In museum exhibitions, history is conveyed through the intersection of research, interpretation, visual images and material culture. This unique medium demands a different set of standards from traditional academic products. Museums have a responsibility to present historical information in ways that make sense for an often-invisible public, and they must ensure that their exhibitions are based on sound scholarship and reflect the current state of scholarly understanding of the subject. Museum exhibitions also serve as a powerful tool for conveying socio-political messages that may be lost in the complexities of a monograph.
Exhibits can communicate a broad art-historical overview, canonize a particular period, or focus on the oeuvre and life of a single artist. They can reveal cultural debates, help to retrace histories of ideas, or highlight the role of museums in society. They can expose the politics and policies of a museum, or reveal how a museum is used for educational purposes. Exhibits can even be a form of activism that seeks to change social or political systems.
The articles in this section examine exhibitions that use their space and objects to reach new audiences, rethink existing methodologies, or push the boundaries of museum interpretation and presentation. They do not attempt to review every significant museum exhibition, but they will seek to emphasize innovative work that stretches the established parameters of exhibit design and scholarship. Examples might include exhibitions that address collaboration between the academy and the museum profession; projects that explore community driven collecting initiatives; or shows that employ innovative techniques to engage nontraditional and underserviced audiences.
For example, the Dutch Art Gallery’s De Vitaliteit in de Kunst aimed to wake visitors up by showing them works of contemporary art imbued with a sense of “vitality.” It perplexed critics, including the renowned historian Engelman, who accused the exhibition of serving the interests of artists and the museum itself by creating a reputational economy and turning the museum into a department store and kindergarten. Similarly, Van Natuur tot Kunst sought to show how art was developing a relationship with nature in the late nineteenth century, and perplexed some viewers who saw a lack of objective criteria for selection and a tendency toward personal opinions about the quality of work.
Another example, The World of the Ancestral Puebloans, provides a glimpse into the lives of the people who lived in Chaco Canyon from 850 to 1140 through an array of archaeological materials. The show reveals both the complex economics of the Ancestral Puebloan trading system and their deep connection to natural and cultural resources.
Exhibits such as these demonstrate that twenty-first century museums must expand the range of historical subjects they tackle and offer more inclusive visual stories. They must demonstrate that they deserve their tax-exempt status by proving that they provide a service for the people who depend on them to tell their local and regional histories. This requires hard work, research into new sources and engagement with the communities they serve.