Fourteenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Over the last decades, sites of conscience (SCs) have been defined as a new kind of museum. SCs are places where people can learn about their own history and become engaged in current issues. Furthermore, SCs and community are connected by the significance the sites have to their communities and by how engaged are communities with the site’s interpretation and presentation. Thus, the recognition of community engagement as an essential aspect in managing SCs will contribute to the preservation of these sites for future generations. This study then seeks to explore community engagement at SCs, in order to recognise the factors that contribute and hinder community engagement. The study focuses on the case of Villa Grimaldi, the biggest detention centre in Santiago, Chile during Pinochet’s military dictatorship. Currently, Villa Grimaldi is one of the most important and well-known SCs in Chile and the Southern Cone. In order to carry out the research, two main qualitative methods are proposed. Firstly, the analysis of visitors reviews on online platforms, which seeks to identify the main aspects in visitors’ experiences at the site that promote community engagement. This method aims to describe how visitors oriented their cognitive and emotional experiences towards the site and its interpretation, from being passively to actively engaged. Secondly, interviews with Villa Grimaldi’s managers are expected to give insight on the main managerial issues that hinder engagement and what actions should be taken to address them, especially in the current global health crisis caused by Covid-19.