Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

This paper explores issues of visitor sustainability at two types of sites: de-sacralized spaces which today function as museums (Rotunda in Thessaloniki, Greece and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey), and religious spaces that have undergone or are undergoing museumification (White and Red Monastery churches in Sohag, Egypt). When museums and religion intersect, visitors may be tourists, pilgrims, or both. Thus, issues of visitor sustainability at such sites must consider how both tourists and pilgrims interact with these spaces. Pilgrims at the White and Red Monastery churches, for example, often touch and kiss icons. Should preservationists limit ritual encounters of pilgrims in such spaces? This paper has two aims. First, based on on-site observations, I describe the kinds of interactions that tourists and/or pilgrims have with the two types of sites mentioned above and I identify some of the preservation issues that pose a challenge to heritage management. Second, based on my conversations with heritage specialists, and engaging with relevant museum and cultural heritage scholarship, I note what has been done to address these preservation issues, what concerns still remain, and some preliminary thoughts on how best to address them. In my analysis, I give special attention to the sustainability of religious interactions.