As a three-dimensional physical and visual representation of historical research and interpretation, museum exhibitions offer an essential window into dense academic scholarship. Exhibitions also create drama and enable a history to be told in ways that are appealing to the eyes as well as the mind. They are the heart of what a museum does and the way it connects with its community.
Whether they are a cabinet of curiosities, an archaeological excavation or a full-blown retrospective, exhibitions are the embodiment of creative visual storytelling. They are metaphors, visual poetry and imagination that help us to place ourselves in the past. They are a form of cultural argument that is nonlinear in both its structure and content, and they often reveal the way in which people in the past were connected to each other and to larger historical concepts.
A museum’s mission is to communicate the history of humankind in a compelling way that expands the parameters of knowledge. Its exhibitions can highlight a particular period or event, commemorate common tragedies and injustices, or explore abstract ideas such as home, freedom, faith, democracy, and mobility. A well-crafted exhibition allows a museum to engage with its community of citizens who come from all walks of life and bring their own perspectives and experiences to the story being told.
Each year, hundreds of major history exhibits are curated and mounted throughout the country. Though these shows may not receive the same level of scholarly attention as monographs, they are crafted by scholars who work closely with museum educators and staff, designers, and production teams. The result is an exhibition that reflects the broad range of skills necessary to make museums an effective medium for interpreting the past: historical scholarship, management and interpersonal skills, knowledge of material culture, an aesthetic sense, and an understanding of how visual images can communicate historical information.
The articles in this section highlight significant exhibitions, particularly those examining the lives of ordinary people. These range from family ties to significant events, from the celebration of local anniversaries to the documentation of the forced incarceration of 33,000 second-generation Japanese Americans during World War II. The stories of these exhibitions illustrate the importance of connecting the past to a broad, diverse audience and the challenge that museums face in demonstrating that they deserve their tax-exempt status by performing a service to communities.
This column focuses on innovative work that stretches the boundaries of traditional exhibition scholarship and presentation. For example, the gallery that uses archival photographs to show a family’s journey from slavery to freedom, or a museum that uses art and personal objects to tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement. In addition, this column will examine exhibitions that demonstrate new ways to improve collaboration between the academy and museums.