Abstract

Museums of the 21st century play a central role in decreasing knowledge gaps and in leveling knowledge due to increased opportunities for participation, entertainment, and motivation offered by new digital technologies, but there may be a hidden benefit for maintaining knowledge gaps. In 1970, Tichenor, Donohue, and Olien proposed their knowledge gap theory that sought to explain how people acquire information differently, resulting in a gap in the amount of knowledge separating those of higher and lower socio-economic status. Despite the multifunctional and populist approach of modern museums, most people still expect to learn something new from their visit; they hope to increase their cultural capital or fill their knowledge gap. Museums are seeking creative ways to communicate art and their expert knowledge to all visitors, who are encouraged to construct their subjective interpretations from information provided by the museum, but also to seek new information and aesthetic experiences on their own. Art museums represent the vanguard of originality and creativity in our society, yet their established role provides a necessary balance and anchor to the uncertainty and anxiety often associated with contemporary art, and with our rapidly changing digital society that presents an abundance of knowledge and opinions. The important question is whether this popularization of knowledge is a means for museums to maintain the gap necessary to preserve their hierarchical status and power, or whether it motivates and empowers visitors to learn enough to close that gap and deconstruct the institutional power structure. Perhaps the real goal should not be to close the gap and have everyone possess the same knowledge, but to inspire individuality in the interpretation and performance of knowledge.