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The travelling museum of Barberton : making dialogue work in a rural community museum.

Cotemporary
museum
theory
calls
for
dialogue
as
a
means
of
making
museums
multi-­‐
vocal
and
representative
of
larger
audiences.
Dialogue
is
seen
to
be
a
break
with
prior
modernist
practices
and
epistemology.
However,
in
most
cases
what
is
meant
by
dialogue
and
how
to
implement
it
is
not
made
clear.
I
proposed
using
the
Community
of
Enquiry
Approach
to
dialogue
in
the
development
of
the
Travelling
Museum.
The
Travelling
Museum
is
a
community
museum
based
at
‘The
Centre’
on
the
land
of
the
Swazi
chief
in
Emjindini.
I
was
concerned
that
labelling
the
community
and
associating
the
museum
with
the
chief
could
perpetuate
essentialised
ideas
of
what
it
meant
to
be
Swazi.
I
was
also
conscious
of
not
wanting
to
be
the
‘outsider
expert’
and
for
the
museum
to
be
developed
by
the
community
it
was
intended
for.
It
was
for
these
reasons
that
I
decided
to
employ
the
ideas
of
dialogue.
While
implementing
dialogue
through
the
Community
of
Enquiry,
I
started
to
question
whether
this
method
of
dialogue
could
become
normative,
and
whether
it
excluded
or
silenced
certain
members.
I
wanted
to
locate
this
approach
to
dialogue
on
a
larger
theoretical
base,
in
order
to
understand
how
dialogue
challenges
and
departs
from
modernism
and
moves
into
postmodernism.
In
order
to
do
this
in
the
Report
I
explore
postmodern
and
modern
theories
of
knowledge
and
difference.
My
research
method
is
to
use
critical
incidents.
These
are
moments
of
noticing
or
jarring
in
my
practice,
which
when
interpreted
allow
me
to
interrogate
theory
and
practice.
The
first
incident
questions
my
openness
to
the
other
where
I
raise
concerns
of
relativism.
The
second
and
third
incidents
address
issues
of
power
and
access
in
museums.
I
conclude
by
recommending
a
new
role
for
the
museum.
No
longer
in
a
role
of
cultural
authority,
museums
can
take
on
the
new
role
of
artist.
As
an
artist
the
museum
can
be
multi-­‐partial
and
act
as
social
commentator,
provocateur
and
catalyst
for
change
(Gogan,
2005,
p.60
).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/13186
Date03 October 2013
CreatorsStone, Kristy
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatapplication/pdf, application/pdf

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