Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

In general terms, children and childhood’s representations in museum have been scarce, both in exhibitions and its collections. This study presents ways in which children and childhood have been represented in museums, through a review of their objects on display and in the deposit. With this we hope to account for the different images and constructions that are made of childhood and children, in relation to the material and how these objects speak today about them. It examines, as well, two theories about the absence of children and childhood’s cultural material in museums. First, there are not that many objects, as a result of the collections they preserve. The second, the permanence of an imaginary where childhood is undermined and undervalued as social protagonists. This investigation based on four museum collections in Chile, will tension these theories by examining approaches to objects revealing other possible representations of children and childhood in museums.