David Fleming, the Director of National Museums Liverpool, has (among others) advocated the idea of an emotional museum and two museums in Liverpool are practical embodiments of this approach: The International Slavery Museum and the Museum of Liverpool. In a keynote address at the Challenging History Conference, 23-25 February 2012 Fleming argued that social history was always emotional and embedded within the memories of local communities; thus social history museums were more about people and the stories of people involved with the objects they display.

 

In the People’s Republic Gallery at the Museum of Liverpool ‘emotional specifications’ had been included within the interpretation and outreach for the gallery. They wanted to shock people; make people laugh, cry, and most interestingly, angry. Portraits of local people, past and present, were used within this context and faces of people can elicit an emotional response, depending on the presentation, whether in a workshop or a gallery. There are ethical issues around emotional harm and well-being that need to be considered in such an interpretation or approach to learning.

 

Theme – Local History: Museum of Liverpool: Interpretation and Memory Walk

 

Linked to the idea of the ’emotional museum’ is the empathetic museum or the use of empathy to identify with and uncover hidden histories. Two blogs address the wider use of empathy with history:
Silence, Memory, Empathy >>
Roman Krznaric’s blog on empathy and the art of living >>

 

 

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