The importance of atmosphere and spatiality in creating social experiences

Abstract

ABSTRAKT: The aim of the article is to analyse the influence of atmosphere and reminiscence in the social space of the museum. In the 1990s, museum theorists drew attention to the fact that museum visitors play a part in constructing their museum visits and also focused on the importance of the social context in the museum visit. Using examples of interior at the Danish open-air museum Den Gamle By dated to 1950s and 1970s the article analyse how museum space and communications support both the visitors’ experience of their own history and experiences, and the visit to the museum as a social experience. Both can help to strengthen the visitor’s own identity and the learning process which can take place when visitors share their knowledge and experiences. Důležitost atmosféry a prostoru pro vytvoření společenských zážitků Cílem článku je analyzovat vliv atmosféry a vzpomínek ve společenském prostoru muzea. V devadesátých letech muzejní teoretikové poukazovali na skutečnost, že návštěvníci muzea mají podíl na vyznění návštěvy muzea a také se zaměřili na důležitost společenského kontextu při návštěvě muzea. S využitím příkladu dánského skanzenu Den Gamle By s datováním do padesátých a sedmdesátých let článek analyzuje, jak muzejní prostor a komunikace podporují jak návštěvnický zážitek na základě vlastní historie a zkušeností, tak https://doi.org/10.5817/MuB2019-1-1 • a forum where visitors’ social identity can be shown, and • a forum where the museum’s stories and contents are discussed. The social museum experience meets both personal and social needs. This aspect of the use of museums is worth considering in the light of how it can be supported in the museum spaces and communications. It is also worth bearing in mind that a normal visit to a museum is in fact a shared social experience. People rarely visit museums alone. Numerous surveys of how visitors use museums have documented that visiting a museum is a joint experience with other people.1 This article focuses on the museum as a social space, and will analyse 1 One of these surveys has collected figures nationwide since 2009 from the majority of Danish museums. The percentage for how many visit a museum in company with others varies from year to year, but lies between 91 % and 95 %. LUNDGAARD, Ida Brændholt and Anna Maria FOLDGAST. National brugerundersøgelse 2011. Copenhagen: Kulturstyrelsen, 2012, p. 28; JENSEN, Jacob Thorek and Ida Brændholt LUNDGAARD. MUSEER – Borgere og Bæredygtige Løsninger [online]. København: Kulturstyrelsen, 2015, p. 68 [accessed 2019-01-20]. Available from www: ; Den nationale brugerundersøgelse for museer. Årsrapport 2017 [online]. København: Slotsog Kulturstyrelsen, September 2018, p. 6 [accessed 2019-01-20]. Available from www: . The same tendencies have also been registered in the USA, the UK, Australia and elsewhere: DIERKING, Lynn D. Museum as social learning. In LUNDGAARD, Ida Brændholt and Jacob Thorek JENSEN. Museums: social learning spaces and knowledge producing processes. Copenhagen: Kulturstyrelsen – Danish Agency for Culture, 2013, p. 202. i návštěvu muzea jako společenský zážitek. Obojí může napomoci k posílení návštěvníkovy vlastní identity a procesu poznání, ke kterému může dojít, když návštěvníci sdílejí svoje znalosti a zážitky. KEYWORDS/KLÍČOVÁ SLOVA: authenticity – remembrance – dementia – social context – personal context autenticita – vzpomínání – demence – společenský kontext – osobní kontext Museums are stories. They are art, science, history, things that happened once upon a time, and traces of life. They are content. An aspect that is just as important, however, is the visitors’ own needs. The museum is a space that people choose in the belief that the museum can fulfil the individual visitor’s personal and social needs. Museums can be used to tell people about who they are, and to show others their values and interests. Confirmation of one’s own identity happens when there are others present, and experiences from the museum are shared. This type of use of the museum is thus linked to the people you visit the museum with, or to the people you talk to about the visit afterwards. In this way there are several aspects to a shared social experience at a museum. It can be • a forum where basal social needs are met;