This thesis presents the research undertaken for an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award between Tate Liverpool and the University of Liverpool's Centre for Architecture and the Visual Arts. By making use of the direct access to unpublished institutional records and original observations of contemporary practice permitted by this collaboration, this thesis aims to provide insight into, and enhance understanding of, the specific social relations created and maintained by Tate Liverpool, both within and beyond the museum, throughout its history. The first section of the thesis begins with two accounts of Tate's institutional history. Chapter one presents the rationale behind the founding of Tate Liverpool in the 1980s, by considering the establishment of the Liverpool branch in relation to a much longer history of expansions to Tate's original Millbank site. Chapter two presents a history of Tate Liverpool's educational practice, from 1988 to 2008, by documenting the establishment of a constructivist learning methodology at the museum and the development of several education programme strands throughout the first two decades of operation. The accounts of Tate's institutional history are supplemented, in the same thesis section, by two contextual chapters intended to form the socio-political backdrop for the preceding institutional histories. Chapter three offers a context for understanding the social significance of Tate Liverpool's founding, by examining the wider circumstances surrounding the museum's arrival in Liverpool amid a period of tumultuous urban change resulting from the decline of Liverpool's traditional industries. Chapter four provIdes a backdrop for understanding Tate Liverpool's development throughout its first twenty years, by considering the significant characteristics of the distinctly neoliberal governance of national cu Itural institutions throughout this time. The second section of the thesis draws on the information provided in the preceding historical accounts and contextual studies to offer a critical assessment of Tate Liverpool's educational practice and the museum's role in urban change. This assessment is undertaken across the last three chapters of the thesis. Chapter five offers a critical case study of a recent example of Tate Liverpool's integrated educational-curatorial practice, by examining the planning, implementation and reception of the exhibition The Fifth Floor: Ideas Taking Space (2008). Chapter six undertakes a broader historical critique of the museum's educational methodology and the practice of classifying the public according to learner categories. Chapter seven provides a critical assessment ofTate Liverpool's role in urban change, by analyzing the distinctly postmodern aspects of the museum's display practices, architecture and position on Tate Liverpool's iconic Albert Dock.

Museum objects which are striking engage visitors more easily than objects of inconspicuous appearance. As Bitgood has shown, because visitors have a limited budget in terms of time and mental and physical resources, they calculate, usually unconsciously, the value of an object experience as the ratio between the perceived effort and the assumed pay-off. In this scenario, charming objects are not only better equipped to draw the attention of visitors, but also perceived as more worthy of interaction. This is unsatisfactory because it encourages viewing centred on visually magnetic and/or prominently placed objects, at the expense of more potentially rewarding experiences with unassuming objects. Despite a wealth of literature on the relationship between visitors and objects both in a museum context and in a social setting, current museum practices are still uncertain about the effective display treatment of inconspicuous objects. This study hence pursues a set of guidelines for the treatment of unassuming objects to raise awareness among visitors of the interesting content of material, therefore re balancing viewing patterns in museum galleries and allowing people to make an informed choice of what they want to see and the extent of their interactions. This work comprises a theoretical element and three empirical phases. The conceptual framework consists of an exploration of relevant notions and practices across the disciplines of architecture, design, cognitive science, and museology, and of the selection of five concepts to explore the multifaceted dimension of the visitor-object encounter. The practical component entails the creation and evaluation of different display and interpretation solutions. They are: 1. comparative evaluation of the five concepts at the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Horniman Museum (Chapter 5) 2. experiments with factors of the ideal display at the Petrie Museum and Horniman Museum (Chapter 6) 3. analysis of the object-visitor-narrative dynamics in Egyptian Funerary Gallery 63 at the British Museum (Chapter 7). The results have provided new insights into the visitor-object encounter, offered practical guidelines as to the treatment of problematic objects in different settings, and ultimately proposed a reflection on the relationship between visitors and museums.

