This vibrant examination of the museum’s role as contemporary narrator of our past reveals that our perceptions of history and ourselves are shaped as much by how a museum presents information as by what information it presents.
Description
Museums and the Past explores the central role of museums as memory keepers and makers. Using case studies from a Canadian context, the contributors to this collection reflect on the challenges in maintaining and developing museums as meaningful places of memory and learning. Discussions of museum practice and historical consciousness – how our understanding of the past shapes our sense of the future – consider the modern museum’s narratives and pedagogical responsibilities and how museums continue to inform our sense of history.
Reviews
Viviane Gosselin and Phaedra Livingstone have created, for the first time ever, a book that looks at the relationship between museums and the concept of historical consciousness. In doing so, they are pioneering both museological and historical literature, and greatly contributing to an under-researched field.
- Cintia Velázquez Marroni