Each year, museum exhibitions interpret America’s past for millions of visitors. While well-known institutions such as the National Museum of American History and Colonial Williamsburg attract many of these visitors, smaller entities such as California Afro-American Museums and Oneida Historical Society also engage in this important public service. These museums are entrusted with the mission of interpreting history to a broad and diverse audience. In this context, exhibitions provide a window into the complex process of historical research and interpretation and serve as touchstones for the many personal experiences that form our understanding of the past. Because of their unique role in the transmission of historical knowledge, museum exhibits present particular challenges to scholars and the public alike. This column will examine some of these challenges and celebrate the best work in museum exhibitions, providing a forum for discussion on both the intellectual underpinnings of the shows and their impact on viewers.
The exhibition review is a special genre of scholarship that bridges the gap between the academy and museums. While historians may have the primary responsibility for researching and writing exhibitions, their ultimate success depends on the collaboration of other professionals in the museum, including curators, educators, designers, and production staff. Successful exhibits are a marriage of ideas and objects that reflect the current state of historical research. They are often challenging to understand and require the active participation of viewers.
Museums are unique in the world of cultural organizations because they exist to make a contribution to their communities through educational programs, exhibitions, and collecting. Their funding comes primarily from the public and, in most cases, from local government. These organizations are a trusted source of information about the past and are a vital part of our culture. They must demonstrate that they deserve their tax-exempt status by demonstrating that their collections and programs are relevant to the people in their towns, neighborhoods, and regions. They must show that they have something to offer all the citizens of their town, not just the elite few who attend museum exhibits.
Unlike scholarly monographs, which can stand alone as works of scholarship, the life of an exhibition is usually brief. Therefore, the publication of exhibition reviews is a crucial part of museum scholarship. These reviews enable readers to keep abreast of the latest developments in museum history, and they help create a literature of historical presentations in the exhibition medium that will outlive the individual shows. The reviews in this series will contribute to this growing body of exhibition scholarship and establish a methodology, vocabulary, and format for this type of scholarship. This will also provide an opportunity for a dialogue between academics and museum professionals that has been all too rare.