives that collectively chronicle the national history and development of field hockey in England, the country from which ‘modern’, codified field hockey originated before spreading globally. Formed from the personal collections of its founders and heritage material from the defunct English Hockey Association, THM has since adopted an increasingly international collecting and research remit courtesy of the involvement of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and grown rapidly in scale and professionalism. Its collection is a unique and culturally significant sporting and social history resource – the only museum for field hockey in the world. Drawing on case studies of other museums and the wider historiography of sport museums and sport heritage to contextualize THM’s evolution across three temporary premises, the author explores the entrepreneurial genesis of THM’s founding, including formative, short-lived iterations in the 1980s, before looking to the future. Addressing an identified gap in the available literature, the author examines how THM’s journey and the people involved in its development have fashioned an unusual, seemingly contradictory sport museum operating model, that is worthy of documentation and practitioner introspection.

A Situla of tA-bAk(t)-n-Ast in the Institute for the study of ancient cultures Museum - The University of Chicago ISACM E11394

A Situla of tA-bAk(t)-n-Ast in the Institute for the study of ancient cultures Museum - The University of Chicago ISACM E11394

Muzea Lizbony – odkrycia i zaskoczenia

MUSEUMS OF LISBON – DISCOVERIES AND SURPRISES Over the past few decades, museums have encountered numerous challenges. These include changing living conditions, evolving social values and needs, social justice issues, decolonisation, the climate crisis, and giving a voice to marginalised groups. As a result, contemporary museums are expected to meet new audience expectations. Some museums have attempted to establish their own identity in response to these challenges. The article presents an analysis of three case studies of museums in Lisbon, demonstrating how different approaches can result in the development of a unique set of values, goals, and objectives that are relevant to the needs of modern societies.

Vision of transmedia narratives of memory. Case study of the digital platform Museum of Memory and Human Rights of Chile

Vision of transmedia narratives of memory. Case study of the digital platform Museum of Memory and Human Rights of Chile

The Polyphonic Object Genrestuk by Albert Blitz

In ‘The Polyphonic Object’ four analyses by scholars from different perspectives and academic fields show the layers of complexity a single object can hold. Through their (historical, museum studies, urban geographical, and argumentation/rhetorical) reconstructions, they uncover the different stories behind the painting Genrestuk (translation: ‘A Genre Piece' by Albert Blitz (1975) (Stichting Genootschap Amsterdam Museum, 1985). The painting was made in response to the ‘Nieuwmarkt riots’.

Interacting with Museum Spaces: Importance of Museum Studies in Art Education

Interacting with Museum Spaces: Importance of Museum Studies in Art Education

A bridge to memory: public experiences in front of the collection of the Museu de Arte Sacra Escritor Maximiano Campos

This article aims to analyze the public of the Sacred Arte Museum Writer Maximiano Campos – located in Goiana, Pernambuco – in view of their experience with sacred heritage, adopting as its central theme the study of the public in museums. The methodology used configures the research as bibliographic and descriptive, with a qualitative and quantitative approach. It uses a questionnaire as a data collection instrument, applied to the established audience group configured in students of culture courses offered by the Social Service of Commerce unit in Goiana. Analyzes the data obtained through thematic grouping, interpreting it based on the cross-reference with scientific literature. The public's experience of the sacred heritage of the Sacred Arte Museum Writer Maximiano Campos is not homogeneous. It concludes that the experiences that come from a diverse and plural public contribute to reflections on the sacred heritage belonging to the Sacred Arte Museum Writer Maximiano Campos, reaffirming the importance of public studies in museums

Centering multimodality: A personal and disciplinary journey

While museums have always been multimodal in and of themselves, and while museum studies have long engaged with different modalities in the museum (exhibition design, visitor movement, etc.), a comprehensive understanding of museums as ‘multimodal constellations’ has been missing. This was certainly the case in the 1990s, particularly for linguistics as a discipline, in which language was likely to be viewed as an isolated, and primary, form of communication. Yet in a museum, every label is connected to an exhibit, an exhibition, and the museum itself, and communication needs to be understood as a holistic, multimodal enterprise. For me as a linguist involved with the Australian Museum, Australia’s foremost museum of natural history, the multimodal environment of language was critical in our project to improve communication with visitors through better label writing. This article explains the personal and disciplinary developments resulting in the centering of multimodality as a research agenda. An important feature of this approach is the metafunctional theory of Michael Halliday as a core tenet. I explain how this theory of meaning operates across different levels of the institution, in relation to different modes, and in relation to subsequent developments in multimodal research.

