Contesting collectors and conventions. An interdisciplinary approach to analyzing narrative identity in collectors’ museums

ABSTRACTFor years, critical museology has called for museums to question and revise their narratives and praxes. Current societal discourses on representation and inclusion in cultural heritage has made this even more important. The paper argues that such revisions involve specific challenges for collectors’ museums where narratives of foundation and the founder are pivotal for institutional self-perception. Despite the relevance of critical museology’s institutional critique, the paper argues that the critique overlooks one important aspect: that change of praxis requires an understanding of how and why certain narratives become embedded in museums’ self-perception. Integrating organizational theory, psychology, and sociology with critical museology, the paper offers a new interdisciplinary perspective on the organizational mechanisms that undergird institutional conventions, canons, and embedded narratives in collectors’ museums. Finally, the paper advances the concept of resonance as a path to working constructively with tensions between museums’ historical narratives and contemporary societal issues and worldviews.KEYWORDS: Collectors’ museumscritical museologyorganizational identitynarrative identity Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by The New Carlsberg Foundation.Notes on contributorsJulie Lejsgaard ChristensenJulie Lejsgaard Christensen is a curator and a Ph.D. Fellow at the New Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, and Aarhus University, Aarhus. She works with museum education, dissemination, and the relation between museums and contemporary society.