Present on Site. Transforming Exhibitions and Museums (Paperback)

Why are exhibitions and museums so important? What can they be used for? Who determines relevance in a transformative process? Transforming exhibitions is not just something you do, it is something that gets better the more you do it. This book looks at the intersection of the visitor or user, who gets personal and cultural meaning from their visit and the museum as it appears in the design of the exhibition. It examines on-site communication for intentional and hidden content and messages, and reveals possible relations to the visitor, his or her world and society in general. This investigation also focuses on the processes involved in interpretation and design and takes a closer look at the practices of exhibiting rather than the objects on display. The four main themes in the book are: Constructions - The visitor at an exhibition Questions - Experience and learning processes Invisibles - The exhibition design processes Openings - Category, objects and communication As a researcher and associate professor of visual communication at Roskilde University, Denmark and as a designer and media artist in his own right, author Bruno Ingemann, PhD, also represents an intersection. A pioneer in Danish museology and in visitor reception studies, he co-edited the anthology New Danish Museology. Present on site is relevant not only for students and researchers in the field of museum communication, media and design studies, but also for exhibition and museum practitioners. "Present on Site brings new attention to the complex and intriguing world of interpretation in museum settings. Using a variety of compelling case studies andtheories from education, media, and cultural studies, Ingemann weaves diverse perspectives to the critical issues of visitor perception and reception and the challenges involved as curators and designers attempt to mediate and influence experience. The result is a delightful and refreshingly personal expose of key museological issues that face museum practitioners daily." - Associate Director Karen Knutson, University of Pittsburgh ------ "This is an important, useful, well-designed and well-written book. Ingemann insightfully argues for the importance of inspirational places in a world mediated by television and digital technologies, by showing how museums link past and present, time and space. He takes on complex, difficult, and controversial issues, and explains them clearly. What happens when visitors become curators? What happens when the familiar meets the new, when the invisible is made visible? As he shows, it results in changing visitors' perceptions, conversations, and confidence. Museums can change our lives, the things we make and discuss, and the world as a whole." - Course Director Dr Kevin Walker, Information Environments, University of the Arts London