On the issue of methods and methodology of exhibiting in a medical museum
Keywords:
history of medicine, museum, medical museum, exposition, age marking, museum ethicsAbstract
This paper analyses ways in which traumatic material has been displayed in medical exhibitions and the use of age restrictions in museums. Museum workers face the difficult task of exhibiting material that could be psychologically traumatic for certain visitors, and this is particularly the case for medical museums, given that the raison d’être of medicine is to fight diseases, ima-ges of which it is not pleasant to see.
Two key approaches to displaying such material in exhibition space are examined. In the first, focussing on the technical aspect, access to certain elements potentially psychologically traumatic for visitors is restricted through original architectural and spatial solutions, using anthropometric restrictions in some cases. The second, based on cultural studies and anthropology,presents diseases through cultural and historical images. This approach offers the museum a broad range of options (use of classical objects of culture, ethnographic images of diseases, thematic lettering, etc.).
This paper uses field materials from Russian and foreign museums, as well as ethnographic research findings. The authors conclude that organising a permanent exhibition of material with different age designations is realistically achievable: all that is required is intelligent spatial planning.
Downloads
References
Calain P (2013) Ethics and images of suffering bodies in human-
itarian medicine. Social Science & Medicine 98: 278–285.
ISSN 0277-9536, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed. 2012.06.027.
URL: https://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0277953612005370.
Etingen LE (2009) Mifologicheskaya anatomiya [Mythological anato-
my]. 2nd edition. Moscow: In-t obshchegumanitarnykh issledovaniy.
p. (In Russ.)
Golitsina V (2012) Prishel, uvidel, osoznal [I came, I saw, I realized].
Muzey kak prostranstvo obrazovaniya: igra, dialog, kultura uchastiya [Museum as an educational space: a game, a dialogue, a culture of participation]. Ed. by A. Shcherbakov. Compl. by N. Kopelyanska-ya. Moscow: Fond M. Prokhorova; Tvorcheskaya gruppa “Muzeynye resheniya”. P. 39–42. (In Russ.)
Gor VE (2011) Dykhanie Tanatosa. O viktorianskoy fotografii post mor-
tem [Breath of anatos. About Victorian photography post mor-
tem]. Khudozhestvennaya aura: istoki, vospriyatie, mifologiya [Art
aura: origins, perception, mythology]. Ed. by O.A. Krivtsun. Mos-
cow: Indrik. 560 p. (In Russ.)
Grinko IA (2017) Dostupnye ogranicheniya: “trudnoe nasledie” v ek-
spozitsionnom prostranstve [Available restrictions: “difficult legacy”
in the exhibition space]. Sovremennye tendentsii v razvitii muzeev
i muzeevedeniya [Modern trends in the development of museums
and museology]. Ed. by V.A. Lamin, O.N. Shelegina, G.M. Zaporozh-
chenko. Novosibirsk. P. 169–172. (In Russ.)
Grinko IA (2007) Yumor v muzeynom prostranstve [Humor in the mu-
seum space]. Observatoriya kultury [Culture Observatory]. 2017;
(3): 315–321. (In Russ.)
Istoriya urodstva [History of ugliness] (2007) Ed. by U. Eco. Moscow:
Slovo. 456 p. (In Russ.)
Lord B, Lord GD (2002) Menedzhment v muzeinom dele [e Man-
ual of Museum Management] / Transl. by E.N. Gusinskij and Yu.I.
Turchaninova; ed. by A.B. Golubovskij . Moscow: Logos. 256 p. (In
Russ.)
Mensh P van (2018) K metodologii muzeologii [Towards methodology
of museology]. Transl. by V.G. Ananiev. Moscow: Perspektiva. 448
p. (In Russ.)
Opyt predstavleniya biomeditsinskikh kollektsiy v estestvennonauch-
nom muzee na primere vystavki “ChP v DNK”. Metodicheskie re-
komendatsii [Experience in presenting biomedical collections in
a natural science museum on the example of the exhibition “DNA
emergency”. Guidelines] (2017) Completed by Yu.V. Shubina, O.A.
Zubareva, A.N. Andreeva. Moscow. 45 p. (In Russ.)
Ostrovskiy AB (2009) Ritualnaya skulptura narodov Amura i Sakhalina.
Putevodnaya nit chisel [Ritual sculpture of the peoples of Amur and
Sakhalin. Guiding thread of numbers]. Saint Petersburg: Nestor-is-
toriya. 195 p. (In Russ.)
Shemyakin M (2017) Unylye mesta – ochey ocharovanie [Dull places –
charm to the eyes]. V Pitere – zhit [In Saint Petersburg – live]. Saint
Petersburg: AST. P. 115–123. (In Russ.)
Shiller F (1957) O tragicheskom v iskusstve [About the tragic in art].
Sobr. soch. v 7 tomah [Collected works in 7 volumes]. Vol. 6. Transl.
by L.E. Pinskij. Moscow: State Publ. of art literature. P. 41–64. (In
Russ.)
Shola T (2013) Vechnost zdes bolshe ne zhivet. Tolkovyy slovar
muzeynykh grekhov [Eternity does not live here anymore. Explan-
atory dictionary of museum sins]. Tula: Muzeyusadba L.N. Tolstogo
“Yasnaya polyana”. 359 p. (In Russ.)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
