Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

In Denmark the main part of the dissemination of national art history is provided by the smaller and locally anchored art museums. In-depth studies evaluating the smaller art museum’s dissemination are, however, extremely rare, despite the fact that this type of museums dominates the cultural image outside of the largest cities. The dissemination practice of smaller museums’ often function as a framing of selected parts of the museums’ collection and iconic main works, which prioritize specific discourses. This is also the case with Ribe Art Museum, the local art museum of Denmark’s oldest town, which is the empirical focus of this project. Ribe Art Museum’s permanent collection includes several main works, which is duplicated in the museum’s dissemination across platforms such as exhibitions, the museum website, in teaching material, on guided tours, as postcards and posters, and for communication and marketing purposes. This paper is a critical analysis of the potentials and pitfalls of prioritizing “main works” and certain discourses about the visual arts, since it questions the representations, narratives, and user positionings that are created. A close reading of exhibition spaces, motifs, and work presentations can direct attention to issues relating to e.g. inclusion and exclusion, and can open up the possibility of gaining insight into how the idea of a common cultural origin manifests itself. The paper’s focus on collection dissemination will provide a much needed critical analysis of an ordinary, but rarely discussed, practice and its potentials and challenges which has relevance outside of Denmark.