Museums, International Exhibitions and China's Cultural Diplomacy examines the role museums and, more specifically, international exhibitions, have played in shaping China's international image to date. Drawing on theories and methods from museum studies and international relations, the book evaluates the contribution international exhibitions make to China's cultural diplomacy strategy. Considering their impact on the country's international image, Kong also probes the mechanisms and processes involved, examining in detail the policy of, and international activities promoted by, the Chinese government. The book also analyses the motives of the Chinese and overseas museums that host these exhibitions. Taking some major exhibitions that were on show in the UK during the 21st century as a representative case study, the book reveals the mechanisms by which these exhibitions were developed and shared overseas. Questioning who really shapes the image of China, Kong challenges Western assumptions and looks ahead to consider whether, moving forward, the Chinese government and museums could work together in a mutually beneficial way. Museums, International Exhibitions and China's Cultural Diplomacy contributes to the growing literature on museums and diplomacy. As such, it will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of museums and heritage, international relations, culture, politics, China and wider Asia.

This book examines the influence of architectural design in the conservation of historic buildings by discussing in detail an important building complex in Rome: the Temple of Venus and Rome, the monastery of Santa Maria Nova and the church of Santa Francesca Romana. As the most complete site in the Roman Forum that has reached our times with a rich architectural stratification almost intact, it is a clear product of continuous preservation and transformation and it has not been studied in its complexity until now. The Temple of Venus and Rome and Santa Francesca Romana at the Roman Forum unravels the original designs and the subsequent interventions, including Giacomo Boni's pioneering conservation of the monastery, carried out while excavating the Roman Forum in the early twentieth century. The projects are discussed in context to show their significance and the relationships between architects and patrons. Through its interdisciplinary focus on architectural design, conservation, archaeology, history and construction, this study is an ideal example for scholars, students and architects of how to carry out research in architectural conservation.

This volume examines heritage-making and Islam in the context of current happenings in Europe, as well as analysing past developments and future possibilities. Presenting work based on ethnographic, historical and archival research, chapters are concerned with questions of diversity, mobility, decolonisation, translocality, restitution, and belonging. By looking at diverse trajectories of people and things, this volume encompasses multiple perspectives on the relationship between Islam and heritage in Europe, including the ways in which it has played out and transformed against the backdrop of the 'refugee crisis' and other recent developments, such as debates on decolonising museums or the resurgence of nationalist sentiments.

Artefacts, Archives, and Documentation in the Relational Museum provides the first interdisciplinary study of the digital documentation of artefacts and archives in contemporary museums, while also exploring the implications of polyphonic, relational thinking on collections documentation. Drawing on case studies from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the book provides a critical examination of the history of collections management and documentation since the introduction of computers to museums in the 1960s, demonstrating how technology has contributed to the disconnection of distributed collections knowledge. Jones also highlights how separate documentation systems have developed, managed by distinct, increasingly professionalised staff, impacting our ability to understand and use what we find in museums and their ever-expanding online collections. Exploring this legacy allows us to rethink current practice, focusing less on individual objects and more on the rich stories and interconnected resources that lie at the heart of the contemporary, plural, participatory 'relational museum.' Artefacts, Archives, and Documentation in the Relational Museum is essential reading for those who wish to better understand the institutional silos found in museums, and the changes required to make museum knowledge more accessible. The book is a particularly important addition to the fields of museum studies, archival science, information management, and the history of cultural heritage technologies.

Museums, Refugees and Communities explores the ways in which museums in Germany, The Netherlands and the UK have responded to the complexities and ethical dilemmas involved in discussing the reasons for, and issues surrounding, contemporary refugee displacements. Building upon an ethnographic study carried out in the UK with refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the book explores how object-led approaches can inspire new ways of thinking about and analysing refugees' experiences and European museums' work with their communities. Enlarging the developing body of research on museums' increasing engagement with human rights and focusing in particular on the social, cultural and practical dimensions of community engagement practices with refugees, the book also aims to inform growing debates on museums as sites of activism. Museums, Refugees and Communities offers an innovative and interdisciplinary examination of museum work with and about refugees. As such, it should appeal to researchers, academics and students engaged in the study of museums, heritage, migration, ethics, community engagement, culture, sociology and anthropology.

