- Title : Shifting Paradigms of Museum Displays in the West and Its Application in South Korea: The National Museum of Korea’s Special Exhibition on Homo Sapiens: Evolution, Relationship & Future?
- Author : Zoh Minjae(HK Research Professor)
- Journal : Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies
- Publication Date : 2023.11
- Abstract
Museums as open and accessible public institutions is a concept conceived and developed in the West which then gradually became applied to the rest of the world. From the early days to the present, museums can be seen as a product of the Western world in terms of trends, circumstances, and interests. Western countries arguably remain at the forefront in leading the trends of museum display methods. A few paradigms, led by the West, can be broadly detected, from ‘collecting and preserving’ to ‘housing and displaying’ to ‘loaning and sharing’ to ‘a more sensory experience of the past,’ to mention a few. Efforts to apply a more sensory experience of the past can be observed in other parts of the world. This article focuses on how The National Museum of Korea, in 2021, applied various sensory methods in their special exhibition on Homo Sapiens: Evolution, Relationship & Future? The rationale for selecting this particular exhibition is that it effectively showcases how Western-derived and driven trends are proactively applied in South Korea’s representative national museum. This article is structured in three sections. The first examines the shifting paradigm of museum displays. The second gives an overview of The National Museum of Korea’s application of the sensory and participatory display methods in their special exhibition. The final section concludes by reflecting on how the shifting paradigm of museum displays is a product of the Western world and its time and how such paradigms have been and are currently being applied in other parts of the world.
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