top of page
Search

FA7034 - Notes on Lidchi Reading

  • April Slocombe
  • May 24, 2016
  • 3 min read

The question on p. 122 is, "What is a 'museum?'" My definition of a museum is a place where historical objects are on display for visitors to look at. Examples of museum include the Natural History Museum, The RAF Museum (both in London) and the ancient Roman museum in Caerleon. Vergo's definition of a museum is "museums exist in order to acquire, safeguard, conserve, and display objects, artefacts and works of art of various kinds (1993: 41)."

One question regarding the interpretation of a museum is, "does its interpretation vary over time?" (122). In the past there were two interpretations of the word 'museum.' The first interpretation is 'a mythological setting inhabited by the nine goddesses of poetry, music, and the liberal arts' (Findlen, 1989: 60). The second interpretation is that of "the library at Alexandria" (122). In the 16th and 17th centuries the definition of contemporary museums was partly dependent "on the social and geographical location of the collectors" (122). Nowadays there are more types of museum in addition to contemporary ones that have existed since the 16th and 17th centuries. Not only does the Science Museum have scientific and technological objects on display but it also has a viewing theatre and an IMAX theatre (Science Museum, 2016). There are similar museums in Cardiff Bay and Wrexham in Wales called Techniquest and they have several displays that visitors can interact with (Techniquest, 2016). In Newport there is a small museum that is in the same building as the library in the city centre (Newport Museums & Heritage Service, 2016).

An ethnographic museum is one that focuses specifically on certain people's race or nationality and describes "their customs, habits and points of difference." (127). This is a more traditional and specific definition of an ethnographic museum but in contemporary terms it refers to in-depth research "and a variety of data collection techniques" that "rely on prolonged and intensive interaction between the researcher and his/her subjects of research (127)."

Examples of ethnographic museums that are defined by their traditional and more specific meaning are those that focus on "China or the Islamic world or Ancient Egypt (128)." Specific examples of museum or exhibitions that focus on Ancient Egypt are Egypt: Faith After the Pharaohs at the British Museum (Egypt, Faith of the Pharoahs), c. 2016) and The Egypt Centre: Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Swansea University (Egypt Centre, 2010).

Objects that are exhibited at museums have a "physical presence" and a "meaning. (128)." Objects are given different meanings, for example when I went on a primary school trip to the aforementioned museum in Newport there was an intriguing display of boots and one of my fellow pupils felt sad when she looked at them because they made her think of warfare.

Douglas (1992: 6 - 7) claims "We do not escape from the predicaments that language prepares for us by turning away from the semiotics of words to the semiotics of objects." Semiotics is the study of signs and objects are given signs to give them meaning. More specifically in semiotic terms a signifier could be an object while the 'signified' could be its meaning. The words 'museum' and 'ethnography' could be signifiers (128) while their definitions could be the 'signified.'

While the meanings of objects in museums vary over time, the way they are displayed also changes over time. An example of this is are displays of objects at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford from around 1970 (Fig. 3.5: 162). In 1970 the objects were displayed in an orderly fashion but nowadays they could be displayed in a more unique, contemporary fashion by having objects mounted on the wall instead of being displayed in glass cases.

References

 
 
 

Comentários

Featured Posts
Recent Posts
Archive
Search By Tags
Follow Us
  • Facebook Basic Square
  • Twitter Basic Square
  • Google+ Basic Square
bottom of page