Este estudo propõe a discussão da construção, desenvolvimento e apropriação do conceito de musealidade, não apenas dentro do campo museológico - em sua teoria e prática -, mas sua possível reverberação em campos correlatos e sua influência na delimitação das formas de enquadramento e tratamento do patrimônio. Propõe-se que esse conceito é central para o universo museológico, sendo um dos catalisadores das operações de salvaguarda e comunicação museológicas. Neste sentido, a sua qualificação - ou, melhor dizendo -, a tentativa de dotação de musealidade às coisas, é algo que define a Museologia como uma área específica do saber e do fazer humanos. Seria pelo prisma da musealidade que a Museologia poderia, dentro das áreas do conhecimento, lançar um olhar próprio ao mundo, qualificando ao mesmo tempo em que cria mecanismos de atuação sobre aquilo que consideramos herança. Também faz parte desta discussão a problematização das noções de Museologia, museu, musealia, musealização, entre outras. Utilizar-se-á, para este intuito, uma básica abordagem metodológica. Visa-se à revisão da literatura teórica sobre o assunto, encarando, além dos autores pilares da teoria museológica e do patrimônio, algumas definições, normas, diretrizes e outros documentos produzidos no âmbito de associações, órgãos governamentais e entidades a fim de tentar perceber as implicações do pensamento museológico no campo de sua experimentação, ou seja, os museus e o patrimônio. Finalmente, esta pesquisa visa a uma contribuição nas discussões em torno da teoria museológica. Se intenciona, também, compreender como a Museologia se configura como uma área específica e aplicada do conhecimento, sendo a musealidade um dos artifícios centrais neste processo. / This study proposes to discuss the construction, development and appropriation of the concept of museality, not only within the museological field - in its theory and practice - but its possible reverberation in related fields and its influence on the delimitation of the forms of framing and treatment of heritage. It is proposed that this concept is central to the museological universe, being one of the catalysts of museological preservation and communication operations. In this sense, its qualification - or rather -, the attempt to endow museality on things is something that defines Museology as a specific area of human practice and knowledge. It is through the prism of museality that Museology may, within the areas of knowledge, launch a proper look at the world, qualifying it at the same time that creates mechanisms of action on what we consider inheritance. It is also part of this discussion the problematization of the notions of Museology, museum, musealia, musealization, among others. For this purpose, a basic methodological approach will be used. It aims at reviewing the theoretical literature on the subject considering in addition to the pillar authors of the museological theory and the heritage field, some definitions, norms, guidelines and other documents produced by associations, government agencies, and other entities in order to perceive the implications of museological thinking in the field of its experimentation, that is, museums and heritage. Finally, this research aims at a contribution on the discussions around the museological theory. It also intends to understand how Museology is a specific and applied area of knowledge, with museality being one of the central devices on this process.

Este estudo propõe a discussão da construção, desenvolvimento e apropriação do conceito de musealidade, não apenas dentro do campo museológico - em sua teoria e prática -, mas sua possível reverberação em campos correlatos e sua influência na delimitação das formas de enquadramento e tratamento do patrimônio. Propõe-se que esse conceito é central para o universo museológico, sendo um dos catalisadores das operações de salvaguarda e comunicação museológicas. Neste sentido, a sua qualificação - ou, melhor dizendo -, a tentativa de dotação de musealidade às coisas, é algo que define a Museologia como uma área específica do saber e do fazer humanos. Seria pelo prisma da musealidade que a Museologia poderia, dentro das áreas do conhecimento, lançar um olhar próprio ao mundo, qualificando ao mesmo tempo em que cria mecanismos de atuação sobre aquilo que consideramos herança. Também faz parte desta discussão a problematização das noções de Museologia, museu, musealia, musealização, entre outras. Utilizar-se-á, para este intuito, uma básica abordagem metodológica. Visa-se à revisão da literatura teórica sobre o assunto, encarando, além dos autores pilares da teoria museológica e do patrimônio, algumas definições, normas, diretrizes e outros documentos produzidos no âmbito de associações, órgãos governamentais e entidades a fim de tentar perceber as implicações do pensamento museológico no campo de sua experimentação, ou seja, os museus e o patrimônio. Finalmente, esta pesquisa visa a uma contribuição nas discussões em torno da teoria museológica. Se intenciona, também, compreender como a Museologia se configura como uma área específica e aplicada do conhecimento, sendo a musealidade um dos artifícios centrais neste processo. / This study proposes to discuss the construction, development and appropriation of the concept of museality, not only within the museological field - in its theory and practice - but its possible reverberation in related fields and its influence on the delimitation of the forms of framing and treatment of heritage. It is proposed that this concept is central to the museological universe, being one of the catalysts of museological preservation and communication operations. In this sense, its qualification - or rather -, the attempt to endow museality on things is something that defines Museology as a specific area of human practice and knowledge. It is through the prism of museality that Museology may, within the areas of knowledge, launch a proper look at the world, qualifying it at the same time that creates mechanisms of action on what we consider inheritance. It is also part of this discussion the problematization of the notions of Museology, museum, musealia, musealization, among others. For this purpose, a basic methodological approach will be used. It aims at reviewing the theoretical literature on the subject considering in addition to the pillar authors of the museological theory and the heritage field, some definitions, norms, guidelines and other documents produced by associations, government agencies, and other entities in order to perceive the implications of museological thinking in the field of its experimentation, that is, museums and heritage. Finally, this research aims at a contribution on the discussions around the museological theory. It also intends to understand how Museology is a specific and applied area of knowledge, with museality being one of the central devices on this process.

