Art museums are team endeavours, with staff from a range of different disciplinary perspectives involved in the presentation and interpretation of art. Volunteers also play a critical role, with museums relying heavily on volunteers to deliver public tours and programmes. Among these staff and others involved in communicating with public audiences, there is often a perception that their different perspectives “speak” in different ways. But beyond individual differences, for example in the personality, style, or interests of the author/speaker, are there broader patterns of variation? Are there differences, for example, in the way a curator talks or writes about art, and an educator, an artist, or a volunteer? If so, in what way, and what might that mean for museum audiences? This chapter draws on interviews and exhibition texts gathered from two English-language art museums to explore these questions, with a focus on spoken texts as these often form a significant part of the visitor experience yet are rarely captured and analysed. At a time when art museums are increasingly concerned to have value and relevance to diverse contemporary audiences, and museum practice continues to become more interdisciplinary, a shared understanding of such discursive patterns is increasingly valuable.

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Who’s Talking and How? Variation Among Voices in the Art Museum

  • Jennifer Blunden

摘要

Art museums are team endeavours, with staff from a range of different disciplinary perspectives involved in the presentation and interpretation of art. Volunteers also play a critical role, with museums relying heavily on volunteers to deliver public tours and programmes. Among these staff and others involved in communicating with public audiences, there is often a perception that their different perspectives “speak” in different ways. But beyond individual differences, for example in the personality, style, or interests of the author/speaker, are there broader patterns of variation? Are there differences, for example, in the way a curator talks or writes about art, and an educator, an artist, or a volunteer? If so, in what way, and what might that mean for museum audiences? This chapter draws on interviews and exhibition texts gathered from two English-language art museums to explore these questions, with a focus on spoken texts as these often form a significant part of the visitor experience yet are rarely captured and analysed. At a time when art museums are increasingly concerned to have value and relevance to diverse contemporary audiences, and museum practice continues to become more interdisciplinary, a shared understanding of such discursive patterns is increasingly valuable.