scholarly journals Intercultural Dialogues in Third Spaces: A Study of Learning Experiences of Museum Visitors

2022 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juana Du ◽  
Mingshi Cui
Keyword(s):  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Museum Visitors ◽  
Cultural Empathy ◽  
New Humanism ◽  
Museum Professionals ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
Third Spaces ◽  
Cosmopolitan Citizenship ◽  
International Visitors ◽  
Diverse Groups

Abstract Bodo (2012) called for the need of museum exhibitions to create “third spaces” where individuals can cross the boundaries of belonging (both physical and psychological) to engage in intercultural dialogues. The imaginary cultural space of museum has propelled us into a realization that we are in an era where interculturality, transculturalism, and the eventual prospect of identifying a cosmopolitan citizenship can become a reality. Predicated on a five-month ethnography work at a provincial museum in British Columbia, Canada, this research explores the following questions: how have cultural and historical museum exhibitions put us in contact with the other and foster an understanding of the other? And how has transculturalism led to the establishment of a cosmopolitan citizenship? This study lends support to the potentiality of a cultural and historical museum transforming into “third spaces” where visitors may actively engage in exploration of complex multitudes of cultural identities and cosmopolitan citizenship. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on “third spaces” and transculturalism by providing an empirical study of learning experiences of visitors in museums. It reaffirms the notion of transculturalism by proposing a new humanism in recognition of the other, and in expressing oneself in a conscious subjective manner with cultural empathy. From a practical perspective, it suggests that in order to encourage international visitors to cross the cultural and psychological boundaries and engage in dialogues, the museum professionals may design interactive programs in a creative manner. It also suggests that museum administrators improve their services to more diverse groups of visitors to enhance inclusiveness.

Building a Racial Identity

2021 ◽  
pp. 58-77
Author(s):  
Eunjung Chang
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Personal Meanings ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
American Students ◽  
Museum Exhibitions

This chapter examines African American college students' learning experiences at the Florence County Museum. Looking at several works of art, how do African American students construct their learning experiences in a course-required tour? What personal meanings do they take away from the experience? African American students are voluntarily engaged or only occupied in the works that are related to or connected to their racial roots. They also interpret the works of art from their racial points of view. Therefore, their racial identity as an African American is a key part of understanding their learning experience from the museum. It is important for African Americans not only to see themselves in museum exhibitions but also be able to develop their racial identity and imagine their future through art. It creates equal opportunities for all students from different social, racial, and cultural groups to function effectively in a diverse demographic society.

Australian Wildlife After Dark

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martyn Robinson ◽  
Bruce Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Natural History Museum ◽  
Night Time ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Museum Visitors ◽  
Scientific Terms ◽  
Gift Book ◽  
Arid Desert ◽  
International Visitors

Australia is a land of many unique animals, some of which are active only during the cooler evening and night-time and so are rarely seen. These are the after dark animals so widespread yet so little noticed by humans, whether in our backyards, the arid desert, woodlands or rainforest. Australian Wildlife After Dark brings this hidden fauna into the light. The after dark fauna includes a surprising diversity of familiar (and some not-so-familiar) species, from cockroaches, moths and spiders through to bandicoots, bats and birds – and then some. Each example is described in a unique, friendly style by Martyn Robinson, familiar to many Australians through his frequent media appearances on ABC Radio and in Burke’s Backyard magazine, and Bruce Thomson, an internationally renowned wildlife photographer and bat researcher. The book includes stunning photography and boxes that highlight selected topics, such as the ‘windscreen wiper’ eyelids of geckoes and the strategies used by night-time plants to attract pollinators. Also included are practical tips on finding nocturnal wildlife, a glossary of scientific terms and a short bibliography. The book will appeal to a general family audience, wildlife enthusiasts, bushwalkers, amateur naturalists, national parks lovers, natural history museum visitors, libraries, gift book buyers and international visitors to Australia.

scholarly journals Centennial Stances: Museums, Morals and the First World War

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sophie King
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Great War ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Museum Visitors ◽  
Visitor Perceptions ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
First World

