Every year, history museums interpret America’s past for millions of visitors. While large entities such as the National Museum of American History and Colonial Williamsburg may attract a larger share of these visitors, smaller museums such as the California Afro-American Museum and Oneida Nation Cultural Center draw significant numbers as well.
Exhibits are the heart of museum history, bringing historical objects and ideas to life for people of all ages. Although exhibits are based on rigorous research and scholarship, they must also be accessible to museum visitors. While many exhibition reviews focus on the intellectual underpinnings of a show—whether its research is sound, whether it reflects current scholarly trends, or whether it breaks new ground—it is equally important to evaluate how an exhibit conveys this knowledge to museum audiences.
Unlike books, magazine articles, and even classroom lectures, exhibitions offer an opportunity to tell stories through the use of a combination of artifacts, graphics, re-created spaces, and interactive experiences. They often evoke a sense of wonder, stimulate the imagination and allow viewers to place themselves within a particular time or place. They can also delve into abstract themes that have relevance for citizens of all ages and backgrounds.
While a historical exhibition may have a clear goal such as educating or inspiring, it is often more successful when it reaches beyond this objective and engages audiences with the past by highlighting the importance of individuals’ actions in shaping history and society. In this way, history exhibits can become a catalyst for discussion and debate on issues of social justice, civic responsibility, and the value of the humanities.
The medium of an exhibition, however, imposes its own unique constraints on the way in which historians and museum professionals approach the task of writing about history. While a curator’s scholarship is central to an exhibition, the resulting work must be simple enough to avoid being a book on a wall and complicated enough to be authentic; it must include a human component that reveals the drama of history through the interplay of objects and ideas.
The exhibition review format is an ideal vehicle to address these complexities. This column will attempt to highlight innovative exhibitions that challenge the established parameters of interpretation, scholarly writing, and museum exhibition design. It will explore a range of topics including innovative ways in which museums and the academy are collaborating; exhibitions that address societally relevant issues; and community driven collecting initiatives. The review will primarily cover the exhibition aspect of museum history but, at times, will examine other aspects of museum operations, such as publications and public programs.