« Musée à ciel ouvert » est devenu une formule de communication choisie par quelques métropoles pour valoriser leur patrimoine artistique auprès du public. Nous allons interroger sa validité en regard de la notion de muséalité, puisque les règles du musée sont dûment convoquées pour légitimer l’espace urbain comme un lieu de mémoire. La muséalité, prise dans son sens le plus large, désigne « la valeur culturelle ou la qualité d’une chose muséalisée », c’est-à-dire la valeur de témoignage de la réalité qu’elle informe. Cette valeur, « en rapport avec l’aspect ontologique de la réalité, est conditionnée par sa pluridimensionnalité et sa charge énergétique, elle dépasse les valeurs temporaires par son importance culturelle. » Or, si l’espace urbain est bien un musée, les formes muséalisées, à savoir l’art public, en appellent à revoir ces valeurs qui restent trop attachées à l’objet. Cette valeur culturelle prêtée aux objets muséaux par l’institution traditionnelle est actée grâce aux frontières que cette dernière établit avec la réalité. Dans un premier temps, nous verrons comment la remise en question de ces limites oblige à repenser les qualités des choses muséalisées. Dans un deuxième temps, nous examinerons l’hypothèse suivante : les pratiques plastiques contemporaines, qu’elles soient ou non autorisées, et notamment celles de l’installation et de l’installation in situ vont accélérer le processus de questionnement de la muséalité. En effet, les recherches des plasticiens concernant le rapport de l’œuvre au lieu et au spectateur vont permettre d’envisager la notion de sculpture de manière élargie. Elles font notamment ressortir les qualités inhérentes au lieu, à ses mémoires identitaires hybrides qui nous paraissent être la clé d’une redéfinition de valeurs muséales plus attachées à une dimension sociale. De fait, l’objet n’est plus le seul légitime porteur de ces valeurs, l’espace ou même une situation peuvent se révéler avoir une importance culturelle. Aussi, la notion de muséalité doit-elle intégrer des valeurs temporelles de l’ordre de l’éphémère, du contingent et du précaire. Ces nouvelles valeurs ne peuvent advenir que parce que les outils de mémorisation, qui sont aussi des outils de diffusion, ont évolué : la photographie, Internet. L'espace urbain, en tant qu'espace public, a toujours été le lieu de dispositifs de démonstration du pouvoir et de commémorations. L’art sculptural en était l'outil privilégié. Au XXIe siècle, cet espace, qui devient le théâtre d'enjeux plus complexes liés à la métropolisation, garde pourtant l'œuvre comme média. Les commandes publiques s’accélérant, en lien aux innovations de l’architecture ou de l’urbanisme et à la valeur portée au patrimoine, tout semble aller dans le sens d’une esthétisation de l’espace public. L’œuvre va s’imposer comme un dispositif de médiation incontournable. Afin de préciser les enjeux de la valeur culturelle attachée à un tel dispositif, nous examinerons des cas actuels, différents et complémentaires, comme l’apport d’œuvres contemporaines sur le site patrimonial du Palais-Royal, mais aussi le site de La Défense à Paris qui propose plus d'une soixantaine de sculptures sur sa longue dalle piétonnière, ou encore le métro de Toulouse qui est doté d'une quarantaine d’œuvres conçues pour chaque station. Les qualités muséales de l'œuvre dans l’espace urbain ne s’évaluent pas en regard des mêmes critères que celles de l’œuvre dans l'institution du musée et nécessitent un changement de paradigme. Au sein de cet espace public, les dispositifs artistiques, muséaux et politiques se rencontrent autour d’objectifs communs de médiation plus que de médiatisation et redéfinissent la muséalité au plus près de son opérativité sociale. / "The Open Air Museum" is the chosen means of communication by some metropolitan areas to promote their artistic heritage. We will question its validity in comparison with the concept of museality, since the principles of the museum are duly convened to legitimize an urban space as a place of memory. The museality, taken in its broader sense, refers to « the cultural value or quality of something conferred upon a museum object », that is to say, the evidential value of the reality it informs. This value "in relation to an ontological aspect of reality is conditioned by its multidimensionality and its vital impact to exceed temporal values by its cultural significance". Yet, if the urban space is a museum, public art calls to review these values that remain too attached to the object. Traditional institutions relied on the lines it established between reality and the museum to give value to museum objects. First, we will see how the reassessment of these limits requires a