Poster Session (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Museums and the Etruscan Myth: Analysing Representational Practices and Their Reception in Archaeological Museums View Digital Media
Poster Session Cristina Sanna
Museums are places in which representations are performed and consumed in everyday practice, pushing museum professionals to address issues of subjectivity and identity especially in ethnographic and post-colonial contexts, while archaeological ones have been slower in elaborating these issues, remaining therefore understudied. In the last twenty years archaeological representation has been established as a research specialization that focuses on non-academic representations of the past and the way in which they are received by the public. Taking Etruscan archaeology as a highly promising case study, this proposal examines museum representations of the Etruscan civilisation both from an academic and an audience-centred perspective to understand the way in which meaning on this subject is constructed in the collective imaginary. Using a transdisciplinary methodology, the data gathering process will involve archival research in museums and semi-structured interviews that will be carried out with museum professionals and members of the public. Questions will be asked to understand what messages archaeologists communicate through museum displays and what is understood by the visitors. The phenomenology of museum representation lays at the heart of this research together with the idea that the epistemological practice of museums display can create ideas and data that not only shape the popular perception of the past, but also feed back into academia, picturing knowledge as an exchange between erudite studies and popular culture.
Mixed Reality in Museums: Interaction Design Grounded in Spatial and Experiential Realities for Immersive and Engaging Visitor Experiences View Digital Media
Poster Session Abhinav Mishra
Computer-based digital interactive media is now normalised in museums. Mixed Reality (MR) is one of the more recent forms of digital interactive media being adopted to create experiences in museums. As MR is a medium that is dependent on the physical space, it becomes critical to consider the museum’s built environment and activities to design and develop MR-based experiences for the museum. There is a lack of current research that grounds museum-based MR in the physical and experiential realities of museums, their exhibits, and visitors. This PhD research investigates the relationship between interaction design (IxD) for MR, the spatial elements of the museum, the contextual ‘cues’ that support the visitor perception, and the exhibition environment to create effective MR experiences with natural users interfaces. By reviewing, identifying, and synthesising these ‘attributes’ within the IxD for MR experiences in museums, this study aids in delivering MR experiences that establish meaningful relationships and engagement between the visitors, MR technologies, artefacts and their surrounding space.
Featured Museums and Inter-racial Contacts in Times of the Black Lives Matter Movement View Digital Media
Poster Session Angeliki Tsiotinou
In this study I explore how museums in the United States with a history of representing ‘otherness’ can function as ‘contact zones’ and foster inter-racial understanding in times of the Black Lives Matter movement. I begin by briefly discussing the benefits, risks and challenges of inter-racial contacts as discussed in Education, Psychology, Anthropology, and Museology literature. I suggest that the insights of such literature can prove helpful in times of the Black Lives Matter movement, considering the ongoing struggle of museums to combat racism and dismantle white supremacy. To this effect, I critically analyze the permanent exhibition of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. ‘Many Voices, One Nation’, which has adopted an inter-racial contact perspective. In doing so, I raise questions such as the following: What can we learn from how this museum responded to the challenge? Also, what issues does its response raise for museums, if they are to exhibit the past with more diversity, inclusivity, and equitability in times of the Black Lives Matter movement?
