MUSEUM TRAJECTORIES AND PROBLEMS OF EVIDENCE IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE: Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

As conservators of heritage and protectors of patrimony, museums are key players in public discourse about national identity and collective memory. The cultural roles and meanings of the museum as an institution are changing in relationship to local and global currents. Factors include the adoption of digital technologies, the repatriation of cultural artifacts, and the opening of new blockbuster museums. This special issue of Museum Anthropology builds upon a nodal taxonomic model for classifying museum practices, audiences, and the organization of evidence. The collected articles juxtapose cross-cultural case studies drawn from Africa, Europe, and the United States. Topics include the use of evidence in the global circulation of popular African art, discussions of repatriation and decolonization in German museums, the “museum boom” in Poland’s new political climate, and the development of a unique local museum based on minimalist art near the US–Mexican border. The comparative cases demonstrate how museums of different types respond to civic contestations, public debates, and institutional transformations. Curatorial narratives support the use of evidence in contrasting ways as museums build and revitalize their collections. These shifts influence the interpretation of evidence and the display of artifacts both within individual museums and across the global museum landscape.