This research uses theory from the field of performance studies with which to analyse museum performances, and more specifically, considers the notion of the ‘interpretive performance’. Using a case study approach and being based on a collaboration with the National Coal Mining Museum, it considers a range of interpretive activities characteristic of the industrial museum and heritage site. Other case study sites chosen for comparison specialise in the representation and display of work and working lives from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries in the North of England. This research looks how these museums/sites produce ‘first’ and ‘third person’ interpretation as well as guided tours and demonstrations in order to interpret this history. A wide definition of performance is used with which to consider a range of interpretive activities, so that both the scripted and acted, theatre-like scenarios produced by ‘first person’ actors can be considered alongside the under-researched ‘third person’ performance that uses less characterisation and acting. The idea of ‘bringing history to life’ is central to this research, as ‘performed interpretation’ aims to restore the presence of the people from the past, and animate museum space. The interpretive aspects of this type of performance are that they produce a dialogic space where visitors/audiences are invited to be more active in their meaning-making. The interpretive performance uses the museum’s materiality: its architecture, spaces and artefacts and the histories connected with it to explain, illustrate and illuminate and relate to the visitor’s memory and imagination. However, although desirable in its ability to produce a sense of liveliness, presence and living, performing history also has the effect of questioning the representational practices of the museum, as this ‘bringing to life’ is always re-making history in the present. This research therefore considers the relationship between performance and authenticity in the museum through these interpretations of history.

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This thesis aims to answer three questions that explore the ways in which preadolescent students participate in a reenactment exercise that is used as an educational technique at the Old South Meeting House, a historic site from the American Revolutionary War in Boston, Massachusetts: How do the students experience the performance-based approach to education?; Do the students enjoy their reenactment experiences?; and How do students navigate between the body of mythologized material surrounding the American Revolutionary War and the educational material with which they are presented during the reenactment exercise and during other formal (classroom) education? Written, drawn, and verbal responses from 76 participating 9- and 10-year-olds (American fourth and fifth graders) concerning their experiences with the reenactment program were gathered. Drawing from theoretical foundations in Museum Education, Museum Theater, Theater Education, and the mythologizing of American history, this project explores a convergence of these disciplines. The data generation and analysis of the responses that the students provided were based in Grounded Theory, and analysis was conducted through the use of phenomenographic transcription and categorization, including techniques for analysing drawn data based on models developed for use in studies in Environmental Education. The findings illuminate the dual understandings that students develop to navigate between exciting, mythologized histories of the American Revolution and more historically provable versions that, while providing accurate facts for education, might not possess the same dramatic appeal as exaggerated and romanticized versions. The data also points to the importance of the social aspect of reenactment to the participants. The primary contributions to the fields of Museum Education and Museum Theater Education herein lie mainly in this thesis’s additions to discussions on the use of reenactment as an interpretive tool, particularly in terms of exploring the reenactment exercise’s influences on the students by whom it was performed.

The purpose of this thesis is to understand the reasons why some people visit museums and why others do not in the Emirate of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates. There are no pieces of visitor or audience research in the United Arab Emirates, therefore this research will examine Western theories on visitor studies and whether they can be applied in Sharjah or not. This study explores the psychological and external factors that influence a person’s decision whether or not to visit a museum. The methodology which was used to collect data was qualitative and the researcher used case studies and semi-structured interviews. In total, 55 interviews were conducted with UAE nationals and residents in three museums and three different coffee shops around Sharjah. These interviews investigated how people determine their leisure activities and whether museums are an option for that activity. The research focused on museum visitors and their motivations to visit a museum. Moreover, it identified the barriers to visiting a museum. The main outcomes of this study suggest that there are internal factors that influence a person’s decision to visit a museum, and these include learning, socializing and identity related reasons. There are also external factors, which are outside forces that lead people to visit a museum, such as a university assignment, weather, the location of the museum and its architecture. Moreover, barriers were identified for people who do not visit museums, which are personal, cultural, institutional, environmental and structural. These outcomes and barriers arose from the analysis of the interviews and finding general common themes which emerged throughout them. Understanding the factors that attract visitors to come to museums, and the barriers that hinder their visits, helps museologists and museum makers to understand their perception of Sharjah Museums. This will encourage the Museums to enhance their services and what they provide to the public. Moreover, it will encourage repeat visitations and create new audiences.

