试论博物馆与公众关系的四种研究路径

近年来,公众之于博物馆的重要性持续攀升,甚至开始居于一种主导性的优先地位.博物馆学界相应地出现了 一系列暗含"公众转向"的话语.基于此,博物馆与公众关系成为一个重要的研究议题.博物馆与公众关系有四种路径:公众研究路径聚焦存在于博物馆内外的公众群体,以此分别发现公众之于博物馆和博物馆之于公众的价值;沟通关系路径侧重博物馆...

A Tentative Analysis of the Four Approaches to Studying the Relationship Between Museums and the Public

In recent years,the public has increasingly become a focus and even a priority of museum practices.Consequently,a series of researches have been published pointing to a shift of the focus to the public.The relationship between museums and the public has become an important subject of research.This paper reviews four slightly different but closely related approaches that have been applied in researches ad-dressing this topic.The public research approach focuses on the audience groups that exist both inside and outside of museums in order to discover the value of the public for the museum and the museum for the public;The communication research approach focuses on the“effective communication”between museums and their audiences and explores how to make connections between collections and the public;The meaning construction approach discusses the political agenda and ideology behind specific exhibitions and analyzes the purposes of the information or ideas delivered by the exhibition;The social history approach examines the social-historical context in which the museum is situated to ensure the social relevance of the research.