MESOC Serapeum | Where culture meets AI

Id		204
Author		Leonard, M.,
Title		Exhibiting Popular Music: Museum Audiences, Inclusion and Social History
Reference		Leonard, M. (2010) Exhibiting Popular Music: Museum Audiences, Inclusion and Social History, Journal of New Music Research, 39:2, 171-181,
Link to article		https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09298215.2010.494199
Abstract		In recent years the relationship between museums and their visitors has been subject to much discussion in relation to debates about the role that these institutions can play in widening participation and tackling social exclusion. Focussing on the display and representation of popular music in UK museums, this article considers the way in which popular music and its related material culture has been displayed, interpreted, valued and mobilized for museum audiences. One particular exhibition, The Beat Goes On, will be examined as a case study through which to explore the issue of popular music and museum audiences in more detail. The article addresses specific issues relating to the representation of music and music culture in the museum context. It explores how social history is constructed by museum professionals and how visitors interpret the material within an exhibition drawing on personal and collective memory. On the one hand, the case study exhibition sought to reflect the ways in which people engage with and experience popular music. On the other hand, the exhibition was necessarily informed by existing research about how visitors negotiate exhibition content and gallery spaces. Drawing on visitor feedback, gallery observation visits and formal evaluation, the article will examine the challenges of effectively communicating concepts and themes around music within an exhibition.

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Their emotional engagement with the exhibits, along with physical and cognitive engagement with various interactive elements will work to aid their learning, building on the knowledge that they already have. .
With careful curatorship and the assistance of their audiences museums can develop for the future a popular cultural heritage which is non-linear, risk taking and which presents a diversity of experience..
Here it is important to also acknowledge the variety of different museum audiences, in order to explore the ways in which different visitors use museums. .
They may also be understood as attempts to make social history accessible and relevant to the different audiences that these museums aim to attract. .
More broadly these initiatives can be seen as part of a changing emphasis within museums aiming not just to care for and display their existing collections but to mount exhibitions which better reflect the social worlds of their visitors. .
It was through the visitors engagement with the material that additional meaning-making was produced. .
One intention was that it would attract visitors to the museum who were engaged by the ideas and approach of the project. .
If museums are to facilitate greater social inclusion and sustain the interest of a wider range of visiting publics then their collections and exhibitions need to be inclusive and relevant to these different audiences. .
In recent years the relationship between museums and their visitors has been subject to much discussion in relation to debates about the role that these institutions can play in widening participation and tackling social exclusion. .
The changing emphasis within the museum sector on outreach, social inclusion, and engagement, has arguably made museums more receptive to displays of and engagement with popular culture. .
The exhibition was developed with the aim of attracting the interest of the broad range of visitors who regularly attended the host museum from school groups to older visitors. .
Aside from such specific projects, music has been used within the events programmes of many museums as a way to engage new audiences. .
Music events, performances and activities are then one of the ways in which museums can seek to diversify their audiences. .
4. Conclusion By understanding meaning making within museums to be dependent not only on the materials and information presented by museum professionals but also on the input of the visitors, one extends the idea of the museum beyond its holdings and exhibits out to its audiences. .
The current emphasis within museum culture on telling peoples histories and engaging with different publics, allied with contemporary collecting, presents opportunities for the representation of different music narratives and histories. .
For some, seeing their club or band included in an official museum exhibition brought a satisfying stamp of approval or at least recognition of their activities. .
The public response to popular music exhibitions means that they can be used as ways to develop collections. .
By offering a rich display of material culture in addition to the music itself, these exhibitions are recognizing that popular music is produced, presented and engaged with across a range of textual sites. .
The Beat Goes Online was made available through touch-screen interactives positioned in the final part of the exhibition so that visitors could learn about the availability of this resource and perhaps choose to explore it after their visit. .
Focusing on exhibitions and displays about popular music in museums, this article considers the way in which popular music and its attendant cultural practices have been displayed, interpreted, valued and mobilized for museum audiences. .
In numerous countries around the world there is now a developing tradition within the museum, gallery and heritage sectors of staging exhibitions related to popular music. .
Studies of the ways in which people engage with exhibitions show that visitor interpretation draws on the existing experiences and knowledge base of visitors beyond the content of the exhibition thus contributing to the overall learning experience. .
This was important in a number of ways including collecting research data and augmenting partial or overlooked histories. .
The process of identifying the exhibition content also underlined the benefits to museums of understanding their publics not just as audiences but as key resources. .
Some of these and other museums have actively developed their collections of popular music related material. .
These exhibitions are in part celebrations of local achievement while also being presentations of popular music as an important dimension of social history. .
It was hoped that the non-linear design of The Beat Goes On, along with a layering of information, would allow different entry points into the subject enabling visitors with a passing or more developed interest in a particular aspect to learn more. .
The development of the exhibition was informed, influenced and assisted by working with individuals including musicians, artists, fans and collectors. .

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