Overview

Museums are not neutral containers of facts. They are powerful institutions that tell us what is valuable and what is not. Museum Studies asks: Who gets to decide what goes in the glass case? Why are Greek statues in London? Why do we whisper in art galleries? It examines the museum as a “contact zone” between cultures.

Core Idea

The core idea is representation and power. Historically, museums were tools of colonialism. They displayed the “spoils of war” and categorized non-Western people as “primitive” specimens alongside flora and fauna. Modern museum studies focuses on decolonizing the museum—giving voice and authority back to the communities whose heritage is on display.

Formal Definition

The theoretical and practical study of museum history, organization, and management, with a focus on the ethical and social implications of cultural heritage management.

Intuition

Walk into a Natural History Museum. You see dinosaurs, rocks, and… Native Americans. Why are Native Americans in the Natural History museum (with the animals), while Greeks and Romans are in the Art Museum? This classification implies that Indigenous people are part of “nature” (primitive), while Europeans are part of “culture” (civilized). Museum studies critiques these hidden messages.

Examples

  • Repatriation: The movement to return stolen artifacts (like the Benin Bronzes or the Elgin Marbles) to their countries of origin.
  • The “Blockbuster” Exhibition: The trend of huge, ticketed shows (e.g., “Treasures of Tutankhamun”) that turn culture into a spectacle and a revenue stream.
  • Ecomuseums: Museums without walls, where a whole community preserves its living heritage in situ, rather than locking objects away in a building.

Common Misconceptions

  • Museums preserve the past: They construct the past. Curators choose a specific narrative. A display of “The American West” might focus on cowboys and ignore the genocide of Indigenous peoples.
  • It’s just for curators: It is a vital field for anyone interested in public history, education, and cultural politics.
  • NAGPRA: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990), a US law requiring museums to return human remains and sacred objects to tribes.
  • Intangible Heritage: UNESCO’s concept that culture isn’t just objects (vases), but practices (dance, cuisine, language) that museums struggle to display.
  • The White Cube: The standard aesthetic of modern art galleries (white walls, silence) designed to isolate the art from the world.

Applications

  • Education: Museums are major sites of informal learning.
  • Tourism: Museums are engines of economic development (the “Bilbao Effect”).
  • Reconciliation: Museums can be spaces for healing historical wounds (e.g., Holocaust museums, Apartheid museums).

Criticism / Limitations

  • Elitism: Museums are often seen as intimidating spaces for the educated elite, unwelcoming to the working class.
  • Funding: The tension between the educational mission and the need to find corporate sponsors (who might want to sanitize the exhibits).

Further Reading

  • Bennett, Tony. The Birth of the Museum. 1995.
  • Karp, Ivan. Exhibiting Cultures. 1991.
  • Clifford, James. The Predicament of Culture. 1988.