Interpretive Splat!... So build your historic house museum on a different Rock...
Foundations are important. Wise people build houses on rock foundations. Foolish people build theirs on sand. Sometimes, because foundations are often invisible once the construction is finished, it is impossible to tell whether or not a house is built wisely. However, when a hurricane comes with its wind and waves, sands shift and fool's houses collapse. I think that the sand has been shifting for some museums so now the relevance of some, like the American historic house museum, is being challenged. I am talking about the museum's foundational, philosophical approach to interpretation. As Eilean Hooper-Greenhill writes, "in the museum, interpretation is done for ... or to" the visitor. This kind of museum interpretation grew out of the assumption that the museum is an educational institution. It presumes that the museum is the expert, the knowledge broker and the teacher of lessons that the visitors need to learn. It sets up an us/them hierarchy between the museu...