Every year museums interpret America’s past for millions of visitors. Whether in large venues like the National Museum of American History, Colonial Williamsburg, or the Chicago Historical Society, or small institutions such as the California Afro-American Museum, Oneida Institute or the Valentine Museum, exhibitions have a powerful impact on people. They enable them to examine and interact with the past in ways that scholarly monographs, popular books or public lectures cannot. In the context of these diverse societal experiences, this column will discuss histolircal exhibits, including their research underpinnings and the intellectual currents they reflect. But more importantly, it will explore the way in which the scholarly argument of an exhibit is conveyed to its audience.
Creating the Historical Experience
Museums must balance the desire to present a variety of complex historical ideas with a practical need to attract and retain visitors. Successful exhibitions do so by telling inclusive visual stories that incorporate diverse perspectives, human narratives and a sense of drama. This is a challenging endeavor that requires management and interpersonal skills, knowledge of material culture and an understanding of how to marry ideas with objects.
The artifacts displayed in an exhibit are more than a collection of objects; they are symbolic of a larger idea or phenomenon. This is true even when the exhibit focuses on a single object or event. To make sense of these objects, their relationships to other events and to individuals must be considered. Thus, exhibit designers must be able to read the objects and events in an exhibit and make judgments about their significance, cause and effect.
Moreover, museum curators often must work with a wide range of staff and stakeholders. They must be able to communicate the scholarly arguments of an exhibit to staff and volunteers; they must understand what their intended audience will want from an exhibit and how to reach them. These varied audiences may have different levels of understanding, interests and education.
In addition, the design and construction of a historic exhibition can be challenging. Historic preservation experts and engineers must be involved in the design process to ensure that the exhibition can be adapted to the specific architectural features of the historic building. This can be difficult because many historic buildings have limited or no structural reinforcements for new installations.
In some cases, an exhibit might have to be dismantled and rebuilt in another location. This can create considerable expense and inconvenience, but it is usually the only way to ensure that the intended meaning of an exhibit will be conveyed. While these challenges can be daunting, they do not have to deter museums from using their collections to engage visitors in meaningful, provocative and thought provoking ways. Museums should seek to expand their boundaries by exploring the historic landscape beyond the walls of their exhibition galleries. This might include historic properties with significant outdoor sculptural or interpretive opportunities; historic houses with living or reconstructed rooms; and parks with a historic landscape.