Visual Arts Publications

Critical Museum Theory/Museum Studies in Canada: A Conversation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 11-1-2017

Volume

46

Issue

2

Journal

Acadiensis

First Page

223

URL with Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1353/aca.2017.0029

Last Page

241

Abstract

CANADIAN SCHOLARS HAVE BEEN CRUCIAL in shaping the active field of critical museum theory/museum studies, with anthropologists, sociologists, historians, art historians, and curators working to challenge and reimagine the educational function, social role, politics, and pedagogy of museums while expanding the very notion of what a "museum" has been in the past and could become in the future. The trajectory of this endeavour has been examined at length in university courses, essays, and handbooks, which all highlight arguments made since the 1960s about the powerful role of museums in reinforcing class distinctions, creating narratives of national identity, and glorifying colonial attempts to subjugate Indigenous peoples as well as more recent considerations of how museums foster the active contributions of visitors, promote varying modes of intercultural exchange, and enable affective encounters with memory. In an effort to reflect on the current state of this field in Canada and share some of its diversity, Lianne McTavish decided to pose questions to leading scholars and invite their response. Her goal was to highlight the issues of particular interest to Canadian museum scholars, which have developed alongside but also in distinction from the burgeoning literature on museums stemming from the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia – all centres of research on museums.

Notes

The article is also openly available at: https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/25957

Find in your library

Share

COinS