Decolonisation is so much more than provenance research and potential restitution. Lal Davies' powerful intervention makes me want to push the boundaries of agonistic spaces.
Category: Interpretation
Museum Spaces and the Visitor Experience
I've spent the last month in conversation with the team about our spaces at the National Waterfront Museum. It's the first step in redeveloping them.
Tschüss Deutschland, Sutmae Cymru
Starting in February, I will take on a new role as Head of the National Waterfront Museum in Wales. That's a good time also to reflect on five years in adult education, in a small town in my Swabian Heimat.
Museum: Place and Story
Historic buildings can be a real asset in telling local history - something worth remembering when they are adapted for museum use, as I argue in this review of the Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany.
Online Storytelling
A recent piece on The Guardian website is worth looking at for ideas on digital storytelling and exhibitions on museum websites.
Mise en scène of Exhibitions
Good interpretation is storytelling. And good storytelling through an exhibition requires mise en scène. The National Maritime Museum of Korea provides a good example.
Games and Interpretation
I have recently read the book Das Neue Lernen heißt Verstehen (New Learning means Understanding) by German neurobiologist Henning Beck. He develops the idea of understanding as the goal of learning from the study of how our brains work. Scholars like David Perkins [1] have developed a similar concept of understanding as performance from studying … Continue reading Games and Interpretation
Interpretation 101, Or: Show ‘Em Why We’re Here
Sometimes I walk through a museum or visitor centre and wonder, why are we here? This is the more frustrating at a site like Keltenwelt am Glauberg where, according to its own interpretation, they discovered a ‘scientific sensation’. So I’m feeling inspired to write another ‘Interpretation 101’ post, using Keltenwelt am Glauberg, and specifically its … Continue reading Interpretation 101, Or: Show ‘Em Why We’re Here
Immersive Interpretation
The current issue of the British Museum Association’s Museum Journal features an article about the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In it, it makes mention of what sounds like an incredible piece of interpretation focusing on the connections within the natural world that are too small for us to see with our … Continue reading Immersive Interpretation
The joy of place and good interpretation: Burton Constable Hall
I admit it: despite my qualms about stately homes and the way they tend to be interpreted, they are still my most favourite places to visit. Thus I came upon Burton Constable Hall in Yorkshire, and what a delight it was – really good interpretation included. Management Burton Constable Hall is owned by the Burton … Continue reading The joy of place and good interpretation: Burton Constable Hall
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