'Difficult' exhibitions and intimate encounters

Abstract

Over the last thirty years museums around the world have shown an increased willingness to take on what is often characterized as 'difficult subject matter.' Absent in Anglophone museum studies literature, however, is a sustained discussion on what it is about such exhibitions that render them 'difficult' and, most important, what can be achieved by making painful histories public. This paper sets out to stimulate such discussion, illustrating the relevance of our concerns within the context of a comparative analysis of two recent Swedish exhibitions: The Museum of World Culture's No Name Fever: AIDS in the Age of Globalization; and Kulturen's Surviving: Voices from Ravensbrück . Very divergent in their presentation strategies and in the type of information presented, these exhibitions attempt to position their viewers in relation to violence and suffering of 'others' distant in time, place, or experience. We conclude by discussing the ways in which public history might animate a critical historical consciousness, a way of living with and within history as a never-ending question that constantly probes the adequacy of the ethical character and social arrangements of daily life.

Encountering the ‘Other’: Interpreting Student Experiences of a Multi-Sensory Museum Exhibition

“…Despite these complexities associated with overt museological interventions, there are a growing number of exhibitions that deal with 'difficult' subjects such as racism and consequently draw an increasing interest in the museum studies literature (Bonnell and Simon 2007;MacDonald 2008;Witcomb 2013). With regard to exhibitions addressing such 'difficult' topics, Witcomb (2013) laments, however, the paucity of studies on, and the limited understanding of, visitors' engagements.…”

The Politics of Remembering and Commemorating Atrocity in South Africa: The Bhisho Massacre and its Aftermath, 1992–2012

“…It would not have served any purpose if they were re-traumatised by the sheer horror of that fateful day. 72 But, with a special age restriction firmly in place, and some confirmation from survivors that the DVD of the massacre needed to be shown, we decided that its potent message was worth displaying, in that it promoted an educational ethic of 'never again. ' The portrayal of Rifleman Nqabisa's death provided much discussion among the museum's exhibition team.…”

Documenting and Presenting Contentious Narratives and Objects—Experiences from Museums in Uganda

“…This dominance was in place until President Yoweri Museveni entered the picture in 1986. 1 Muteesa was the first President of Uganda after independence in 1962, while Obote was the first Prime Minister. According to Nyström [3], on 26 January 1986, Yoweri Museveni entered the capital city Kampala and dissolved the then Military Council.…”

“…Issues of controversial and difficult objects have also recently emerged in museum discourses. Bonnell and Simon [1] (p. 66) stress that the 'difficult' exhibition needs to be distinguished from one that has been deemed controversial. They argue that much ink has been devoted to the phenomenon of the controversial exhibition, one that provokes serious public disagreements about the adequacy and accuracy of an exhibit's narrative strategies and interpretative frame.…”