This book examines the paradox of collective identity in eastern Germany in the wake of German reunification. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, citizens of the former German Democratic Republic were confronted with a dilemma: Were they already Germans without qualification, like their compatriots in the West? Or did they remain "East Germans" for the time being, with an identity tied to their distinct past, as if they were foreigners who had migrated without leaving home? How Memory Divides shows that these questions remain unresolved even today, less because of any "incomplete unity" between Germans in West and East, than because of the contradictory ways in which "easterners" themselves have remembered their past. Drawing on a unique study spanning two decades, the author reveals how divergent biographical memories have given rise to life stories with a diverse array of genres and storylines at odds with official accounts of the GDR and its demise. Over time, efforts to effect unity between West and East have reproduced divisions within the East. This book will appeal to scholars and students of sociology and politics with interests in memory, heritage, and identity.

Museums must change to illuminate the histories, cultures, and social issues that matter to their local population. Based on a unique longitudinal ethnographic study, Transforming Museum Management illustrates how a traditional art museum attempted to transform into a more inclusive and community-based institution. Using open systems theory and the Buddhist concept of mutual causality, it examines the museum's internal management structure and culture, programs and exhibitions, and mental models of museum workers. In providing both theoretical and practical foundations to transform management structures, this accessible volume will benefit stakeholders by proposing a new culture and structure to arts institutions, to change practice to be more relevant, diverse, and inclusive. This book will be an invaluable resource for researchers and advanced students of museum studies, cultural management, arts administration, non-profit management, and organizational studies.

Mannequins in Museums is a collection of historical and contemporary case studies that examine how mannequins are presented in exhibitions and shows that, as objects used for storytelling, they are not neutral objects. Demonstrating that mannequins have long histories of being used to promote colonialism, consumerism, and racism, the book shows how these histories inform their use. It also engages readers in a conversation about how historical narratives are expressed in museums through mannequins as surrogate forms. Written by a select group of curators and art historians, the volume provides insight into a variety of museum contexts, including art, history, fashion, anthropology and wax. Drawing on exhibition case studies from North America, South Africa, and Europe, each chapter discusses the pedagogical and aesthetic stakes involved in representing racial difference and cultural history through mannequins. As a whole, the book will assist readers to understand the history of mannequins and their contemporary use as culturally relevant objects. Mannequins in Museums will be compelling reading for academics and students in the fields of museum studies, art history, public history, anthropology and visual and cultural studies. It should also be essential reading for museum professionals who are interested in rethinking mannequin display techniques.

This book: takes media and critical studies approach to the museum and raises questions about the role of privately-owned search engines in facilitating museum experiences. It questions who collects what, for whom objects are collected and what purpose these objects and collections serve. brings attention to an emerging new model of digital ownership and moderation by connecting fieldwork undertaken in Australia and New Zealand with the global practices of technology companies. will be of interest to academics and students working in the fields of museum studies, art, culture, media studies and digital humanities and for practitioners working in museums and galleries around the world.

Museums as Agents for Social Change is the first comprehensive text to examine museum practice in a decolonised moment, moving beyond known roles of object collection and presentation. Drawing on studies of Mutare museum, a regional museum in Eastern Zimbabwe, this book considers how museums with inherited colonial legacies are dealing with their new environments. The book provides an examination of Mutare museum's activism in engaging with topical issues affecting its surrounding community and Chipangura and Mataga demonstrate how new forms of engagement are being deployed to attract new audiences, whilst dealing with issues such as economic livelihoods, poverty, displacement, climate change and education. Illustrating how recent programmes have helped to reposition Mutare museum as a decolonial agent of social change and an important community anchor institution, the book also demonstrates how other museums can move beyond the colonial preoccupation with the gathering of collections, conservation and presentation of cultural heritage to the public. Museums as Agents for Social Change will primarily be of interest to academics and students working in the fields of museum and heritage studies, history, archaeology and anthropology. It should also be appealing to museum professionals around the world who are interested in learning more about how to decolonise their museum.