rethink of all things museality. Second, we will see that these are contemporary visual art practices, whether they are authorized or not, notably installation works and site specific installation works that will accelerate the process of questioning museality. Actually, the visual artist’s research, with regard to the relation of the art work within the space and to the spectator, will permit to envisage a wider concept of what sculpture can be. In particular, they force the inherent qualities of a site to stand out, to record its hybrid identities that, to us, appear to be the key to redefine museum values attached to a more social dimension. Indeed, these values are no longer solely conferred upon the object; the space, situation or an event can be of cultural importance. Also, the concept of museality must integrate ephemeral temporal values of a contingent and precarious nature. These new values can only happen because recording tools have also evolved: photography, internet. Urban spaces, as public places, have always been used as a mechanism for the public demonstration of power and commemoration. Sculpture was the preferred means. However, the public space which becomes, in the twenty-first century, the most complex theatre of issues related to metropolization, keeps the art work as media. Public commissions are increasing due to innovations in architectural or urban planning and value given to heritage. Everything appears to be heading in the direction of an aestheticization of public places where the art work will impose as an essential mediation mechanism. Finally, to clarify the issues of cultural values attached to such a system we will examine real cases, different and complimentary, such as the contribution of contemporary art works on the heritage site of the Palais-Royal, but also the site of La Défense in Paris which proposes more than sixty sculptures along a footpath, or the Toulouse underground which has allocated forty stations to accommodate art works conceived on site. A paradigm shift is necessary, as the criteria used to evaluate art work in an urban space are not the same as those used for art work in an institutional museum. Within the public space artistic organizations, museums and politics meet around common objectives of mediation rather than media coverage, to redefine museality closer to their own social operativity.

This thesis explores the symmetry between theatres and museums, and investigates how a museum experience is similar to a theatrical event. Particularly, this project examines how the Canadian War Museum performs historical narrative through its use of three performative elements of a theatre production: space, objects and actor’s body. Firstly, this thesis analyses how creating a historical narrative is similar to fiction writing and play writing. It follows the argument of Hayden White and Michel de Certeau who recognize a historical narrative as a performative act. Accordingly, this thesis examines the First World War exhibit at the Canadian War Museum as a space of performance. I apply Lubomír Doležel’s literary theory on possible worlds, illustrating how a museum space can create unique characteristics of a possible world of fiction and of history. Secondly, this thesis employs Marie-Laure Ryan’s theory of narrativity to discuss how museum objects construct and perform their stories. I argue that the objects in museums are presented to the public in a state of museality similar to the condition of theatricality in a theatre performance. Lastly, this thesis investigates the performance of people by applying various theories of performance, such as Michael Kirby’s non-acting/acting continuum, Jiří Veltruský’s concept of the stage figure, and Freddie Rokem’s theories of actors as “hyper-historians.” In this way, this thesis explores concrete case studies of employee/visitor interactions and expands on how these communications transform the people within the walls of the museum into performers of historical narrative. Moreover, according to Antoine Prost, the museum as an institution is an educational and cultural authority. As a result, in all of these performative situations, the Canadian War Museum presents a historical narrative to its visitors with which it can help shape a sense of national identity, the events Canadians choose to commemorate and their personal and/or collective memories. In its interdisciplinary scope, this thesis calls upon theories from a variety of academic fields, such as performance studies, history and cultural studies, museology, and literary studies. Most importantly, however, this project offers a new perspective on the performative potentials of a national history museum.

