Month: April 2025

Every year, history museums interpret America’s past for millions of visitors. While big name institutions such as the National Museum of American History, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Chicago Historical Society draw the lion’s share of the attention, many smaller entities—including the California Afro-American Museum, Oneida Historical Society, and the Valentine Museum—also play a crucial role in educating diverse audiences. The reason why exhibitions appeal to so many people is simple: they communicate historical information in ways that books and lectures cannot. In the hands of a good curator, the exhibition becomes an elegant metaphor for the cultural argument it is presenting.

Exhibits present opportunities to tell a complex story in multiple ways—through objects, text, graphics, photographs, and the creative interjection of re-created spaces and interactive devices. They also provide a window into the dense research required when composing a history, allowing audiences to engage in a visual story. Ideally, this is done with enough complexity to be authentic but in such a way that it can broaden rather than narrow understanding of the past.

In addition to conveying historical information, exhibitions can communicate a number of social and political messages. Art event exhibitions such as retrospectives canonize a particular artist’s oeuvre, while socio-political exhibitions may address themes of gender, race, or economics. Similarly, exhibitions can explore abstract ideas such as home, freedom, faith, democracy, and mobility.

These kinds of exhibitions can be powerful tools for fostering dialogue and collaboration between scholars in academia and museum professionals. Museum exhibitions, however, must be able to communicate scholarly research at the level that can be understood by a general audience. This is why it is important for exhibition reviews to look at not only the intellectual underpinnings of the exhibition—whether its claims are sound, whether it reflects prevailing scholarly currents, and whether it breaks new ground—but also what the exhibition actually means to its viewers.

Historic structures pose unique challenges to museum design and installation, and require a great deal of work and flexibility to adapt. Museums must adhere to and, where possible, exceed accessibility requirements established by the Americans with Disabilities Act. They must also consider preservation and architectural constraints such as limitations on fastening and anchoring objects to walls, floors, and ceilings. It is therefore essential for exhibit designers to involve an architect and historic preservation specialist early in the process of developing an exhibit that will be displayed in a historic structure.

This fall, three different historical exhibits at the New-York Historical Society will tackle these issues. Opening on September 6, Real Clothes, Real Lives will examine how women’s fashion choices reflected and influenced their lived experiences in New York City over two centuries. Moreover, on October 7, the museum will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Robert Caro’s publication of The Power Broker, highlighting several pages that Caro ultimately cut from his book. The exhibition will also include his original manuscripts and notes to show how the book was compiled.

Cultural heritage is the collection of intangible and tangible attributes that reflect a group or society’s values, traditions, and history. It includes artifacts, historical monuments, buildings, and archaeological sites. It also extends to the intangible aspects of culture such as language, music, and dance. The concept of cultural heritage is often seen as a source of identity for groups and communities, and its preservation is considered important for social cohesion.

Nevertheless, defining what is considered to be part of the cultural heritage can be complicated as different groups attach different meanings to heritage objects. This is why the concept of cultural heritage is continuously evolving, based on historically changing value systems that are recognized by various groups of people.

The preservation of cultural heritage has become an increasingly important issue in our modern world. Globalization has increased the curiosity of people around the globe about the diverse cultures and traditions that exist in other parts of the world. This has resulted in a growing demand to travel and experience cultural heritage sites in person. This phenomenon is sometimes called “heritage tourism.” In order to preserve cultural heritage, it is necessary to understand the factors that influence the preservation process and to identify the challenges faced in preserving cultural heritage.

In recent years, cultural heritage research has developed extensively worldwide and is one of the fastest-growing fields in the humanities. The increasing interest in the field has been fueled by several factors, including the rising popularity of heritage tourism and the desire to preserve and celebrate cultural identities that are distinct from the dominant hegemony in societies. Traditionally, heritage studies have been closely tied to the construction of nation-states and national identities. The scholarly tradition of heritage studies traces back to antiquarianism and the collecting of ancient ruins in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

However, cultural heritage is not just about promoting and preserving the past; it is also a tool for constructing the future. How a community presents its heritage to outsiders will have an impact on the way that community members see their own future. For example, if the heritage is presented in a way that promotes cultural assimilation, it may prevent minority communities from maintaining their unique culture and ways of life. On the other hand, if the cultural heritage is presented in such a way that it is universally valued by all, it can foster a sense of unity within a multicultural society.

To better understand the dynamics of cultural heritage research and its scholarly implications, we conducted a bibliometric analysis using Web of Science (WOS). Our study revealed that the scope of this field is wide and the thematic focus has evolved over time. We also found that there is a correlation between the scholarly output volume of the field and its shifting intellectual structure. As the field of cultural heritage continues to develop, it is important to understand its role as a knowledge system in academia.