This easy-to-follow yet comprehensive book provides everything an educator working in a school or museum, in person or online, needs to develop experiences that encourage close looking, spark the imagination, and support the development of critical thinking skills. Sharon Vatsky looks at the entire tour experience including planning, facilitation, and reflection. By providing a flexible tour-planning template - jointly developed by the education departments of the Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, this book clearly articulates strategies and advice for the educator who wants to facilitate inquiries that encourage participants to think together and think deeply. To demonstrate the flexibility and adaptability of the tour planning template, museum educators with deep experience specializing in working with diverse audiences share how they adjust the tour planning template to accommodate the attributes and strengths of the visitors they work with most closely. These accommodations to the template include ways to support family learning, school tours, virtual tours, promote social and emotional learning, work effectively with students with autism, adults with low vision and blindness and adults with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. These contributions are included to demonstrate that the tour planning template can be adjusted to support the varied abilities and learning styles of multiple audiences. Features include: An insider's guide to tour planning featuring advice and strategies from museum educators across the U.S. A tested tour planning template that is adaptable and flexible for multiple audiences How to identify tour themes that work... and those that don't What makes for effective object selection and sequencing How to encourage and facilitate productive discussions Inserting the right factual and contextual information at the right time Multi-modal activities for in-person and online participation Adapting your tour plans for varied audiences, including families, school groups, virtual groups and more...

This collection addresses the substance of Richard Hooker's achievement as a theologian and philosopher in the context of principal themes of English Reformation thought. Five principal loci of Reformation discourse are addressed: the relation between the "orders" of Grace and Nature; the doctrines of Providence and Predestination; the Church and the liturgy; sacramental theology; and the polemical cut-and-thrust of the late-Elizabethan context. It is of interest to scholars, seminarians, and students.

"Digital Preservation Technology for Cultural Heritage" discusses the technology and processes in digital preservation of cultural heritage. It covers topics in five major areas: Digitization of cultural heritage; Digital management in the cultural heritage preservation; Restoration techniques for rigid solid relics; Restoration techniques for paintings; Digital museum. It also includes application examples for digital preservation of cultural heritage.

The book is intended for researchers, advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Computer Graphics and Image Processing as well as Cultural heritage preservation.

Mingquan Zhou is a professor at the College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, China. Guohua Geng is a professor at the College of Information Science and Technology, Northwest University, Xi'an, China. Zhongke Wu is a professor at the College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, China.

This book Takes insights from screenwriting to revolutionize our understanding of exhibition curating. Focuses on how despite all genuine efforts to reach broader audiences, museums persistently fear to risk credibility by becoming 'too popular'. Explores the enormous potential to learn from other storytelling forms which are more experienced in the field of entertainment. Offers a comparative in-depth analysis of three classical Hollywood films and three cultural historical exhibitions demonstrates how dramatic suspense techniques can be applied to exhibitions. addresses academics and students in the fields of museum studies, gallery studies, and heritage studies interested in how exhibitions function and in how to achieve dramaturgical effects like suspense.

This book: analyses conflicting notions of identity and belonging in contemporary Europe. Addressing the creation, negotiation and (re)use of diverse spaces and places of belonging, the book examines their fascinating complexities in the context of a changing Europe. takes an innovative interdisciplinary approach to examine renegotiations of belonging played out through cultural encounters with difference and change, in diverse public spaces and contested places. employs analyses of diverse case studies to draw out the significance of the participation or exclusion of differing community, grassroots and activist groups in such practices and discourses of belonging in relation to the contemporary emergence of identity conflicts and political uses of the past across Europe. analyses the ways in which people's sense of belonging is connected to cultural, heritage and memory practices undertaken in different public spaces, including museums, cultural and community centres, city monuments and built heritage, neglected urban spaces, and online fora. provides a valuable contribution to the existing bodies of work on identities, migration, public space, memory and heritage. It will be of interest to scholars and students with an interest in contested belonging, public spaces and the role of culture and heritage.

