Abstract
Many museums, because of the diverse nature of their collections, already have experience in working with objects that carry meanings from different knowledge systems. While material engagements with objects provide cross-disciplinary bridges in pedagogy, this project extends the concept to explore how different forms of knowledge can be embedded into the materiality of objects and how different knowledge systems can be represented in the diversity of museum work programs. The project consists of a series of explorations on bringing multiple knowledge systems into a variety of museum work (e.g. exhibition, cataloguing, education, research, and virtual reality augmentation). We are looking at examples of museum practice that experiment with multiple knowledge systems (two horizons museology) for inclusion on our research website and workshop discussions. An essential element of each example of this form of museology is a combination of expertise in museum practice and the direct engagement of cultural knowledge holders in shaping the museum practices. It is entitled “two-way museology, a cross-institutional and multi-knowledge system exploration.” This paper outlines the project to date, report on some examples of two-way museology and their specific museum contexts. The aim of the project, to develop principles of best practice, is also discussed.
Presenters
Andrew SimpsonPost Doctoral Research Affiliate, Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
EPISTEMOLOGY, DIVERSITY, KNOWLEDGE, REPRESENTATION, MUSEUM, TECHNOLOGY
