Representing human origins: constructing knowledge in museums and dismantling the display canon
Representing human origins: constructing knowledge in museums and dismantling the display canon
Archaeological representation is a relatively new field of inquiry in the discipline, focusing on the construction of knowledge by the diverse range of ‘non-academic‘ media that present the past. In this analysis the subject of museum display and the construction of disciplinary knowledge is addressed, with a case study on the way the subject of human origins has been exhibited. After an initial discussion outlining the manner in which displays construct the past, I proceed to establish that displays of human origins have created a highly formulaic and restrictive version of our evolution as a species. This critique is then followed by a set of five proposed strategies for dismantling the display canon so firmly entrenched in museum practice. These are: 1) engaging the present; 2) challenging the iconography; 3) abandoning the narrative; 4) telling different stories; and 5) harnessing emotion.
3-20
Moser, Stephanie
af3009ce-a7c4-4550-a180-7e1987b7deed
2003
Moser, Stephanie
af3009ce-a7c4-4550-a180-7e1987b7deed
Moser, Stephanie
(2003)
Representing human origins: constructing knowledge in museums and dismantling the display canon.
Public Archaeology, 3 (1), .
(doi:10.1179/pua.2003.3.1.3).
Abstract
Archaeological representation is a relatively new field of inquiry in the discipline, focusing on the construction of knowledge by the diverse range of ‘non-academic‘ media that present the past. In this analysis the subject of museum display and the construction of disciplinary knowledge is addressed, with a case study on the way the subject of human origins has been exhibited. After an initial discussion outlining the manner in which displays construct the past, I proceed to establish that displays of human origins have created a highly formulaic and restrictive version of our evolution as a species. This critique is then followed by a set of five proposed strategies for dismantling the display canon so firmly entrenched in museum practice. These are: 1) engaging the present; 2) challenging the iconography; 3) abandoning the narrative; 4) telling different stories; and 5) harnessing emotion.
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Published date: 2003
Organisations:
Archaeology
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Local EPrints ID: 391006
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/391006
ISSN: 1465-5187
PURE UUID: 27d84638-fd9d-404a-8fac-c42cc76c5b4a
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Date deposited: 08 Apr 2016 15:20
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 23:25
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