Designing exhibitions of Chinese art in Soviet Art Museums: from collectible to problematic method

The object of research is Chinese fine art presented in Soviet museums, museum practice and scientific discourse that has developed around the study of Chinese art in the USSR. The subject of the research is the specifics of designing exhibitions of Chinese art in Soviet art museums and the issues of its historical transformation. The analysis of a number of exhibition events held in Soviet museums and dedicated to Chinese fine art is proposed. During the consideration of the topic, such issues as the factors that influenced the methods of Soviet scientists in planning Chinese expositions, the degree of their effectiveness in relation to communication between the Soviet viewer and works of Chinese fine art are traced. This material is used to reconstruct the process of transformation of Soviet art critics' approaches to presentation and communication in the field of Chinese art. The comparative historical method is used to allow a comparative analysis of the Early Soviet and late Soviet periods in order to comprehend the issues of the evolution of scientific knowledge about Chinese art, approaches to its research, museum presentation and communication in this area. A descriptive method of analyzing exhibitions and collections of Chinese fine art in Soviet museums is used. For the first time, the nature of Soviet museum studies of Chinese fine art is generalized, the approaches of Soviet researchers to presentation and communication in the field of fine art in China are revealed, and their historical transformation is traced. The main conclusions of the study are as follows. The nature of the evolution of Soviet researchers' approaches to presentation and communication in the field of Chinese fine art in USSR museums is determined by the movement towards the development of deep scientific ideas, which in the late Soviet period provide a reliable basis for the effective implementation of certain approaches to exposition planning, the complication of exhibition events, the movement of Soviet museological theory from an ideologized view of exposition material as a means education of a citizen of a new formation, to the perception of an independent artistic idea of exposition works. Since the second half of the 1980s, new principles of artistic communication between the viewer and works of fine art have been formed in the USSR: an independent artistic idea of exposition works is brought to the fore, which provides favorable conditions for the Soviet viewer to perceive traditional Chinese aesthetics as a separate phenomenon of ancient and original Chinese culture.

Translating artworks

Abstract This contribution, which sits at the intersection of translation studies and museum studies (MS), seeks to explore multiple forms of interpretation developed by museums, whereby interpretation is considered, from an MS perspective, as a variety of museum aids creating a context and conveying mediated meanings about the objects on display. The focus is on individual interpretative texts produced by an Italian art gallery, the Pinacoteca di Brera, as the results of various interpretation processes about the same piece of art: the traditional label, the online description, the general audio guide, and the audio description for the blind and the visually impaired (the latter comprising both the visual description itself and the art historical description). A selection of texts in Italian and their translations into English describing four artworks from the museum collection are compared in a bid to shed light on the distinct layers of interpretation and ways of translating and representing the objects for different expected audiences through intralingual, interlingual, and intersemiotic translation practices.

An empirical study of virtual museum based on dual-mode mixed visualization: the Sanxingdui bronzes

The design and implementation of virtual museums have evolved over decades, broadening the scope of traditional museum exhibitions and serving as an effective complement to physical museums. However, virtual visual effects have consistently fallen short of replicating the authentic exhibition experience and cannot substitute for physical museums. In this paper, we report a dual-mode mixed visualization system combining computational photography and binocular stereo vision techniques, and introduce an innovative virtual museum for Sanxingdui bronzes. This approach enables visitors to engage with the artifacts in a multifaceted manner-allowing for navigation, interaction, auditory guidance, and the examination of textural details as if handling the artifacts directly. Further analysis of participant responses in terms of visual cognition and aesthetic appreciation across different settings demonstrates that this dual-mode mixed visualization delivers not only a spatiotemporal experience consistent with the real world but also surreal visual effects. This immersive experience allows audiences to experience Sanxingdui art intimately, offering both high-resolution visuals and cost-effectiveness.

