History museums, in the United States and around the world, play a crucial role in interpreting the past for millions of visitors each year. Although well-known institutions such as the National Museum of American History and Colonial Williamsburg draw a large share of the crowds, smaller entities like the California Afro-American Museum or the Oneida Historical Society are also important interpretive venues. Museum exhibitions are unique in the way that they convey cultural knowledge and engage audiences in a manner that scholarly monographs, popular books, and public lectures cannot. Each exhibition is an elegant form of cultural argument that has a physical structure and conveys information through text, dioramas, maps, charts, and interactives. A successful exhibition requires the collaborative efforts of a variety of individuals including researchers, museum educators, designers and production staff.
Exhibits can challenge established assumptions and promote dialogue, even when those discussions are contentious or uncomfortable. The selection of themes, photographs, objects, and documents for inclusion in an exhibit implies interpretive judgments about cause and effect, perspective, significance, and meaning. They can celebrate common events or memorialize tragedies or injustices, and they often enlighten and inspire. They can also provoke discussion of controversial issues or rehash old debates.
A museum’s mission is to provide a public service, which includes making its collections and the scholarly research that supports them accessible to as many people as possible. To do so, museums must find ways to connect with contemporary communities. For example, exhibitions on racial or gender identity, food and drink, clothing and adornment, and the exploration of abstract ideas can help museums expand their audience base by highlighting stories that speak to core values and interests in people’s lives.
Museums also need to show that they are addressing important social, economic, and political issues and serving their communities. They need to demonstrate that they are worthy of their tax-exempt status and that they offer a value added to the community. This can be achieved by researching new sources, building relationships with diverse communities, and implementing innovative strategies for interpretive practice.
This column focuses on exhibits that explore the richness of our human experience, whether through artifacts, documents, paintings or multimedia presentations. While we may occasionally review a noted accomplishment by an individual or institution, innovative programs and important collecting initiatives will take precedence over exhibition reviews. Each review will examine the intellectual underpinnings of an exhibition–does it reflect the prevailing scholarly currents? Does it break new ground?–and will discuss how the exhibition’s design enables it to reach a broad audience.