Museums have moved beyond exclusively collections-based missions, and the economics of museums have tightened considerably. As a result, the tenor of the discussion around the practice of deaccessioning and use of its proceeds has become livelier, if not strident. While the professional associations continue to expect adherence to their standards, Boards of Trustees are looking at museum collections as assets that can potentially be monetized to support the museum's mission or ensure its survival. As museum professionals and trustees engage in these discussions and make critical decisions for their institutions, they will benefit from a deeper understanding of the complex and nuanced aspects of deaccessioning, which this book presents anew. Is It Okay to Sell the Monet? provides background on deaccessioning and disposal of deaccessioned objects and a context for changes in the field brought about by expanding missions and contracting resources. It includes an important discussion on how museums might utilize collections in new ways that benefit their visitors and communities. It provides practical guidance on the process of disposing of objects and explores the ethical standards of professional museum associations-examining their history, relevancy, and practical effect. It also delves into the complicated legal issues that sometimes challenge these ethical rules. Finally, it analyzes high profile museum case studies with important takeaways that will be useful for museums faced with similar circumstances.

At a time of heightened international interest in the colonial dimensions of museum collections, Dividing the Spoils provides new perspectives on the motivations and circumstances whereby collections were appropriated and acquired during colonial military service. Combining approaches from the fields of material anthropology, imperial and military history, this book argues for a deeper examination of these collections within a range of intercultural histories that include alliance, diplomacy, curiosity and enquiry, as well as expropriation and cultural hegemony. As museums across Europe reckon with the post-colonial legacies of their collections, Dividing the Spoils explores how the amassing of objects was understood and governed in British military culture, and considers how objects functioned in museum collections thereafter, suggesting new avenues for sustained investigation in a controversial, contested field. -- .

The Museums and Collections of Higher Education provides an analysis of the historic connections between materiality and higher education, developed through diverse examples of global practice. Outlining the different value propositions that museums and collections bring to higher education, the historic link between objects, evidence and academic knowledge is examined with reference to the origin point of both types of organisation. Museums and collections bring institutional reflection, cross-disciplinary bridges, digital extension options and participatory potential. Given the two primary sources of text and object, a singular source type predisposes a knowledge system to epistemic stasis, whereas mixed sources develop the potential for epistemic disruption and possible change. Museums and collections, therefore, are essential in the academies of higher learning. With the many challenges confronting humanity, it is argued that connecting intellect with social action for societal change through university museums should be a contemporary manifestation of the social contract of universities. Much has been written about museums and universities, but there is little about university museums and collections. This book will interest museum scholars and practitioners especially those unaware that university museums are at the forefront of museological creativity. It will also be of interest to academics and the growing number of leaders and managers in the modern university.

1. The book presents an interdisciplinary examination of museum practice and constructs a useful theory of museum use as formative societal activity. 2. The book will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of museums and social justice. It will also be essential reading for practitioners with an interest in theory and museum transformation. 3. There are very few sole-authored titles that focus on museums and social responsibility and even fewer that focus on the theory behind the social role of museums. The proposed book will fill that gap.

This updated edition of Defining Memory: Local Museums and the Construction of History in America's Changing Communities offers readers multiple lenses for viewing and discussing local institutions. New chapters are included in a section titled "Museums Moving Forward," which analyzes the ways in which local museums have come to adopt digital technologies in selecting items for exhibitions as well as the complexities of creating institutions devoted to marginalized histories. In addition to the new chapters, the second edition updates existing chapters, presenting changes to the museums discussed. It features expanded discussions of how local museums treat (or ignore) racial and ethnic diversity and concludes with a look at how business relationships, political events, and the economy affect what is shown and how it is displayed in local museums.