Rural Museums Promote Rural Revitalization: A Case Study of the Historical Museum of Qixian Village in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City

With the accelerating urbanization of rural areas, the original rural landscapes are disappearing. In order to emphasize the driving force of spiritual civilization construction in rural revitalization, the country has launched a long-term vision for the construction of “rural museums”. Taking the Qixian Village Historical Museum in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City as an example, this article uses the SWOT-PEST quantitative analysis method to comprehensively analyse the advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and challenges in the development of the museum from macro and micro, internal and external perspectives. Based on this analysis, appropriate strategic proposals are proposed to provide a reference for the sustainable development of rural museums.

Conceptualizing museum translation

Abstract The scholarly debate in translation studies and related fields has extensively addressed the definition, scope, and limitations of translation. We contend that museum translation, which encompasses both the traditional “translation proper” as well as the non-verbal and multimodal aspects of translation, is central to this debate. Museum translation covers an extensive spectrum of perspectives, which contribute to the expansion of the concept of translation and the field of translation studies. It capitalizes on the intrinsic interdisciplinarity of museum studies and translation studies, fostering a profound exchange of disciplines and serving as an ideal foundation for discussing the boundaries of translation. It has a dynamic nature that can contract or expand to suit the researcher’s perspective and disciplinary concentration. A comprehensive examination of the intricate procedures encompassed by museum translation is, therefore, timely. In this article, we examine and compare different applications of this concept and provide an overview of how various disciplines and research foci have approached this area of study. We aim to contribute to the ongoing development of the concept of museum translation and its position in translation studies, a call further addressed by each author in this special issue titled “Museums as Spaces of Cultural Translation and Transfer.”

Unearthing a hidden curriculum of gendered museum languages through critical feminist visual discourse analysis

ABSTRACT This article explores the hidden gendered curriculum concealed in the texts, exhibitions and other structural devices of museums and what they teach visitors to see and think. Grounded in conceptualisations of culture, representation, and language, past feminist studies of museums and applying feminist visual discourse analysis (FVDA) we found hiding in plain sight in public museums in Canada and England a diversity of ‘languages’ that subversively aggrandised masculine power and privilege and (re)inscribed negative or limited understandings to women which we argue as feminist adult educators have epistemic, identity and agency consequences. We also argue that whilst museums are trying to address often centuries old exclusionary gendered practices progress is slow because these practices are so embedded and unconscious and reflect pervasive social notions of ‘common sense’. Our study makes an important contribution to feminist museum studies by rendering visible a web of complex structural and textual gendered biases and to adult education. By adding museums to our curricula we can provide our students with a visual and immersive way to hone the critical visual literacy skills needed to understand more fully how both seen and unseen languages operate not just in the museum, but across society.

Awe in the museum: casting light on the role of the curator

ABSTRACT Most discussions of awe in psychology and philosophy refer to experiences of this emotion occurring in museums; however these discussions tend to focus solely on the exhibit (e.g., the art masterpiece) as the emotion elicitor, overlooking the spatial context of the exhibition – hence overlooking the role and agency of the curator. Engaging with this oversight, I argue that curatorial intervention is crucial to emotion elicitation in museums and should be accounted for in analyses of awe in these spaces. I substantiate this argument by engaging with interdisciplinary theory on awe, and showing how curatorial intervention can act on awe determinants: vastness and the need for accommodation, and connected states of attention. The aim is to cast light on the role of the curatorial in experiences of awe in museums, and through that, contribute to a better understanding of this emotion in the fields of museum studies and museum practice.