Indigenous Research Methodology (IRM) is an approach to research defined by members of Indigenous Nations for research of topics that directly concern them (their communities, their families). Gifting Culture constitutes the first time that this approach has been applied to museums studies (in the UK). What is meant by this, is that while it could be argued that any Indigenous museum practitioner conducting museums research on the topic of their own culture, is conducting ‘Indigenous research’, they are generally using (or are required to use) Euro-Western, positivistic approaches to research inquiry, rather than Indigenous Research Methodologies. This study challenges that pattern by using a comparison of display practices at the British Museum (geographic approach to display) and the Pitt Rivers Museum (typological approach to display) as passageways into interrogation of the dominance of Euro-Western approaches to interpretation of Indigenous heritage. Conducted primarily from an Algonquian worldview (by a member of the Lumbee Nation) this study also considers relationships between its findings, methodology and whether or not museum display practices enact as ‘pure gift exchange’. In this study, objectstorytellers (museum objects) from each museum are anchoring participants. Audience mapping facilitates understanding the agency of these storytellers in their respective museum ecologies, while interviews with curators Jago Cooper and Laura Peers lend insight into the practical management of these respective collections. 1555 visitors were observed over a period of six observation days at the Pitt Rivers Museum and 4266 visitors were observed during seven days of observations at the British Museum. Gifting Culture includes a conventional Euro-Western discussion of the study, while also offering a non-European translation of the research experience in the form of an Ititamatpamá ( ‘Time Ball’).

This thesis focuses on how face-to-face interactions with scientists, during a visit to a natural history museum, can have an impact on how visitors conceptualise and identify with researchers. The study draws together the literature on attitudes to science and perceptions of scientists, whilst also focusing on identity development in individuals, using the concept of interest to study impacts on engagement. The study adopted a qualitative approach primarily involving interviews with 81 adult visitors and 38 A-level students (aged 16-18) meeting scientists in museum-based discussion events. Participants were interviewed before, immediately after, and two months after meeting scientists to explore longer-term impacts. Meeting scientists had an impact on visitors’ and students’ identification of and with scientists. Visitors and students held conceptual ecologies around perceptions of scientists, drawing on multiple ideas about scientists concurrently. Visitors and students identified more closely with scientists following their interaction, recognising common experiences, and visitors also developed a lasting interest in scientists and their career histories. I propose the notion of scientists as ‘everyday experts’: knowledgeable individuals with clear areas of expertise who are also approachable and accessible. A ‘midway’ approach to public engagement is recommended to facilitate the presentation of scientists as ‘everyday experts’; an intermediate approach between a deficit, one-way communication and a two-way dialogue between scientists and the public. Meeting scientists is shown to bring ‘added value’ in terms of increasing scientific literacy: perceptions of scientists became more positive and less stereotypical and participants learned about particular areas of science as a result of the session. Meeting scientists was also shown to provide ‘added value’ in promoting science engagement: visitors reported continued engagement with science in the delayed post-session interviews two months after the visit. I discuss the implications of my findings for research and practice, with the aim of further understanding how to develop scientific literacy and engagement.

This thesis investigates how collecting new media art affects the museum institutionally. The aim and purpose of this research was to understand how the process of collecting new media art within two regional case study museums (one in the UK and one in the Netherlands) is changing how they operate and function. The two regional museums in this research, I suggest, are innovative and adaptable organisations with agile organisation, agile curation and an agile organisational culture and leadership. Best practice is fostered, experimentation is cultivated and staff work in a collaborative and flexible manner so that new media art can be acquired. The theoretical approach, the Congruence Model of Organizational Behavior, considers how organisations are best aligned in terms of four major components: people, formal structure, informal culture and critical tasks/workflow. The research evaluated the congruence between the four major components and signals the subtle, but important ways in which new media art has reshaped them. A case study qualitative approach was used; interviews were carried out with participants and thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. Three broad themes emerged from the research. First, new ways of organising – agile teams with a project-based ethos were apparent. Second, collaboration inside and outside the organisation – working across units and disciplines inside the museum and building networks outside the museum which promotes knowledge exchange, learning and collaborative practice were evident. Finally, staff agency and leadership – the organisational culture facilitates autonomy for staff where informed risk-taking and proactivity flourish. This research extends our knowledge of the reciprocal relationship between new media art and how the two museums operate and function. This study has gone some way towards enhancing our understanding of how new media art impacts, in nuanced ways, the museum’s structure and culture, and skills and expertise.

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