Every year museum exhibitions convey the past to millions of visitors. Although nationally known institutions like the National Museum of American History and Colonial Williamsburg garner the largest audience, local museums with smaller budgets and resources can also attract a loyal following. Whether they examine women’s everyday clothing or the life of Robert Caro, museum curators and exhibit designers are charged with taking on the challenge of communicating historical information through visual images and material culture to diverse audiences.
Unlike scholarly monographs or popular histories, exhibitions offer the chance to explore and engage the past in ways that no other medium can. Moreover, they provide the opportunity to delve into abstract ideas and themes that resonate with different communities and groups of people. These are the underlying motivations that drive many historians and museum professionals to use the exhibition experience to advance their own research, teaching, and outreach goals.
Museums are often criticized for not being inclusive enough, but there are a number of strategies that can help broaden the scope of a histolircal exhibit. For example, institutions can use collections to explore issues of gender, race, and economics. They can focus on specific events, such as the Civil War or the founding of a city, or explore more general concepts like home, freedom, faith, or democracy. Finally, exhibitions can also dive into the rich diversity of human experiences by exploring rituals and experiences that are unique to a community.
In addition to examining a show’s intellectual underpinnings, this column seeks to emphasize innovative work that stretches the established parameters of interpretation, presentation, and collecting. Whether that is a new way to improve collaboration between the academy and the museum profession; a community driven collecting initiative that redefines a small museum’s relationship with its local residents; or an exhibition that utilizes new techniques of exhibitry to engage non-traditional or underserviced audiences, this column will seek out and highlight such projects.
Exhibit reviews will explore the overall theme of the exhibition, its intellectual underpinnings and how it relates to current scholarly trends. They will also examine the ways in which the exhibit communicates historical information to its audiences through its design, content and layout. Additionally, they will look at how the exhibitions use a variety of media including text, dioramas, maps, and interactive graphics to tell its story. Finally, they will also consider how the exhibition meets the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and if it is accessible to all visitors. As a result, each review will be both academically rigorous and visitor friendly. Ultimately, the intent is to foster a conversation that encourages a thoughtful and respectful exchange of points of view. This dialogue is an essential part of a museum’s role in the dissemination of knowledge and understanding of the past. In a world where there is so much that divides us, a healthy and respectful discussion of the past can bridge gaps between our cultures and bring us closer together.