This thesis explores the symmetry between theatres and museums, and investigates how a museum experience is similar to a theatrical event. Particularly, this project examines how the Canadian War Museum performs historical narrative through its use of three performative elements of a theatre production: space, objects and actor’s body. Firstly, this thesis analyses how creating a historical narrative is similar to fiction writing and play writing. It follows the argument of Hayden White and Michel de Certeau who recognize a historical narrative as a performative act. Accordingly, this thesis examines the First World War exhibit at the Canadian War Museum as a space of performance. I apply Lubomír Doležel’s literary theory on possible worlds, illustrating how a museum space can create unique characteristics of a possible world of fiction and of history. Secondly, this thesis employs Marie-Laure Ryan’s theory of narrativity to discuss how museum objects construct and perform their stories. I argue that the objects in museums are presented to the public in a state of museality similar to the condition of theatricality in a theatre performance. Lastly, this thesis investigates the performance of people by applying various theories of performance, such as Michael Kirby’s non-acting/acting continuum, Jiří Veltruský’s concept of the stage figure, and Freddie Rokem’s theories of actors as “hyper-historians.” In this way, this thesis explores concrete case studies of employee/visitor interactions and expands on how these communications transform the people within the walls of the museum into performers of historical narrative. Moreover, according to Antoine Prost, the museum as an institution is an educational and cultural authority. As a result, in all of these performative situations, the Canadian War Museum presents a historical narrative to its visitors with which it can help shape a sense of national identity, the events Canadians choose to commemorate and their personal and/or collective memories. In its interdisciplinary scope, this thesis calls upon theories from a variety of academic fields, such as performance studies, history and cultural studies, museology, and literary studies. Most importantly, however, this project offers a new perspective on the performative potentials of a national history museum.

This thesis explores the symmetry between theatres and museums, and investigates how a museum experience is similar to a theatrical event. Particularly, this project examines how the Canadian War Museum performs historical narrative through its use of three performative elements of a theatre production: space, objects and actor’s body. Firstly, this thesis analyses how creating a historical narrative is similar to fiction writing and play writing. It follows the argument of Hayden White and Michel de Certeau who recognize a historical narrative as a performative act. Accordingly, this thesis examines the First World War exhibit at the Canadian War Museum as a space of performance. I apply Lubomír Doležel’s literary theory on possible worlds, illustrating how a museum space can create unique characteristics of a possible world of fiction and of history. Secondly, this thesis employs Marie-Laure Ryan’s theory of narrativity to discuss how museum objects construct and perform their stories. I argue that the objects in museums are presented to the public in a state of museality similar to the condition of theatricality in a theatre performance. Lastly, this thesis investigates the performance of people by applying various theories of performance, such as Michael Kirby’s non-acting/acting continuum, Jiří Veltruský’s concept of the stage figure, and Freddie Rokem’s theories of actors as “hyper-historians.” In this way, this thesis explores concrete case studies of employee/visitor interactions and expands on how these communications transform the people within the walls of the museum into performers of historical narrative. Moreover, according to Antoine Prost, the museum as an institution is an educational and cultural authority. As a result, in all of these performative situations, the Canadian War Museum presents a historical narrative to its visitors with which it can help shape a sense of national identity, the events Canadians choose to commemorate and their personal and/or collective memories. In its interdisciplinary scope, this thesis calls upon theories from a variety of academic fields, such as performance studies, history and cultural studies, museology, and literary studies. Most importantly, however, this project offers a new perspective on the performative potentials of a national history museum.

This thesis explores the symmetry between theatres and museums, and investigates how a museum experience is similar to a theatrical event. Particularly, this project examines how the Canadian War Museum performs historical narrative through its use of three performative elements of a theatre production: space, objects and actor’s body. Firstly, this thesis analyses how creating a historical narrative is similar to fiction writing and play writing. It follows the argument of Hayden White and Michel de Certeau who recognize a historical narrative as a performative act. Accordingly, this thesis examines the First World War exhibit at the Canadian War Museum as a space of performance. I apply Lubomír Doležel’s literary theory on possible worlds, illustrating how a museum space can create unique characteristics of a possible world of fiction and of history. Secondly, this thesis employs Marie-Laure Ryan’s theory of narrativity to discuss how museum objects construct and perform their stories. I argue that the objects in museums are presented to the public in a state of museality similar to the condition of theatricality in a theatre performance. Lastly, this thesis investigates the performance of people by applying various theories of performance, such as Michael Kirby’s non-acting/acting continuum, Jiří Veltruský’s concept of the stage figure, and Freddie Rokem’s theories of actors as “hyper-historians.” In this way, this thesis explores concrete case studies of employee/visitor interactions and expands on how these communications transform the people within the walls of the museum into performers of historical narrative. Moreover, according to Antoine Prost, the museum as an institution is an educational and cultural authority. As a result, in all of these performative situations, the Canadian War Museum presents a historical narrative to its visitors with which it can help shape a sense of national identity, the events Canadians choose to commemorate and their personal and/or collective memories. In its interdisciplinary scope, this thesis calls upon theories from a variety of academic fields, such as performance studies, history and cultural studies, museology, and literary studies. Most importantly, however, this project offers a new perspective on the performative potentials of a national history museum.