The Birth of the Museum

Between Arbitration and Engineering: Concepts and Contingencies in the Shaping of Heritage Regimes

“…Interestingly, in spite of the World Heritage sites' geographical dispersion the idea of representativity, representativeness and territoriality shows striking similarities to the idea of the open air museum developed earlier in the history of the museum (Bennett 1995;Löfgren, forthcoming). As mentioned in the introduction the first such museum was opened by Arthur Hazelius at Skansen, Stockholm, in 1882.…”

“…World Heritage sites are made symbols in the global ecumene, and form part of the construction of a desired social order and conduct. This argument builds on Tony Bennett's (1995) discussion on the role of museum display in the nation-state building process. Bennett argues that museums were important institutions for the instruction and reformation of citizens.…”

“…The media used are important channels for the diffusion of World Heritage, allowing it to travel through the world. However, they are equally important as "places", or, following Bennett (1995), as "spaces of representation" where the globally dispersed World Heritage sites through techniques of framing and display can be co-ordinated into an entity and perceived as such. As pointed out by Bennett (1995), the cultural technology of heritage is one of vision and display.…”

“…However, they are equally important as "places", or, following Bennett (1995), as "spaces of representation" where the globally dispersed World Heritage sites through techniques of framing and display can be co-ordinated into an entity and perceived as such. As pointed out by Bennett (1995), the cultural technology of heritage is one of vision and display. Heritage is created through a process of exhibition: As knowledge, as performance, as museum display (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, 1998).…”

“…However, one might bear in mind that the crystallisation of national heritage in the nation-state building process equally was one that needed standardised notions of culture and nature, categories, typologies, and procedures for making heritage conceivable as an entity to manage (cf. Bennett, 1995;Löfgren, forthcoming). The crystallisation of World Heritage is a process of standardisation, but one that is more clearly transnational in character, and one that demands precise rules of procedure, defined and generalised notions and categories, as well as clearly identified actors with specific responsibilities and roles to play.…”