In contrast to a significant recent volume in this area (Labadi, ed. 2019 see below), this volume does not focus only on international aid, but instead considers a range of different actors with diverse approaches to and understandings of 'development'. This volume does not only engage with formalised heritage, such as museums, monuments, and memorials. Contributions consider a range of ostensibly past-focused practices and interventions that may not be explicitly referred to as 'heritage' by the actors concerned. This marks a contrast with significant earlier work in the field (e.g. Basu and Modest eds., 2014 see below). Contributors to this volume include both scholars from a range of fields and practitioners, working in museums, UNESCO, and local government. This will help to ensure the content is engaged with contemporary practice as well as theory, and the relevance of the volume to students and practitioners. This volume will not comprise a set of disparate case studies. Rather, authors will critically review how heritage informs the pursuit of development within a broad general field, illustrating this with examples drawn from their own research. This will ensure consistency in focus across the contributions and the forum style conclusion will allow leading scholars from both Critical Heritage Studies and Development Studies to identify the key thematic points commonalities emerging from ostensibly diverse areas of scholarship and practice.

1. This will be the first book to provide a true library, archival and museum (LAM) perspective, as every chapter will focus on all three types of institution and not just one of the three. 2. The book will provide a Scandinavian perspective on LAMs and convergence, but the challenges described are universal. The book will be valuable to students and academics around the world who are working in the Library and Information Science, Archival Science and Museum Studies fields. 3. The proposed book will be unique, as it will be the first to take a true LAM perspective and it will also be the first to provide a Scandinavian perspective on convergence. It will be written and edited by well-respected senior researchers working at institutions of higher education throughout Scandinavia and there is no other book out there that will compete directly with it, as a result.

1. This book explores the diversity of Africa's cultural heritage, analyses how and why this heritage has been managed and considers the factors that continue to influence management strategies and systems throughout the African continent. 2. This book includes contributions from a cast of prominent scholars and heritage professionals working across Africa. 3. This book examines the ideological influence of independence movements on the African continent's management and remembering of heritage. 4. This will be essential reading for those engaged in the study of museums and heritage, development, archaeology, anthropology, history and African studies. It will also be of interest to heritage and museum professionals who wish to learn more about the issues of decolonisation of heritage.

1. The author explains how cultural heritage organizations, such as museums, libraries, archives and historic sites, can forgo the "best" in favor of "good" and "better" approaches to collections care. Giving examples of implementation and easy-to-follow guides, Forsko demonstrates how preservation can become a component of any collections care program - even one with little to no resources. 2. The book will be an essential tool for anyone who cares for collections, particularly collections managers, registrars, and archivists. It will be suitable for professionals working in any type or size of institution and will also be of interest to students who are learning how to become practitioners. 3. The book will be the first to take a realistic, sustainable approach to collections care, rather than a "best practices" approach. Drawing on more than a decade of experience working with over 40 libraries, museums, archives, and other historic sites, the author encourages the reader to start by taking small, manageable steps and explains that even the smallest of actions can make a difference that will ultimately help to preserve collections

This book: presents interdisciplinary case studies of heritage sites and museums from across a range of different contexts and analyses the ways in which various types of immersive technologies can help visitors to contextualize and negotiate difficult or sensitive heritage and traumatic pasts. demonstrates that some of the most creative applications of immersive experiences appear in and at museums and heritage sites. showcases how immersive technologies offer the possibility to confront and dispute presumptions and prejudices, trigger responses, deliver new knowledge, initiate dialogue and challenge pre-existing notions of collective identity provides a conceptual, as well as a hands-on, approach to understanding the use of immersive technologies at sensitive sites around the globe. offers essential reading for researchers and students who are interested in, or engaged in the study of, cultural heritage, memory, history, politics, dark tourism, design and digital media, or immersive technologies. The book will also be of interest to museum and heritage practitioners.