Intended and realised educational messages of dioramas: An international comparison

TY - CHAP

T1 - Intended and realised educational messages of dioramas

T2 - An international comparison

AU - Achiam, Marianne

AU - Marandino, Martha

PY - 2018/1/1

Y1 - 2018/1/1

N2 - Although natural history museums all over the world seem to exhibit similar content in similar ways, research shows that the dissemination of science and nature in museums is strongly influenced by the cultural and societal contexts in which the dissemination takes place. Individual societies and communities have patterned ways of ascribing meaning to objects and specimens, and accordingly, it cannot be assumed that a specific way of exhibiting objects in one context can meaningfully be transferred to another. To investigate how the cultural and social contexts affect museum practices across nations, we compare dioramas with similar biological content from zoology museums at the University of São Paulo, Brazil and from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, respectively. We use the following data sources: interviews with curators, planning briefs, exhibition catalogues, pamphlets, the dioramas themselves, and interviews with visitors. We present clear evidence of differences across the two contexts in the conditions for the design of the dioramas and the subsequent meaning-making by visitors. We discuss the implications of these different conditions for disseminating science with respect to museum practice, but also with respect to the research field of comparative museology.

AB - Although natural history museums all over the world seem to exhibit similar content in similar ways, research shows that the dissemination of science and nature in museums is strongly influenced by the cultural and societal contexts in which the dissemination takes place. Individual societies and communities have patterned ways of ascribing meaning to objects and specimens, and accordingly, it cannot be assumed that a specific way of exhibiting objects in one context can meaningfully be transferred to another. To investigate how the cultural and social contexts affect museum practices across nations, we compare dioramas with similar biological content from zoology museums at the University of São Paulo, Brazil and from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, respectively. We use the following data sources: interviews with curators, planning briefs, exhibition catalogues, pamphlets, the dioramas themselves, and interviews with visitors. We present clear evidence of differences across the two contexts in the conditions for the design of the dioramas and the subsequent meaning-making by visitors. We discuss the implications of these different conditions for disseminating science with respect to museum practice, but also with respect to the research field of comparative museology.

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-00208-4_9

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-00208-4_9

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 978-3-030-00174-2

SP - 131

EP - 145

BT - Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes

A2 - Scheersoi, Annette

A2 - Tunnicliffe, Sue Dale

PB - Springer

ER -