<p>This thesis examines the extent to which New Zealand’s Centennial Great War exhibitions impact visitor perceptions, particularly those regarding their personal moral values. Two case studies are used, in order to inform discussions on the current and desired roles of New Zealand museums in relation to activism. While this research aims to provide New Zealand museums with more relevant findings than literature gaps currently allow, any discussions and recommendations may be more broadly applied to other countries. Similarly, despite a focus on the topical and largely publicised subject of WWI ‘100 years on’, discussions and recommendations are also relevant to general queries regarding museum representations, visitor interpretations and activism in museums. This research also intends to emphasise the benefits of interdisciplinary research by including museological, criminological and, to a lesser extent, philosophical literature.  The research methods used within the two case studies can be broadly separated into three parts. First, a thick description method is used to provide in-depth overviews of The Great War Exhibition and Te Papa Tongarewa’s Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War. This section attempts to present a largely unbiased description of Great War representation in New Zealand’s capital. Second, the interpretations of ten visitors from each exhibition are gathered in the form of researcher-accompanied, audio-recorded visits. Such a research method intends to extract visitor thought processes in a relatively fluid and natural way. Finally, visitor questionnaires taken at the conclusion of each visit provide information on visitor demographics and overall thoughts regarding the exhibition, war itself and any inclusion of activism in museums. Alongside museum studies literature, criminological literature and debates are referenced to explain and exemplify the plentiful and diverse perceptions surrounding war.  Overall, this study found most participants to be wary of activism in museum exhibitions. However, it also found that New Zealand museum visitors tended to possess a strong desire to determine their own moral perceptions through exposure to as many alternative narratives as possible. Therefore, any opposition to activism is not, in this case, due to any overriding wishes to favour ‘traditional narratives’. It is consequentially recommended that emphasis be put on clarity, transparency and multi-narrative approaches in museum exhibitions, as visitors appear to so strongly value their right to autonomous interpretation.</p>

scholarly journals Inclusive Environment for Working with Children with ASD Organisation Problems in Different Types of Museums

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 95-110
Author(s):  
E.Yu. Davydova ◽  
E.V. Khilkevich ◽  
A.V. Khaustov ◽  
D.V. Davydov ◽  
A.B. Sorokin
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Museum Visitors ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Museum Professionals ◽  
Museum Programs ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
High Level

Museums today play a pivotal role in creating an environment that follows principles of social inclusion and is accessible for individuals with disabilities including museum visitors with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Extracurricular activities are an integral part of comprehensive support for children with ASD that require coordinated efforts of museum professionals, psychologists, and educators. However, museum professionals may lack information about autism and appropriate approaches. The Federal Resource Center for Organization of Comprehensive Support to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders at MSUPE studied this process by conducting a survey about the availability of resources for accommodating individuals with ASD as independent visitors as well as participants in museum programs. The results of the survey attest to a high level of engagement of museum community in creating provisions for visitors with ASD in addition to the demand for consulting centers that would facilitate development of appropriate tools. We present a project that has introduced “social narratives” as an instrument for ASD in a setting that can serve as a model for such a center.

scholarly journals The art of fighting under glass

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Daniel Jaquet
Keyword(s):  
Martial Arts ◽  
Critical View ◽  
Museum Professionals ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
Exhaustive List ◽  
Temporary Exhibitions ◽  
The Doors

A growing body of research on fight books and historical European martial arts has appeared in academic circles over the last fifteen years. It has also broken through the doors of patrimonial institutions. From curiosities in exhibitions about knighthood, to dedicated temporary exhibitions about historical European martial arts, the fight books have received more and more attention from museum professionals. This article attempts to present an exhaustive list of fight books displayed in museum exhibitions over the last fifty years. It then proposes a critical view about how and why they were displayed from the perspective of the curators, based on a review of the exhibition catalogues.

scholarly journals Centennial Stances: Museums, Morals and the First World War

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sophie King
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Great War ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Museum Visitors ◽  
Visitor Perceptions ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
First World

<p>This thesis examines the extent to which New Zealand’s Centennial Great War exhibitions impact visitor perceptions, particularly those regarding their personal moral values. Two case studies are used, in order to inform discussions on the current and desired roles of New Zealand museums in relation to activism. While this research aims to provide New Zealand museums with more relevant findings than literature gaps currently allow, any discussions and recommendations may be more broadly applied to other countries. Similarly, despite a focus on the topical and largely publicised subject of WWI ‘100 years on’, discussions and recommendations are also relevant to general queries regarding museum representations, visitor interpretations and activism in museums. This research also intends to emphasise the benefits of interdisciplinary research by including museological, criminological and, to a lesser extent, philosophical literature.  The research methods used within the two case studies can be broadly separated into three parts. First, a thick description method is used to provide in-depth overviews of The Great War Exhibition and Te Papa Tongarewa’s Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War. This section attempts to present a largely unbiased description of Great War representation in New Zealand’s capital. Second, the interpretations of ten visitors from each exhibition are gathered in the form of researcher-accompanied, audio-recorded visits. Such a research method intends to extract visitor thought processes in a relatively fluid and natural way. Finally, visitor questionnaires taken at the conclusion of each visit provide information on visitor demographics and overall thoughts regarding the exhibition, war itself and any inclusion of activism in museums. Alongside museum studies literature, criminological literature and debates are referenced to explain and exemplify the plentiful and diverse perceptions surrounding war.  Overall, this study found most participants to be wary of activism in museum exhibitions. However, it also found that New Zealand museum visitors tended to possess a strong desire to determine their own moral perceptions through exposure to as many alternative narratives as possible. Therefore, any opposition to activism is not, in this case, due to any overriding wishes to favour ‘traditional narratives’. It is consequentially recommended that emphasis be put on clarity, transparency and multi-narrative approaches in museum exhibitions, as visitors appear to so strongly value their right to autonomous interpretation.</p>

