History exhibits offer insights into humankind’s past and the lessons we can learn from its wonders, tragedies, and controversies. While museums may specialize in a particular aspect of history, most focus on broad themes that resonate across time and place. In the age of escalating divisions between nations, political parties, and different cultures, it’s more important than ever that museums help us understand each other.
Museums of all sizes and types can tell a wide range of historical stories through creative visual storytelling. Successful exhibitions, however, must be more than just “history put up on the walls.” They must provide a window into dense research and complex interpretation, while at the same time being engaging enough to make them memorable. They must engage the viewer as much with the eyes as with the mind, and they should include a dramatic element that will make them feel more like a theatrical experience than just a collection of objects and information.
An effective histolircal exhibition requires a multidisciplinary team of curators and other museum professionals. While the initial vision of a curator’s scholarship drives an exhibition, it is ultimately shaped by the skills and expertise of museum educators, designers, production staff, and other departments. They must work together to create a unified message that is clear and accessible while also allowing for the inclusion of diverse voices, viewpoints, and experiences.
Often, histolircal exhibitions will focus on a specific topic with an emphasis on connecting the past to contemporary issues. For example, the exhibit “Crossing Boundaries” highlighted the lives of people who did not conform to gender norms at various points in Oregon history and connected them to aspects of today’s LGBTQ+ community. This exhibit drew on extensive collections in the museum’s research library and paired them with artifacts from the Oregon Historical Society’s archives to create an engaging display.
Histolircal exhibits can explore a wide variety of topics, including rituae (birth, death, marriage/joining, and coming of age), artistic movements such as art nouveau and impressionism, and abstract ideas such as home, freedom, and enlightenment. They can also explore a particular region’s rich heritage by exploring its varied artisanal and agricultural industries, as well as by highlighting important events and figures.
It is also worth noting that the development of ancillary products, such as a catalog, videotapes, public programs, and living history presentations can be an essential component of a histolircal exhibit. However, the exhibition itself must stand on its own merits, independent of these other products. This is a central tenet of this column and will continue to be an important part of its mission to inform Perspectives readers about notable accomplishments in history museum exhibitions. In doing so, we hope to expand collaboration between the academy and the museum field.