scholarly journals Public health heritage and policy: HIV and AIDS in museums and archives

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 253-262
Author(s):  
Manon Sian Parry
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
Scholarly Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In the last five years there has been a resurgence of scholarly research and museum exhibitions on the history of HIV and AIDS. This work has called into question some of the conventions of archiving and interpreting the history of the pandemic. It is increasingly clear that a narrow range of materials have been saved. As historians and curators turn to these holdings for analysis and exhibition, they find they inadequately represent the impact of AIDS across diverse groups as well as the range of local, national, international responses. This essay considers some of the factors that shape collection of the material culture, particularly the heritage of public health, and the consequences for our understanding of lessons from the past.

African Art Reframed

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bennetta Jules-Rosette ◽  
J. R. Osborn
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
African Art ◽  
Memory Work ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Curiosity Cabinets ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Global Art

This book approaches the reframing of African art through dialogues with collectors, curators, and artists on three continents. It explores museum exhibitions, storerooms, artists’ studios, and venues for community outreach. Part One (Chapters 1-3) addresses the history of ethnographic and art museums, ranging from curiosity cabinets to modernist edifices and virtual websites. Museums are considered in terms of five transformational nodes, which contrast ways in which museums are organized and reach out to their audiences. Diverse groups of artists interact with museums at each node. Part Two (Chapters 4-5) addresses museum practices and art worlds through dialogues with curators and artists examining museums as ecosystems and communities within communities. Processes of display and memory work used by curators and artists are analyzed with semiotic methods to investigate images, signs, and symbols drawn from curating the curators and exploring artists’ experiences. Part Three (Chapters 6-8) introduces new strategies for displaying, disseminating, and reclaiming African art. Approaches include the innovative technology of unmixing and the reframing of art for museums of the future. The book addresses building exchanges through studies of curatorial networks, south-north connections, genre classifications, archives, collections, databases, and learning strategies. These discussions open up new avenues of connectivity that range from local museums to global art markets and environments. In conclusion, the book proposes new methods for interpreting African art inside and outside of museums and remixing the results.

scholarly journals Museum pedagogy in scientific education (2020)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Dovhyi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technologies ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Museum Visitors ◽  
Museum Pedagogy ◽  
Museum Professionals ◽  
National Science ◽  
Educational Programmes ◽  
Science And Education ◽  
Scientific Practical ◽  
Practical Conference

The collection contains abstracts of reports presented at the II All-Ukrainian scientific-practical conference "Museum pedagogy in science education", held on November 26, 2020. The issue of museum pedagogy encourages dialogue between scientists in various fields, museum professionals and educators to better use the latest achievements and innovative educational solutions. In the collection, the authors highlight the issues of creating new modern museum centres and updating the existing museum space; analyze the achievements of world experience in the field of museum pedagogy, taking into account the traditions of national science and education, features of language and culture; outline the advantages of using special interactive expositions, modern methods and forms of work with museum visitors, which are broadcast using game and information technologies and contribute to the implementation of scientific, educational, cultural and educational programmes and projects; analyze the situation that has developed in Ukraine and around the world in museums due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals The Dangerous Museum. Participatory practices and controversy in museums today

1970 ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Britta Tøndborg
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Art ◽  
Audience Participation ◽  
Participatory Art ◽  
The Past ◽  
Museum Professionals ◽  
Related Development ◽  
Democratic Change ◽  
Art Forms ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
Museum Practice

Whereas museums shunned controversy in the past, this article argues that as museums embrace the new trend of audience participation some have also opted to introduce “hot topics” into museum exhibitions. Museum professionals who have adopted this particular form of museum practice predict that it has the potential to reform museums as we know them, and to turn museums into active agents for democratic change in society. In a bid to understand and scrutinize the implications of this development in museums, the article consults critiques raised by art critics writing about a related development in contemporary art, i.e. relational and participatory art forms. 

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